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Spotlight
7th Annual Traslational Science Symposium
In Memory of David Seldin, MD, PhD
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The symposium, entitled "Addiction Medicine 2018: Translational Science at the cutting edge" highlighted several guest speakers who discussed the on-going opioid crisis accompanied by research-based presentations. The symposium also featured 32 e-Poster boards containing various topics relating to Addiction Medicine.
Featured speakers included, Executive Director of the Grayken Center - Michael Botticelli, Dean of the Boston University School of Public Health - Sandro Galea, Commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health - Monica Bharel, Dean of the Boston University School of Social Work - Jorge Delva, and Director of the Division of Clinical Innovation for the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) - Michael G. Kurilla.
Keynote speaker and Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, Nora D. Volkow, presented in length about the potential relationship of translational science among the opioid crisis. Volkow's PowerPoint presentation was titled "Addressing the Opioid Crisis: A Key Role for Translational Science."
Senator Ed Markey attended the symposium, providing the closing remarks about the positive contributions and efforts of the professionals at the Boston University School of Medicine and the Grayken Center on issues involving the opioid crisis and addiction. The Senator reminded those in attendance to encourage those in need to find a pathway to treatment.
For those unable to attend in person, the CTSI held a YouTube livestream that totaled 175 views. On twitter, #AddictionSymposium2018 was posted 161 times, with a unique reach of 236,293 people. More information from the symposium, including presentation slides and video playlist can be found
here
on the BU-CTSI Website.
Dr. Seldin will be remembered for organizing the annual Translational Science Symposium and we are indebted to him for his vision and contributions.
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Director, National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)
Addressing the Opioid Crisis: A Key Role for Translational Science
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BU and Johnson & Johnson Innovation Team Up to Fight Lung Cancer
New Medical Campus center hopes to speed development of interventions and cures
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In what Boston University President Robert A. Brown envisions as a model for industry and academia collaborating to improve human health, BU has launched a five-year translational research alliance with Johnson & Johnson Innovation LLC (JJI) aimed at preventing, intercepting, and curing lung cancer, the leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide.
As part of the new alliance, Johnson & Johnson Innovation will fund a Johnson & Johnson Innovation Lung Cancer Center at Boston University on the Medical Campus, where BU researchers will work closely with members of the Lung Cancer Initiative within Johnson & Johnson to develop biomarker-based early-screening tests for lung cancer, as well as therapeutics to arrest or eradicate the disease in its earliest stages. The goal is to combine the resources of healthcare giant J&J with expertise at Boston University to speed the development of interventions and cures.
Avrum Spira (ENG'02), a School of Medicine professor of medicine, pathology, and bioinformatics, and a pioneering researcher in the genomics and early detection of lung cancer, will direct the new center. Spira, who for several years has been consulting on lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) research with Janssen Research & Development, the pharmaceuticals arm of Johnson & Johnson, has joined JJI as global head of the Lung Cancer Initiative within J&J, which will be based at the new center at BU.
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CTSI Consults, Services and Tools
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BU Bioinformatics Hub
- The mission of the Hub from its inception has been to increase the bioinformatics profile at BU in four ways: through collaboration, education and outreach, mentorship, and as a research conduit. Read more.
Biomedical Bridge BUilders
- Biomedical Bridge BUilders Initiative is designed to accelerate the commercialization of clinician-inspired medical device innovations by partnering with graduate engineering biodesign and product development teams. Learn more.
Center for Regenerative Medicine
- Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells (iPSCs) generated by forced overexpression of defined transcription factors in somatic cells hold great promise for human disease research and personalized medicine. The Center for Regenerative Medicine (CReM) iPSC Core was created to expedite the use of iPSC technology by providing essential services and support to on-campus investigators and the broader scientific community. For information on iPSC Core please visit here, for the Framingham iPSC Bank please visit here.
CRITIC: Clinical Research Informatics & Technology Consults
- The CRITIC consultations help BMC/BU researchers identify, develop, and implement the effective and efficient use of information technology and informatics in their clinical studies. For a free One-on-One consultation contact Christopher Shanahan, MD, MPH @ [email protected].
General Clinic Research Unit
- The GCRU provides resources for protocol implementation across BUMC, BMC, BU and CRC. We will assist studies that may need support with inpatient participants. We offer clinical and non-clinical support, that may accommodate your participants by providing services in the ambulatory care setting or during an interview visit in your work space. If you also need assistance with recruitment, regulatory documents including IRB submissions, data entry, or any additional administrative support.
