UR CTSI | Annual Report 2017–2018

UR CTSI Annual Report 2017–18

1

Table of Contents About the UR CTSI...................................................................................... 1 UR CTSI Director’s Message......................................................................... 2 Headlines.................................................................................................... 4 Education.................................................................................................... 7 Connections................................................................................................ 12 Resources................................................................................................... 15 Diversity & Inclusion.................................................................................... 19 Annual Operational Data............................................................................. 21

About the UR CTSI The UR CTSI helps research teams produce results better, faster and cheaper, with the ultimate goal of improving the health of communities and populations. We link researchers with the connections, resources and education they need for success.

Mission

• Accountability

The University of Rochester Clinical and Translational Science Institute (UR CTSI) develops, demonstrates and disseminates methods and approaches to advance translational research by providing education and training, supporting transdisciplinary teams, improving quality and efficiency, and engaging community stakeholders.

The UR CTSI meets the commitments it makes to funders and the community. We are accountable to the University, funding agencies, local and global communities, for whom we provide research and education programs. We are committed to developing metrics of accountability consistent with these values.

Vision By 2020, the UR CTSI will be a replicable model environment for research across the translational spectrum from molecules to populations, that is responsive to community priorities, conducted by transdisciplinary, patient- and community-engaged teams, and that improves population health.

Values The UR CTSI shares the University of Rochester Medical Center’s ICARE values: Integrity, Compassion, Accountability, Respect and Excellence. We believe that exceptional patient care starts with exceptional research.

• Integrity The UR CTSI promotes research that is reproducible, community-engaged and compliant with rules and regulations.

• Compassion

• Respect The UR CTSI actively solicits community input to guide its work and acts upon that input. We respect the differing values of the communities we serve: students, researchers, patients and community members. We are committed to the value of team science, which includes fostering a culture of transdisciplinary respect and active engagement with scientists of every background and perspective.

• Excellence The UR CTSI strives to be a national model for excellence in translational science and research education programs. We are dedicated to training and supporting researchers to enable them to achieve the highest quality of work in their fields.

We are committed to excellence in translational research at a national level, balancing efficiency, integrity and timeliness.

The UR CTSI manifests its compassion through our goal of improving population health and reducing health disparities in our communities.

UR CTSI Annual Report 2017–18

1

UR CTSI Directors’ Message Growing, Refocusing, Reorganizing: UR CTSI Broadens Its Strategic Role It has been a year of exciting growth and changes at the University of Rochester Clinical and Translational Science Institute (UR CTSI), which has spurred us to take a fresh look at a key question: What is the UR CTSI today?

Since it was established in 2006, the UR CTSI has been a grant-centered organization, structured around achieving the goals of our main funding source, the Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA). But the Institute has grown in size and scope over the intervening years, reaching a new level of excellence in this past year.

Last July, we were awarded $19 million to be the coordinating center for the CTSA Program, the largest single grant program at the National Institutes of Health. While we continue to provide research services to University of Rochester researchers, the new grant broadened our purpose. We now also coordinate the work and communication of over 50 of the nation’s top biomedical research institutes that are part of the CTSA Program.

These changes have pushed us to reflect on the UR CTSI’s core mission: to be the engine that drives research at the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) and beyond.

We are rapidly shifting from our previous narrow focus to a much more comprehensive and strategic focus of supporting the success of URMC. We will identify promising research, support its development and accelerate the entire process from molecular to population health research, to ultimately provide better quality healthcare at lower cost and improve population health here in our community and nationally.

To implement this new strategy, we have restructured the UR CTSI around six branches addressing key objectives that support URMC goals: • Research Services

Providing comprehensive support for clinical and translational researchers across the University

The UR CTSI offers a comprehensive set of resources and services to help researchers develop new avenues of research and conduct clinical trials. Several pilot study funding programs help researchers develop novel research directions and collect preliminary data necessary to obtain further funding. Our Recruitment and Retention Unit helps researchers enroll volunteers for their clinical trials and the Clinical Research Center provides dedicated space and a highly trained staff to conduct clinical trials.

2

UR CTSI Annual Report 2017–18

• Clinical Research Administration

Supporting clinical trials and accelerating research progress

In the fall of 2017, URMC announced a plan to restructure our clinical research leadership, which included creating a new Office of Clinical Research to oversee all phases of clinical trials at the University.

The Office will serve as a nexus of research resources, provide enhanced support for faculty and implement a comprehensive clinical trial management system, which will help researchers avoid reinventing the wheel for each new clinical trial.

• Network Coordination

Coordinating clinical and translational research efforts across the nation

In July of 2017, the UR CTSI launched the Center for Leading Innovation and Collaboration, the new CTSA Program coordinating center. The Center, now fully functioning, leads a national effort to capture data on CTSA Program functions and activities to maximize their impact; oversees advanced communications for over 350 video conferences and national meetings; hosts network analytics and innovative collaboration tools on its website (clic-ctsa.org); and strives to enhance visibility of all the ways the CTSA Program advances science and medicine to improve health across the country.

• Population Health

Aligning UR CTSI and URMC research goals with community health priorities

The Population Health Branch has a strong focus on building researchers’ capacity and knowledge to improve the health of our communities. The branch’s many functions and programs aim to better understand the needs and priorities of the communities we serve, and to help investigators conduct research that meets those needs.

• Research Education

Integrating and unifying the UR CTSI’s education and training programs

The UR CTSI currently oversees 14 education and training programs that support early stage investigators and provide a clear path to becoming an independent

A New Strategic Structure

External Advisory Board

Community Advisory Council

Chief of Staff

UR CTSI Directors

Strategic Leadership Group

Executive Commitee

Strategic Initiatives

Operations Research Services

Clinical Research Administration

Network Coordination

researcher. This branch unifies these programs, some of which support workforce development for specific groups like clinical trial coordinators and Deaf or hard-of-hearing scientists, while others provide broad support for translational researchers at all stages of their careers.

Population Health

Research Education

Informatics

UR CTSI Directors

• Informatics

Using healthcare data and advanced analytics to maximize the impact of translational research

The UR CTSI provides researchers with access to, and analysis of, the data they need to answer key questions in their fields. The branch helps researchers discover cohorts of patients to recruit for clinical studies or whose existing medical records can help answer research questions. It also helps researchers plan and manage the collection, storage and analysis of their own data. This year, we have expanded our services to support the integration of basic science and clinical healthcare data for basic, clinical and population health studies, while also tying the university into data sources from across the CTSA Program.

