From left: Drs. Michael Bowen, Brooks Brodrick, Natasha Hanners, Tamia Harris-Tryon, and Sarah Lieber are the second cohort of the UT-FOCUS Program. 

The UT Southwestern Fund to Retain Clinical Scientists (UT-FOCUS) program provides financial, career development, and wellness support to meet the goal of retaining early-career physician-scientists with a clear need for additional assistance due to caregiving responsibilities exacerbated by COVID-19.

We are delighted to announce the second cohort of UT-FOCUS awardees:

• Michael Bowen, M.D., M.P.H., Associate Professor, Internal Medicine
• Brooks Brodrick, M.D., Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Internal Medicine
• Natasha Hanners, M.D., Assistant Professor, Pediatrics
• Tamia Harris-Tryon, M.D., Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Dermatology
• Sarah Lieber, M.D., M.S.C.R., Assistant Professor, Internal Medicine

Each awardee will receive $50,000 in supplemental flexible funds that can be used to pay for additional research assistance, resources, and services. The funds can also be used to support salary to protect more time for research. Awardees will get access to a personal wellness coach for confidential guidance and support specific to caregiving responsibilities; networking opportunities and group coaching around work-life balance; and resources to support their research programs.

UT-FOCUS is funded by a grant from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation/American Heart Association and support from the UT Southwestern Dean's Office.

Clinical Laboratory Services (CLS), led by Medical Director Ravi Sarode, M.D., and Assistant Vice President Jessica Rivera, offers a broad range of testing – from clinical to anatomical – to our patients and researchers.

CLS works with researchers to provide batched testing for some unique assays to reduce cost for investigator-initiated studies. It provides competitive research pricing at a faster turn-around time with results available in Epic. It also has a mechanism for researchers to bring unique assays developed by their research laboratories.

Locations:

• William P. Clements Jr. University Hospital – The main clinical laboratory is located on the fourth floor of CUH. It has an automated core lab that includes hematology, routine and special chemistry, and routine and special coagulation. Highly specialized anatomic pathology, microbiology, and transfusion services are also available.
• BioCenter – Houses esoteric labs including molecular and next-generation sequencing diagnostics, human leukocyte antigen testing, cytogenetics, and flow cytometry.
• Satellite labs – Located at Zale Lipshy Pavilion, the Seay Biomedical Building, Plano/Richardson, and the UT Southwestern Monty and Tex Moncrief Medical Center at Fort Worth. All labs are CAP- and CLIA-accredited.

There are also many patient-care service centers across Dallas-Fort Worth for patient convenience – some allow walk-ins. More information is available online. 

Contact Sunil Verma for other questions. 

Team Science Pilot Program

Sponsored by the CTSA Program at UT Southwestern, this program is designed for interdisciplinary teams developing proposals to submit for extramural support (NIH or equivalent).

Awardees will receive up to $10,000 for preliminary data collection and team activities in preparation for submission and time with a Team Science coach to assist and support the practice of evidence-based, successful collaboration methods throughout the award period.

The Team Science Pilot Grant will be awarded to a primary-contact PI. Eligibility criteria include:

• The project must have multiple PIs (two or more) in different scientific disciplines collaborating on a project to advance translational research.
• All PIs on the team must be faculty at UTSW or one of our partnering institutions and be assistant professors for at least three years by September 2022 or midcareer/senior investigators.
• Early-career faculty who have been an assistant professor for fewer than three years, residents, fellows, and postdoctoral associates are eligible to serve as co-investigators (not PIs).
• Project budget is not to exceed $10,000; direct costs to be expended by April 30, 2023.
• Applicants previously awarded Team Science grant funding from UTSW are not eligible.

Applications are due Oct. 3 and the expected award start date is Oct. 17. For more information, contact Victoria Lutgen Gronau.

KL2 Scholar Opening

The UT Southwestern Clinical and Translational Science Award KL2 Scholars Program has an immediate opening for one KL2 Scholar. This opportunity comes after one of the current scholars successfully obtained an NIH K23 Career Development Award.

The KL2 Scholar Program supports junior faculty engaged in clinical and translational science research through mentored research training, formal coursework and workshops on emerging clinical translational science topics, and manuscripts and grant development support.

Sponsored by the UT Southwestern CTSA Program, this award is part of the 2022 KL2 Scholar cohort and is expected to begin in November.

Applications are due Oct. 15. For more information, contact Dr. Helen Yin, Director, KL2 Scholar Program.

Clinical and Translational Science Forum

This interactive forum provides an opportunity for trainees to meet with established investigators in clinical and translational research to share their ideas and experiences.

• Thursday, Sept. 22, at 12:15 p.m., Charuta Joshi, M.D., Professor in the Department of Pediatrics, will talk about the Pediatric Epilepsy Research Foundation (PERF) grant application. Register to attend. 

• Thursday, Sept. 29, at 12:15 p.m., Sarah Lieber, M.D., M.S.C.R., Assistant Professor in the Department of Internal Medicine, presents “Survivorship After Liver Transplantation: Mapping Phenotypes to Identify At-Risk Survivors Needing Intervention.” Register to attend. 

Sponsored Programs Administration Research Roundup

Funding agency deadline reminders, process changes, and general research regulatory and administrative updates for research support staff, faculty, and department administrators.

• First Thursday of each month at 11 a.m. Attend the event.