Contact us: 617-358-7558
or
617-414-1960
. Let us assist you with implementing a productive and successful study outcome.
Grant Writing & Editing Services for BUSM and Non-BU
SM Investigators
- Non-BUSM Investigators: Grant writing, editing and formatting services for NIH and other federal applications are provided as part of a CTSI collaboration with Boston Medical Center's Development Department. To request services, please go here to complete a short form.
- BUSM: The OPD (Office of Proposal Development) is pleased to offer grant writing and editing assistance. In addition to providing copyediting services for investigators, they will guide new and non-native English-speaking principal investigators in developing and writing grant submissions. In addition to technical assistance in all aspects of the writing process, from conceptualizing specific aims, to developing successful submission strategies, and guiding investigators in building compelling scientific narratives. To request one or all of these services, please go here to complete a short form.
i2B2
- The BU i2b2 (Informatics for Integrating Biology and the Bedside) is an NIH-funded effort to provide a standardized data architecture and informatics capabilities to combine clinical patient data with demographic, biologic, and genomic data for use in clinical research projects. An easy-to-use aggregate data query tool, i2b is accessible via the internet using the i2b2 web client. Learn more.
openSESAME
- CTSI created openSESAME to identify relationships between datasets based on patterns of gene coexpression. The so-called "Search of Expression Signatures Across Many Experiments," allows the scientific community to apply this approach to what is currently about 75,000 Affymetrix human gene expression profiles obtained from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) at the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI). Lean more.
Protocol Builder
- Protocol Builder is now available at Boston University. Protocol Builder is secure, cloud-based technology that provides step-by-step guidance for developing research protocols. This new protocol writing technology can help you write investigator-initiated protocols that adhere to IRB and regulatory standards in less time with less hassle. It provides organization, guidance, and collaboration tools for your observational or interventional research protocols. Protocol Builder is developed and hosted by BRANY (Biomedical Research Alliance of New York), and can be accessed via your computer or iPad app. Read more about Protocol Builder.
Research Job Connection
- Connecting PI's with clinical or epidemiological research professionals. We have created a pool of BMC/BU staff who are already familiar with systems/polices and have CITI/GCP credentials. Lean more here.
R
esearch Networking Blog
- If you are new to Research Networking then you might be interested to learn that Research Networking commonly employs online applications to discover and use research and scholarly information about people and resources. Blog.
Research Recruitment and Retention Program (R3)
- Delays in recruiting participants are a major barrier to progress in clinical and translational research. BU CTSI's Research Recruitment and Retention Program (R3) exists to help researchers succeed in efficiently meeting participant recruitment goals for clinical and translational research studies, including randomized clinical trials. We assist both investigator-initiated and industry-sponsored research at BMC, BU, and our partner institutions. Services offered: Initial consultation, recruitment strategies, and monthly roundtable speakers. Please visit our site.
- (TIN) is a new collaborative initiative within the CTSA Program and is composed of three key organizational partners, the CTSA Program Hubs, the Trial Innovation Centers (TICs), and the Recruitment Innovation Center (RIC that seeks to address critical roadblocks in clinical trials and accelerate the translation of novel interventions into life-saving therapies). Please visit our site.
Trialspark
- Advanced clinical trial recruitment platform. Using machine learning and targeting approaches to engage the exact patients needed. Helping recruit faster and more efficiently for clinical trials. This is accomplished by directing qualified patient leads to you, but also by making sure that researchers and study coordinators can screen trial participants as effectively and efficiently as possible. Coming soon. Contact Jill MacRae for information and training [email protected].
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Save The Date!
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Summer 2018
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RFA for Fall-2018 Pilot Funding to be released late summer.
The Boston University Clinical and Translational Science Institute (BU CTSI) Integrated Pilot Program is making some changes and moving to an annual cycle starting with the Fall-2018 RFA. Be on the lookout for the announcement via email which contain all the relevant information needed to apply
.
The BU CTSI Pilot Program provides funding to researchers engaged in basic research, patient-oriented research, implementation science research, community engagement research, and population based research. The pilot program represents a collaborative effort between the BU CTSI and partner organizations.
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09/11/2018
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1st CREST Seminar of Academic Year 2018-2019.
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09/26/2018
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R3 - Research, Recruitment, & Retention roundtable series begins.