As we enter our 13th year of continuous funding, we are excited and proud to truly be the clinical research engine for the University of Rochester Medical Center and the many communities that we serve.

Nancy M. Bennett, MD, MS

Martin S. Zand, MD, PhD

UR CTSI Annual Report 2017–18

3

Headlines The 2017 – 2018 fiscal year was full of amazing developments and advances that elevated the profile of the UR CTSI on both local and national levels. Here are a few of our biggest headlines from the past year.

Martin Zand Steps Up to Lead Clinical Research at URMC Martin Zand, MD, PhD, recently added senior associate dean for Clinical Research to his long list of leadership roles at the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC).

Zand, who also co-directs the University of Rochester Clinical and Translational Science Institute (UR CTSI) and its new Center for Leading Innovation and Collaboration (CLIC), took up the new post on August 1, 2018, with approval from the University’s Board of Trustees.

Also a professor of Nephrology and Public Health Sciences at URMC, Zand has worn many hats, ranging from clinician to biomedical researcher and data scientist. He is an internationally recognized expert in solid organ transplant immunobiology – studying how the immune system responds to transplanted organs – and his clinical practice focuses on holistic care of kidney transplant patients. As a data scientist, he aims to understand and improve influenza vaccination, population health and healthcare delivery.

“Martin was a natural choice for this position,” said Mark B. Taubman, MD, dean of the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry and CEO of URMC. “He is perfectly positioned, through his intersecting clinical and scientific interests, to guide and support the University’s clinical research efforts.”

As senior associate dean for Clinical Research, Zand will bolster

4

UR CTSI Annual Report 2017–18

ongoing efforts to boost the number and quality of clinical trials conducted at URMC. This includes establishing the new Office of Clinical Research, which will speed start-up times for clinical trials and improve management and analysis of trial data. These efforts will help URMC answer clinical research questions faster and offer patients cutting-edge therapies and opportunities to participate in health research sooner.

“Martin’s expertise is exactly what we need to invigorate our clinical research programs at the Medical Center,” said Stephen Dewhurst, PhD, vice dean for Research at URMC. “We’re confident his efforts will allow us to offer new clinical trials and advance our understanding of diseases as well as promising treatments.”

In addition to starting up the new Office of Clinical Research, Zand plans to create a data ecosystem that integrates laboratory and clinical data; support clinical researchers by ensuring they have more time available to conduct research; and improve how we implement treatments and therapies.

“I am excited to take on this new role,” said Zand. “We want our patients and community members to have access to the best clinical trials, right here in Rochester, and I’m honored to be able to lead that effort.”

Zand’s dovetailing roles as senior associate dean for Clinical Research and co-director of the UR CTSI and

Newly appointed senior associate dean for Clinical Research Martin Zand, MD, PhD, hopes to increase the number of high-impact clinical trials at the University of Rochester Medical Center, providing more opportunities for patients to participate in and benefit from research.

CLIC will offer URMC faculty greater access to clinical and translational research resources and collaborators across the nation.

Jill Halterman, MD, MPH, chief of General Pediatrics at URMC, who preceded Zand in this role, is now pursuing new opportunities to expand her nationally recognized clinical research program in childhood asthma.

Headlines UR CTSI Awarded $19 Million to Coordinate National Clinical and Translational Science Program The University of Rochester Clinical and Translational Science Institute (UR CTSI) was awarded $19 million from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in July of 2017 to coordinate a network of more than 50 of the top biomedical research institutions in the country. The network, which is part of the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), aims to help researchers turn scientific discoveries into health benefits faster.

The grant, which led to the hire of 16 new personnel, came only one year after the UR CTSI was awarded a previous $19 million grant to continue its efforts to foster research spanning from molecules to populations.

Since its inception, the UR CTSI has received nearly $97 million from the NIH, and in turn, has supported 333 trainees and researchers who have gone on to secure an additional $125 million in external funding.

The University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) was one of the first 12 institutions in the nation to receive funding from the Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSA) Program, which was established by the NIH in 2006 to reduce the time it takes for drugs, medical devices or therapeutic interventions to reach patients and populations in need.

The program supports biomedical researchers by providing infrastructure, training and resources that make it easier for biomedical scientists to move their research forward.

“The UR CTSI has been the cornerstone of URMC’s commitment to use biomedical research to improve the lives of patients,” said Mark Taubman, MD, URMC CEO and dean of the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry. “This grant allows the UR CTSI to increase not

only its own impact, but the impact of over 50 of the nation’s top biomedical institutions working to bring new knowledge to everyday care.”

CTSA Program funding helped create the UR CTSI and was the catalyst that led to the construction of a new home for clinical and translational research at the medical center.

The Saunders Research Building, which was completed in 2011 with $50 million in support from New York State, was named in recognition of E. Phillip Saunders, whose generous $10 million gift to the UR CTSI has been instrumental in fostering muscular dystrophy, cancer and translational biomedical research.

In the CTSA Program’s infancy, member institutions worked largely independently and best practices or resources developed at one institution were not easily transferred to the others as was originally intended. Amid calls from Congress, NCATS established funding for a CTSA Program Coordinating Center to facilitate collaboration among awarded institutions.

“With this $19 million coordinating center grant, we were able to build upon the foundation of the original CTSA Program coordinating center led

by Vanderbilt University to establish the Center for Leading Innovation and Collaboration (CLIC),” said Martin Zand, MD, PhD, senior associate dean for Clinical Research at URMC and co-director of the UR CTSI and CLIC. The CLIC’s goal is to serve the CTSA Program through coordination, transparent communication, actionable metrics, network analytics and innovative collaboration tools so that CTSA Program hubs can share data and educational materials, track their successes, and communicate and collaborate easily. Additionally, the CLIC aims to help

“This grant allows the UR CTSI to increase not only its own impact, but the impact of over 50 of the nation’s top biomedical institutions working to bring new knowledge to everyday care.”

– Mark Taubman, PhD

UR CTSI Annual Report 2017–18

5

Headlines communicate the importance and impact of the CTSA Program to external stakeholders such as government entities and taxpayers who fund the program, as well as community members whose health is directly impacted by the discoveries and treatments implemented through the program.

“The purpose of the CTSA Program is to speed medical and population heath interventions to people who need them. No single institution can do this alone, so we must create ways to easily access and leverage each other’s resources, tools and expertise,” said Nancy M. Bennett, MD, MS, UR CTSI co-director and director of the Center for Community Health and Prevention at URMC.

Since it was founded in July of 2017, the CLIC has established a web presence (clic-ctsa.org), expanded upon an existing initiative to capture and use data about CTSA Program efforts to maximize their impact, coordinated and hosted program meetings and “Un-Meetings,” and taken a variety of other steps to foster communication and collaboration around the CTSA Program consortium.

“Serving as the coordinating center for the CTSA Program allows us to play a pivotal role in advancing translational science,” said Deborah J. Ossip PhD, CLIC co-director and professor of Public Health Sciences at URMC. “Our dedicated CLIC team is continually exploring innovative approaches to create and highlight synergies across the CTSA Program that will ultimately advance the goal of bringing more treatments to more people more quickly.”

Top: Martin Zand, MD, PhD, and Deborah J. Ossip, PhD, describe their plans for the CLIC at a press conference announcing the center’s funding.

Middle: Nancy M. Bennett, MD, addresses the crowd to explain what the new funding will mean for the UR CTSI and University of Rochester communities.

Bottom: In the summer of 2018, the CLIC hosted its first unstructured scientific meeting, or “Un-Meeting,” to address the growing opioid crisis. Over 100 researchers, doctors and public health professionals gathered at URMC to network, brainstorm and develop new avenues of research to tackle opioid-related issues.

Photos by John Schlia.

6

UR CTSI Annual Report 2017–18

Education The UR CTSI has educational programs for all members of research teams: faculty, staff and pre-and post-doctoral trainees. Our programs include the Mentored Career Development Program for earlycareer faculty, the Translational Biomedical Science PhD Program, the Academic Research Track for medical students, and the new Population Health Research Postdoctoral Fellowship.

Learn About Translational Science Online Through the UR CTSI In the wake of major national efforts to promote translational science, the University of Rochester Clinical and Translational Science Institute (UR CTSI) developed one of the first massive open online courses, also called MOOCs, focused on the topic.

The Introduction to Translational Science (bit.ly/TransSciMOOC) course is available on Coursera, an educational program platform that provides universal access to online courses from top universities and organizations the world over.

The course provides students with a broad understanding of clinical and translational science and how it impacts the public at large as well as the potential of translational science to break down or bypass obstacles in clinical research. Six modules focusing on different phases of the translational research continuum (from molecules to populations) are taught over a three-week period. Each module includes investigator stories from notable researchers across the University of Rochester, including: •

•

Targeting hematopoietic (blood) stem cells for therapeutic benefit in humans, presented by Laura Calvi, MD, professor of Medicine at the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC); Using new imaging techniques to

Research at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry; •

diagnose and treat cancer, presented by Marvin Doyley, PhD, associate professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Rochester Hajim School of Engineering and Applied Sciences; •

Monitoring the health of Parkinson’s disease patients remotely with the mPower mobile app and clinical study, presented by E. Ray Dorsey, MD, MBA, professor of Neurology at URMC;

•

Science policy and the creation of the Rochester Healthy Home museum, presented by Katrina Smith Korfmacher, PhD, policy scientist and associate professor of Environmental Medicine at URMC;

•

HIV vaccine development at URMC’s Center for AIDS Research, presented by Stephen Dewhurst, PhD, vice dean for

Intimate partner violence research, presented by John Cullen, PhD, director of Diversity and Inclusion at UR CTSI, and assistant director of the University of Rochester Susan B. Anthony Center.

The course was created by Sarah Peyre, EdD, associate dean for Innovative Education at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, and Eric Fredericksen, MBA, EdD, associate vice president of Online Learning and associate professor in Educational Leadership at the University of Rochester Warner School of Education. Michael “Skooter” Capehart provided video production services, and Nicole O’Dell, MLS, assisted with course creation and educational design support.

Since its launch in September 2017, more than 1,000 learners from around the world have enrolled in the Introduction to Translational Science course - and that number grows each week.

Check it out for yourself (for free) at bit.ly/TransSciMOOC

UR CTSI Annual Report 2017–18

7

Education A Conversation With Future Physician-Scientists: UR CTSI’s Academic Research Track Turns Medical Students into Researchers Over several decades, concerns have risen about the declining number of physician-scientists, with reports pointing to early career training and support as a possible solution. The University of Rochester Clinical and Translational Science Institute’s (UR CTSI) Academic Research Track, which allows medical students to try their hands at research, has helped two University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry students take the next step toward a research career: joining an MD-PhD program.

Ian De Andrea-Lazarus and Samuel Weisenthal, The University of Rochester Medical Scientist Training Program 2017 joined the University of Rochester Medical Scientist incoming class, with former UR CTSI Academic Research Track participants Training Program after finishing their Academic Samuel Weisenthal and Ian De Andrea-Lazarus (far right).

Research Track projects. This is a move that a new study from the Association of American Medical Colleges suggests will help them stay in science. The study tracked MDPhD program graduates over 50 years and showed that most stuck with their research careers.

Ian and Sam explain what drove them to pursue careers as physician-scientists.

Why did you join the UR CTSI’s Academic Research Track?

Ian: I’ve always craved knowledge and enjoy the challenge of pushing the boundaries of existing human knowledge. I had several years of research experience before applying for medical school – as an undergraduate research assistant in the Linguistics Department at Gallaudet University and as a post-baccalaureate fellow at the National Cancer Institute (NCI). For two years, I worked in the Laboratory of Cancer Biology and Genetics at NCI, studying a non-selective cation channel found mainly in the peripheral nervous system that is involved in the transmission and modulation of pain.

8

UR CTSI Annual Report 2017–18

Sam: Like Ian, I was inspired by my time as a post-baccalaureate trainee at the National Institutes of Health, where I worked for a year in a computational radiology lab. I also had a great time doing a summer research project in health informatics at Rochester. I joined the Academic Research Track because I wanted to study the vast amount of data being collected through the electronic health record. In a single year, the University of Rochester Medical Center alone accrues more than two terabytes of non-image data (a lot). I was particularly interested in how this data could be used to predict – and hopefully help prevent – adverse health events in patients.