Be on the lookout for email and TV monitor announcements.
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10/12/2018
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CREST Fellowship application closes.
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10/11/2018
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University of Vermont 6th Annual Conference.
The focus of the conference will be on the nation's opioid epidemic, improving access to treatment, and effective pain/addiction management.
Learn more.
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10/23/2018
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BU Connect - A research and innovation showcase designed to "connect" BU faculty and students with like-minded people in the local industrial & entrepreneurial ecosystem.
Learn more.
The event features:
- An exposition hall with representatives from BU's leading research centers/laboratories
- Breakout sessions addressing problems and solutions across various subject areas
- Student-led innovation projects/companies
- Presentation of the Boston University Innovator of the Year Award
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10/26/2018
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4th Annual Shared Regional Mentoring Symposium
Hosted by Umass CCTS at MassBiologics, Mattapan, MA.
Co-sponsored by BU CTSI, Harvard Catalyst and Tufts CTSI
The symposium provides mentees with an opportunity to engage in
career advising with faculty experts outside of their existing mentoring networks and respective institutions. Such
external engagement sets-up a different dynamic that allows for a fresh perspective on an individual's career
development plans and networking fosters a sense of community among researchers. This symposium serves
to support the career development aims of the CTSA consortium.
Information and registration coming soon.
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Hub Buzz
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CTSA Program Hubs Collaborate to Assess Community Engagement
NCATS Newsletter| Volume 07 | Issue 06 | June 07, 2018
Community engagement is a crucial feature of successful translational research. Community members are the ultimate beneficiaries of research results, and when they have a voice in the research process, outcomes are more relevant to their needs and more readily adopted. However, the effectiveness of community engagement efforts can be difficult to measure, and better evaluation methods and tools are needed.
Recognizing these challenges, investigators at the University of Rochester, an NCATS
Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSA) Program
hub, launched a pilot study to develop and test a community engagement assessment process. The goal is to help academic health centers evaluate and enhance their engagement activities, which in turn will improve the translation of research results into real-world practice.
Seven other CTSA Program hubs participated in the pilot study, and all eight institutions are using the results to improve their engagement efforts.
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University of Vermont
6th Annual Conference
The U.S. Opioid Epidemic: The Need for Innovation and Greater Treatment Capacity
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Burlington Hilton Hotel, Burlington, Vermont
The 6
th
Annual VCBH Conference will focus on the nation's opioid epidemic, improving access to
treatment, and effective pain/addiction management. These topics are among the major priorities of
the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the National Institutes of Health. Scholars
from leading universities and medical centers will share their research and knowledge throughout the
2-day program.
This year's keynote speaker is Sharon Walsh, Ph.D., Director of the Center on Drug and Alcohol
Research, and Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Kentucky. Dr. Walsh focuses her research on
pharmacological issues in opioid dependence and assessing novel treatments for opioid withdrawal.
Call for poster abstracts focused on research related to the opioid
dependence epidemic. Abstracts will be evaluated on the basis of scientific merit.
Please send
submissions (including title, authors, affiliations, and 250-word abstract) to Diann Gaalema at
[email protected]
by July 31.
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HOW TO GET SCIENCE RESEARCH COVERED IN THE PRESS
This News @ Northeastern story was written by Bill Ibelle
One of the most persistent challenges in science today is how to get the mainstream press-and by extension, the general public-to pay attention to the most important scientific research of the day. A massive new study by Northeastern researchers uses more than 91,000 scientific papers published in 2016 to demonstrate that machine learning can be used to predict press coverage for future research.
Among their findings was that media coverage is often determined more by the subject matter of the research than by its scientific importance. For example, research that involves personal health or climate change consistently gets more coverage than studies involving cell biology or applied mathematics, according to
Ansel MacLaughlin
, a doctoral student in computer science who is the first author on the study.
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How to Protect Your Protected Time
You've just gotten your K award-awesome! 75% of your professional effort is now protected to focus on your research and career development. But wait. What about that class you teach, or those days your department expects you to be in clinic, or the students whose dissertation committee you're on, or...
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Help us continue our support by citing our grant number
in relevant publications: 1UL1TR001430
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All publications resulting from the utilization of CTSI resources are required to credit the CTSI grant by including the NIH Funding acknowledgment and must comply with NIH Public Access Policy.
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Boston University
Clinical & Translational Science Institute
Accelerating Discoveries Towards Better Health
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