How did your experience in the Academic Research Track drive you to join the University of Rochester Medical Scientist Training Program?

Ian: I had originally wanted to apply for the University of Rochester Medical Scientist Training Program but I was afraid that my application would not be competitive enough. The Academic Research Track was the bridge that allowed me to pursue my goal of becoming a physician-scientist and reinvigorated my interest in research.

The program allowed me to obtain a master’s degree in Public Health along with the tools and drive I needed to apply for the MD-PhD program.

Physician-scientists are integral to biomedical research, offering a fresh perspective that draws on their first-hand experience with patients.

The UR CTSI is devoted to training the next generation of clinical and translational researchers, including physician-scientists.

Sam: I had also previously considered an MD-PhD program, but did not have a cohesive story to tell in an application. The Academic Research Track year allowed me to obtain a master’s degree in Data Science from the Goergen Institute for Data Science at the University of Rochester, which provided a foundation for more advanced study. It also helped me discover the UR CTSI’s Translational Biomedical Science PhD Program and fully engage in a research project in a great lab.

Ian: We explored the association between low levels of lead in the serum of 3- to 5-year-old children and their mental capacity to focus attention, remember instructions, and juggle multiple tasks. We used a well-characterized tool for assessing these mental executive functions in children, called the Stroop day-night task, but found that the tool may not be sensitive enough to detect lead’s effects on neurodevelopment.

What did you study during the Academic Research Track program?

Sam: I am pursuing a joint degree between the Translational Biomedical Sciences PhD Program and Computer Science Department, with Computer Science as a minor. This includes select coursework in computer science, biostatistics and medicine. My research focus is a continuation of my Academic Research Track project with Martin Zand, MD, PhD, senior associate dean for Clinical Research at the Medical Center and co-director of the UR CTSI. Our goal is to improve acute kidney injury prediction by reformulating the standard approach and performing more rigorous

Sam: We were initially interested in predicting readmission to the intensive care unit, which is a quality metric used by some hospitals. Ultimately, however, we decided to focus on predicting acute kidney injury, which is common, deadly and sometimes completely preventable with simple interventions like fluid administration or medication review. Insights from our studies could be used to hopefully develop a better predictive tool that could help prevent acute kidney injury in the future.

What are you studying now?

error analysis. Ultimately, we hope to squeeze maximal predictive value out of electronic health record data to assist physicians in making the best decisions for at-risk patients.

Ian: I am pursuing a doctoral degree in the UR CTSI’s Translational Biomedical Sciences PhD Program and working with John Foxe, PhD, Killian J. and Caroline F. Schmitt chair of Neuroscience, and Edward Freedman, PhD, associate professor of Neuroscience, on a mobile brain/body imaging (MoBI) study. We are interested in understanding how the brains of people with decreased cognitive function, like those with Alzheimer’s disease, handle the cognitive demands of multitasking while walking, which requires continuous processing of information about the environment and body position.

UR CTSI Annual Report 2017–18

9

Education Regulatory Science Competition Winners Visit the FDA Each year the University of Rochester Clinical and Translational Science Institute (UR CTSI) hosts a local America’s Got Regulatory Science Talent Competition. The competition, led by Scott Steele, PhD, director of Regulatory Science Programs, and Joan Adamo, PhD, director of the Office of Regulatory Support, is part of a broader initiative to increase awareness and interest in regulatory science among young scientists.

Students in the local competitions at the UR CTSI and the University of Maryland’s Center of Excellence in Regulatory Science Innovation vie for the chance to present their ideas at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Each spring, local competition winners present their ideas on how to overcome a set of regulatory challenges or address one of the FDA’s priority science areas to key players at the FDA. The winners also participate in meetings tailored to their interests, tour the FDA’s research facilities and engage with relevant FDA leaders and

scientists. The event is sponsored by the Office of Regulatory Science and Innovation in the Office of the Chief Scientist at the FDA. 2017 Winners

Carol Linden, PhD, Director of the FDA’s Office of Regulatory Science and Innovation; Rear Adm. Denise Hinton, FDA Chief Scientist; Xiaowen (Cindy) Wang, MS; Joan Adamo, PhD; Scott Steele, PhD.

In 2017, the top two teams from the UR CTSI competition presented their proposals to FDA leaders including Stephen Ostroff, MD, who was the acting commissioner at the time, and discussed research related to their own projects with FDA scientists.

The first-place winner of the UR CTSI’s 2017 competition, Bethany Lennox, a graduate student in the Center for Medical Technology and Innovation at the University of Rochester, presented her plan to make clinical trial results reported on ClinicalTrials.gov more accessible to

the general public. The Simple English Explanation Directive would help consumers understand the scope, design and impact of clinical trials registered on ClinicalTrials.gov, by requiring clinical trial sponsors to provide a brief study description in plain language up front. This could not only help consumers find studies to participate in, but also help doctors and industry professionals stay abreast of new treatment options for patients and spark collaborations.

UR CTSI STAFF HIGHLIGHT

Scott Steele Selected to Serve on FDA’s Science Board Scott Steele, PhD, director of Regulatory Science Programs at the University of Rochester Clinical and Translational Science Institute (UR CTSI) was selected to serve on the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Science Board in 2017. The Board provides advice to the FDA commissioner and other FDA officials on issues like gene editing or regulation of opioids and aims to help the FDA keep pace with technical and scientific developments, along with providing input on the Agency’s research programs.

10

UR CTSI Annual Report 2017–18

The Science Board relies on members with diverse expertise to review and advise on a broad spectrum of topics. Steele has focused on issues of science policy, public health preparedness, public-private partnerships, translational research and education throughout his career and has a special interest in precision medicine, making him an excellent, well-rounded addition to the board.

Steele, who is also an associate professor of Public Health Sciences at the University of Rochester Medical Center, now serves as one of the Science Board’s 21 voting members.

The second-place team Kerry Donnelly and Brittany Garrison, both graduate students in the Center for Medical Technology and Innovation at the University of Rochester, proposed a streamlined process for ensuring the safety of personalized 3D-printed medical device implants. The process would include using a special software to identify the weakest component of a personalized device and printing a duplicate for destructive testing.

2018 Winner The UR CTSI’s 2018 first-place winner, Xiaowen (Cindy) Wang, MS, a graduate student of Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology and Physiology at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, proposed a drug repurposing database. The database could help identify new uses of FDA-approved drugs in hopes of promoting new research directions, novel clinical trial designs and biomarker identification.

The drug-repurposing database would house molecular and clinical data mined from public sources, including all FDA-approved drugs plus those under investigation for new uses. A self-report portal would enable investigators to submit ongoing drug repurposing studies and analytical tools that would process and analyze chemical structures and signaling pathways, looking for commonalities. Drugs would be classified based on suggested new uses, fostering identification of common chemical characteristics and drug targets. Predictive analytics would suggest promising repurposing candidates for a given use based on structural similarities and/or common signaling pathways.

Translational Biomedical Sciences Graduate Student Awarded for Helping the Blind See Elizabeth “Libby” Saionz, a student in the Translational Biomedical Sciences PhD Program, part of the University of Rochester Clinical and Translational Science Institute, studies ways to reverse stroke-induced blindness. She’s specifically interested in how the timing of visual training after a stroke can impact how much vision patients regain and how good their regained vision is.

Saionz presented her research, conducted in the lab of Krystel Huxlin, PhD, at the Optical Society of America’s 2017 Fall Vision Meeting and received a Young Investigator Award for best student talk.

“I am very proud of Libby,” said Huxlin, who is the associate chair for Research and James V. Aquavella, MD Professor of Ophthalmology at the University of Rochester Medical Center’s Flaum Eye Institute. “She certainly deserved this award against excellent national and international competition.”

Huxlin and members of her lab aim to understand how, and to what extent people can recover vision after brain injuries, like stroke.

Vision loss is a common side effect of stroke and Huxlin’s lab is one of the few teams worldwide to develop rigorous, computer-based visual training to help stroke patients regain vision.

Saionz, who is also in the Medical Scientist Training Program at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, found that patients who started visual training less than three months after their stroke regained complex aspects of vision much faster than patients who started training later. Early trainers took an average of 11 training sessions to regain this rudimentary vision, while late trainers needed 99 sessions to reach the same level of vision recovery.

The moral of Saionz’s research: When it comes to visual training after stroke, the earlier the better.

UR CTSI Annual Report 2017–18

11

Connections The UR CTSI connects researchers with colleagues throughout the University (through the Center for Community Health and Prevention, the Center for Health and Technology, and the Center for Research Implementation and Translation); the surrounding community (through the Greater Rochester Practice-Based Research Network and the UNYTE Translational Research Network); and across the nation (through the Center for Leading Innovation and Collaboration, the Clinical and Translational Science Awards Program, and the Trial Innovation Network).

UR CTSI-led Study Helps Research Centers Assess Community Engagement As healthcare shifts from traditional disease treatment models to broader population health approaches, research teams must engage communities to understand their needs and develop projects that will address issues affecting their well-being. While community engagement is increasingly important, academic health centers struggle to demonstrate the effectiveness of their community-engaged activities.

Researchers at the University of Rochester Clinical and Translational Science Institute (UR CTSI) created and tested a community engagement assessment process to help academic health centers map, track and bolster their community engagement efforts.

Teams at seven other institutions who piloted the tool reported that it was easy to adapt to their needs and helped them identify gaps in their community engagement resources.

The study was led by Karen Vitale, network coordinator in the Center for Community Health and Prevention, and Gail Newton, director of Community Health Partnerships, both at the University of Rochester Medical Center. Participating institutions included: University at Buffalo, Columbia University, Medical College of Wisconsin, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Stanford Univer-

12

UR CTSI Annual Report 2017–18

sity School of Medicine, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, and University of Minnesota.

The community engagement assessment included two self-assessment surveys: The Institutional Community Engagement Self-Assessment, which was developed at UR CTSI helps institutions map their community engagement activities by structure, process, and outcome measures. This assessment helps put each institution’s community engagement activities into context and creates a baseline for tracking their progress over time.

The Community-Campus Partnerships for Health Self-Assessment identifies existing resources for community engagement. Institutions evaluate the level of commitment to community engagement of their leadership, faculty, students and community. It also assesses the institution’s capacity for community engagement scholarship and identifies opportunities for action.

Almost all of the participating health centers identified shortcomings in their community engagement strategies, including inadequate promotion and use of existing resources and prioritizing institutional needs over those of the community. All eight institutions found the tool useful and

adaptable, and all had plans to improve their community engagement efforts based on the survey results.

At the time of study follow up, some teams already had plans in motion to improve how they track community engagement activities.

Vitale and Newton are optimistic that this tool can help more academic health centers fortify their connections to their surrounding communities in the future.

Connections Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Scientists From Around the US Gather in Rochester Deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals are vastly underrepresented in biomedical fields, making networking and mentorship difficult. University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) and Rochester Institute of Technology’s National Technical Institute for the Deaf (RIT/NTID) drew one of the largest groups of Deaf and hard-ofhearing scientists in the nation at the first Rochester Summer Research Training Institute with Deaf and Hard-ofHearing Scientists and Their Mentors.

The three-day conference, which took place in the summer of 2017, was a new approach for breaking down barriers to mentorship, bringing Deaf and hard-of-hearing scientists together from across the nation.

“I was especially impressed by the interaction and dialogue between students, postdoctoral trainees, junior faculty and top national figures,” said Stephen Dewhurst, PhD, vice dean for Research at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry.

“This kind of exchange and networking is exactly what we wanted to encourage when we set out to plan this meeting.”

The meeting featured a keynote address from Carol Padden, PhD, dean of Social Sciences and Sanford I. Berman Endowed Professor of Communication in the Center for Research in Language at University of California, San Diego.

“I received my PhD in 1983 and there were so few of us in graduate school we had to look out for each other,” said Padden. “Now at this

Joshua Mora; Tiffany Panko, MD; Marlene Elliot; Camille Martina, PhD; PJ Simpson-Haidaris, PhD; Valene Przybylo-Souky; Lorne Farovitch; Wyatte Hall, PhD. Photo by Jeff Witherow.

conference I’m so impressed at how many Deaf students are pursuing doctoral and medical degrees. So many more and so many different fields, it is astonishing.”

The Rochester Summer Research Institute, which was held at the University of Rochester Medical Center, drew 85 participants. Undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral trainees, as well as faculty and staff from across the country came together at this conference to network, learn from one another, and raise the profile of Deaf scientists.

“It was inspiring to witness young Deaf and hard-of-hearing scientists meet each other for the first time and make connections,” said Peter Hauser, PhD, director of the NTID Center on Cognition and Language and the Rochester Bridges to the Doctorate Program. “Many felt isolated in their

fields and were able to share their experiences. I believe the resources they learned at the conference will help them overcome future challenges and navigate science successfully.”

The program also included an interactive poster session, small group breakout sessions, and keynote speeches from Charlene E. Le Fauve, PhD, senior advisor to the Chief Officer for Scientific Workforce Diversity at the National Institutes of Health; and Caroline Solomon, PhD, chair of the Faculty Senate and professor of Biology at Gallaudet University.

The event was supported by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences and by the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry.

The University of Rochester Clinical and Translational Science Institute supports training of Deaf and hard-of-hearing scientists through the Rochester Bridges to the Doctorate program and the Rochester Postdoc Partnership.

UR CTSI Annual Report 2017–18

13

Connections Professional Society that Deborah Ossip Helped Grow Recognizes Her for Outstanding Research on Nicotine & Tobacco In November of 2017, the Society for Research on Nicotine & Tobacco (SRNT), named Deborah J. Ossip, PhD, one of its 2017 Fellows. The SRNT Fellows Program, which was started in 2016, recognizes society members who have made outstanding contributions to nicotine and tobacco research and have been consistently and actively engaged in the SRNT. Ossip, who is a co-director of the Center for Leading Innovation and Collaboration at the University of Rochester Clinical and Translational Science Institute, and professor of Public Health at the University of Rochester Medical Center, previously served as president of the SRNT. She has been helping people quit using tobacco for several decades through behavioral research and community outreach. She started studying tobacco use and cessation in 1980, conducting one of the original two trials that led to the national Quitline infrastructure, which includes the NYS Smokers’ Quitline (1-866-NY-Quits).

Her current work focuses on translating basic science findings to practical use in population health. She has been examining secondhand smoke exposure of pregnant women across three Latin American and Caribbean countries, and working on a clinical trial of safe sleep, infant feeding, tobacco cessation and secondhand smoke reduction in low-income pregnant women.

During Ossip’s tenure as SRNT president, the society grew to over 1,200 members from 40 countries, with over 80 percent involved in at least one of its eight professional development networks that range in topic from basic science to global health. She brings her experience in cross-network collaboration and engagement to her role as co-director of the Center for Leading Innovation and Collaboration, the coordinating center for the national Clinical and Translational Science Awards Program.

14

UR CTSI Annual Report 2017–18

Resources The UR CTSI offers an annual Pilot Study Program, providing faculty and trainees one year of seed funding ($25,000 to $50,000) for highly innovative pilot projects; an Incubator Program, supporting two-year “super-pilot” projects for up to $250,000; Regulatory Support Services; Informatics Consultations; and a Research Help Desk.

Do Lifesaving Drugs Damage HIV Patients’ Brains?

Some research suggests that lifesaving HIV drugs could damage patients’ brains, but early results from a clinical study conducted at the University of Rochester Clinical and Translational Science Institute’s (UR CTSI) Clinical Research Center suggests the opposite. Short-term use of combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) drugs improved mental function in HIV-infected individuals.

Giovanni Schifitto, MD, MS, professor of Neurology at the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) and director of the UR CTSI’s Clinical Research Center, leads the clinical trial, which aims to understand the short- and long-term effects of cART on HIV patients’ brains. So far, the therapy appears to improve mental performance and functional connectivity in the brain with shortterm use.

HIV patients often experience mental decline ranging from mild impairment to full-blown dementia.

Experts have long debated the cause of that mental decline: HIV itself, or the drug used to treat it.

While some of the first HIV drugs caused damage to peripheral

nerves, newer antiretroviral drugs are believed to be safer. But patients taking these drugs continue to experience mental impairment – even when they have very little virus in their blood. Some studies have even shown improvement in HIV patients’ mental function when they stop using cART. “But those studies were very indirect,” said Schifitto. “They studied cohorts of people who were already on medications, which makes it very hard to pull apart whether the virus or the drug is to blame for effects in the brain.”

Schifitto’s study, on the other hand, followed 17 HIV-infected individuals who had not received any treatment prior to the study. These patients scored worse on mental function tests and brain imaging revealed fewer connections in their brains than the HIV-negative control group.

After receiving cART for 12 weeks, the HIV patients’ mental performance and functional brain connectivity improved nearly to the level of the HIV-negative group.

This suggests that short term cART use does not damage the brain, and that the virus is the culprit for HIV patients’ early mental impairment.

However, this was just a first step of the study, which aims to enroll and follow more than 150 participants over two years. It is possible that cART could cause mental decline after

prolonged use and the team wants to track if and when that happens. They are also monitoring sleep, mood and several other factors that can impact mental function in HIV patients taking cART. In the end, the outcomes of the short- and long-term studies may help healthcare providers tailor cART cocktails and treatment schedules to individual patients’ needs. The results could also have implications for preventative use of cART in individuals who are at high risk for contracting HIV, a practice called pre-exposure prophylaxis, commonly call PrEP. While the study started at URMC, it now includes study sites at Cornell Medical Imaging Center, Gay Men’s Health Crisis, SUNY Upstate Medical, University at Buffalo and University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston.

UR CTSI Annual Report 2017–18

15

Resources The Bugs in Your Gut Could Make You Weak in the Knees A UR CTSI Incubator Project Links the Obese Microbiome to Osteoarthritis Bacteria in the gut, known as the gut microbiome, could be the culprit behind arthritis and joint pain that plagues people who are obese, according to a study born out of an Incubator project funded by the University of Rochester Clinical and Translational Science Institute (UR CTSI).

Osteoarthritis, a common side effect of obesity, is the greatest cause of disability in the US, affecting 31 million people. Sometimes called “wear and tear” arthritis, osteoarthritis in people who are obese was long assumed to simply be a consequence of undue stress on joints. But researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) provided the first evidence that bacteria in the gut – governed by diet – could be the key driving force behind the joint disease.

The scientists found that obese mice had more harmful bacteria in their guts, which caused inflammation throughout their bodies, leading to very rapid joint deterioration. While a common fiber supplement did not help the mice shed weight, it completely reversed the other symptoms, making the guts and joints of obese mice look like those of lean mice.

What a Western, High-Fat Diet Can Do

The team, led by Michael Zuscik, PhD, associate professor of Orthopaedics in URMC’s Center for Musculoskeletal Research, Robert Mooney, PhD, professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at URMC, and Steven Gill, PhD, associate professor of Microbiology and Immunology at URMC, fed mice a high-fat diet akin to a Western ‘cheeseburger and milkshake’ diet.

Just 12 weeks of the high-fat diet made mice obese and diabetic, with guts dominated by pro-inflammatory bacteria

16

UR CTSI Annual Report 2017–18

“Support from the UR CTSI, which has been transformative for our research, really sets the stage for us to open up a whole new avenue of research focusing on gut microbiomeskeletal connections.” – Michael Zuscik, PhD and almost completely lacking beneficial Bifidobacteria, the probiotic bacteria often added to yogurt. The obese mice showed greater signs of inflammation and their osteoarthritis (induced with a common meniscal tear) progressed much more quickly than in lean mice.

Can You Eat Your Cake and Protect Your Joints, Too?

Surprisingly, a common prebiotic fiber, called olligofructose, completely prevented the negative effects of the highfat diet. Feeding the fiber to the mice along with the high-fat diet normalized gut bacteria, reduced inflammation and slowed osteoarthritis.

The key, the researchers think, is that prebiotics like oligofructose cannot be digested by rodents or humans, but are a welcome treat for certain types of beneficial gut bacteria, like Bifidobacteria.

Feeding mice oligofructose might help good bacteria grow and crowd out bad, pro-inflammatory bacteria.

Before You Head to the Vitamin Shop

Though there are parallels between mouse and human microbiomes, the bacteria that protected mice from obesity-related osteoarthritis may differ from the bacteria that could help humans.

Zuscik, Mooney and Gill aim to collaborate with researchers in the Military and Veteran Microbiome: Consortium

for Research and Education at the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs to move this research into humans.

The team hopes to compare veterans who have obesity-related osteoarthritis to those who don’t, to further identify the connections between gut microbes and joint health. They also hope to test whether prebiotic or probiotic supplements that shape the gut microbiome can have similar effects in osteoarthritic veterans as they did in mice.

Resources The Genetics of Obesity: From a UR CTSI Postdoc to a 2018 Pilot Awardee Ying Meng, PhD, RN, a research associate at the University of Rochester School of Nursing, studies how genes can influence weight gain and obesity.

Over the past few years, Meng has developed this line of research through two programs at the University of Rochester Clinical and Translational Science Institute (UR CTSI): the Population Health Research Postdoctoral Fellowship and Pilot Studies Program.

As a UR CTSI Population Health postdoctoral fellow, Meng studied how the diets of mothers-to-be interact with several obesity-related genes to impact weight gain during pregnancy, as gaining too much can lead to obesity and negative health outcomes later in life for both moms and babies.

Meng’s postdoctoral research, for which she won a poster award at the Obesity Society’s 2017 Annual Scientific Meeting, showed that pregnant mothers’ fat intake could modify the effect of a specific obesity-related gene. Women who consumed a highfat diet gained more weight during pregnancy if they carried a specific genotype.

Her study points to the importance of understanding interactions between diet and genes to create personalized weight management programs for pregnant women who may be at risk for excessive weight gain during pregnancy.

Now, Meng is conducting a pilot project with funding from the UR CTSI to understand the relationship between addiction-related genes and obesity. The brain’s food reward system which considerably overlaps with the reward circuitry for substance addiction, is responsible for overeating – especially sweet and fatty food.

The reward for such palatable food can override normal appetite signals, leading people to eat more than they need.

We do not yet know which genes might be linked to food reward circuitry in humans, but Meng hopes to change that. She plans to conduct a large genetic study to see if any addiction-related genes are associated with poor eating habits and obesity in adult and child volunteers.

Though this is just a first step, she hopes identifying a set of genes could help healthcare providers develop new and better approaches to manage obesity.

UR CTSI Annual Report 2017–18

17

Resources Working to Save and Improve Lives at UR CTSI’s Clinical Research Center In May of 2017, Nathaniel Jackson held his baby brother while receiving an infusion of an experimental drug for Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a fatal disease that progressively weakens muscle. His mother hovered over him, afraid the baby would pull out his IV. Half defiantly Nathaniel reassured her, “I can do this.”

A statement that might come from any 10-year-old, but from Nathaniel, it held deeper meaning.

Nathaniel was diagnosed with Duchenne when he was 5 years old.

Over the years, he has gradually lost his ability to do many things, including climbing stairs. Most children with Duchenne are confined to a wheelchair by their teens and most will not live past 30.

With no disease-altering therapies currently available, this clinical trial, conducted at the University of Rochester Clinical and Translational Science Institute’s (UR CTSI) Clinical Research Center, offers hope to Nathaniel and his family.

The Clinical Research Center commonly carries over 100 studies at a time that aim to cure, prevent or better diagnose a whole host of diseases. From testing new drugs for Duchenne, to understanding the cause of mental decline in HIV patients, the Center and its staff are integral to a process that offers hope not only to their study participants, but to millions of people suffering with these diseases around the world.

The Center employs a highly-trained staff of research coordinators and nurses and offers space dedicated to conducting clinical trials, conveniently located in the heart of the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC).

“We are lucky to have a resource like the Clinical Research Center,”

18

UR CTSI Annual Report 2017–18

said Giovanni Schifitto, MD, MS, director of the Clinical Research Center and professor of Neurology at URMC. “There are institutions that don’t have such a resource and therefore cannot do certain studies.”

Nathaniel and his mother, Melanie Jackson, are also grateful to have the Center so close to their home in the city of Rochester.

“If we didn’t have the Clinical Research Center, we would probably have to go to Columbus, OH – at least hours away, and that would be very hard,” said Jackson. “I’m glad we live in a city where they can accommodate [Nathaniel].”

On the other hand, clinical trial participants come from far and wide to take part in studies conducted here, like Michael Jones, a resident of Oakland, PA. Jones travels two hours to the Center to participate in studies that aim to understand his rare disease, Facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD), which also causes muscle to progressively deteriorate, but is less aggressive than Duchenne.

Michael started coming to the Center when he was diagnosed with FSHD at 12 years old. For the last few years, he has been coming to the Center to participate in clinical trials that mostly help researchers understand FSHD. Michael hopes that his participation in these trials will not just benefit himself, but will help find a cure that can benefit all people dealing with the disease.

“I’ve got an 8-year-old son,” said Michael, “so hopefully they’ll find something so that if he does have this, they can cure it for him.”

Moving Clinical Trials Forward While the Clinical Research Center aids the implementation phase of a trial, the UR CTSI also offers help with designing trials, navigating regulatory processes, recruiting diverse participants, training study personnel and managing clinical data. The UR CTSI is also part of the Trials Innovation Network, a national network that aims to reduce clinical trial start up times and helps recruit research participants from across the nation. Being a part of this national network helps the UR CTSI provide more opportunities for the local community to participate in potentially life-saving clinical trials.

These resources help move research forward and put URMC at the forefront of biomedical research. The UR CTSI aims to give our dedicated researchers the tools to prevent, treat and end debilitating diseases to improve the lives of the millions of people suffering around the world.

Diversity & Inclusion The UR CTSI is committed to fostering an inclusive and diverse environment for biomedical researchers and health research volunteers at the University of Rochester Medical Center and beyond. We collaborate with other offices across the University to recruit and mentor underrepresented researchers and trainees, provide education on unconscious bias and engage our diverse local community in all stages of clinical research.

UR CTSI Aids Medical Center in Community Health and Health Equity Initiative In 2017, the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) was selected by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) to be one of eight institutions to join an effort to improve the health and health equity of communities nationwide.

The University of Rochester Clinical and Translational Science Institute (UR CTSI) has been involved in the initiative and played a role in the medical center’s selection with its work to promote community engagement and inclusion of diverse populations in health research.

The three-year initiative, Building a Systems Approach to Community Health and Health Equity, aims to support the community health activities of the nation’s academic medical centers as they coordinate their efforts into effective systems. In the past year, the URMC team has begun mapping community- and patient-health promoting activities at URMC and identifying significant partnerships with participating institutions. Coordinating community-focused efforts will lead to a greater positive impact on patients, communities, learners

and the institution. The initiative also serves as a network through which partner institutions can share successes and lessons to help solve problems found in virtually every community across our nation.

URMC was chosen for this initiative for its history of ongoing, collaborative, institutional efforts across research, clinical and educational missions to address community health disparities. UR Medicine has a robust community health improvement plan developed with other

(Continues next page.)

UR CTSI Annual Report 2017–18

19

Diversity & Inclusion Monroe County hospitals, the health department and community input.

In research, the UR CTSI’s Community Engagement Function gives the community a voice in research and promotes engagement, while the Community Advisory Council helps shape these endeavors. In education, URMC uses creative ways to teach undergraduate and graduate students about community health and health equity.

The AAMC Approach Project seeks to explore opportunities for synergy among these ongoing efforts and to maximize impact on the health of our community.

In the past year, the URMC team has pulled together a giant inventory of ongoing community health-focused projects and research initiatives from around the medical center and identified several key areas. Preventing unplanned pregnancy, a focus area for the UR Medicine community health improvement plan, emerged as an area where many researchers, clinicians, and educators across URMC are focusing their efforts.

The team is analyzing those efforts to find any gaps or duplications and will consult the Rochester community to ensure we are meeting their needs. Ultimately, the team aims to develop a systems approach to the issue by breaking down silos between the many players involved to streamline and synergize their efforts.

The URMC team consists of Theresa Green, PhD, MBA, director of URMC Community Health Education and Policy; Michael D. Mendoza, MD, MPH, associate professor of Family Medicine and Public Health Sciences and director of the Monroe County Department of Health; Linda Chaudron, MD, associate vice president for Inclusion and Culture Development;

Kathy Parrinello, chief operating officer of Strong Memorial Hospital; Diane M. Hartmann, MD, senior associate dean of Graduate Medical Education; and Nancy M. Bennett, MD, MS, UR CTSI co-director and director of the Center for Community Health and Prevention.

UR CTSI STAFF HIGHLIGHT

UR CTSI’s Director of Diversity and Inclusion Appointed to Leadership Role in National Group on Women in Medicine and Science John Cullen, PhD, director of Diversity and Inclusion at the University of Rochester Clinical and Translational Science Institute (UR CTSI), was the first man elected onto the steering committee of the Association of American Medical Colleges’ (AAMC) Group on Women in Medicine and Science (GWIMS), in 2017. The national network, which addresses gender inequity and promotes women’s participation and inclusion in academic medicine, specially appointed Cullen for his unique qualification in two priority areas: male allyship and scientific research.

20

UR CTSI Annual Report 2017–18

As the steering committee’s issue-based representative, Cullen strives to broaden GWIMS’ focus to better address the needs of female biomedical researchers, who tend to have more difficulty getting grant funding, accessing quality mentors and striking a good work-life balance. And he hopes to encourage more men to join GWIMS and partner with women to tackle gender inequity in academic medicine.

“Gender inequity is not just a fight for women – it is a societal issue that will benefit from women and men working together,” said Cullen. “Men ought to be integral partners in the endeavor to advance women in academic medicine.”

Annual Operational Data

FUNDING TO THE UR CTSI 2017–2018

JOB CREATION

38 new positions

LIFETIME*

created in 2017–18

$12,569,915 $96,914,007

Many of these positions support new entities like the Center for Leading Innovation and Collaboration and the Office of Clinical Research.

PILOT & INCUBATOR PROJECT FUNDING

TRAINEE FUNDING

2017–2018

LIFETIME*

2017–2018

LIFETIME*

13 projects funded

172

16 trainees

162

FUNDING TOTAL

FUNDING TOTAL

FUNDING TOTAL

FUNDING TOTAL

$1.2M

$12.9M

projects funded

$553,696 $6,813,979

trainees

TRAINEE/GRANTEE EXTRAMURAL GRANTS

PUBLICATIONS

2017–2018

LIFETIME*

32 extramural grants secured

271

UR CTSI trainees and grantees have published 1,756 publications to date, with 242 in the past year on a wide range of topics:

TOTAL GRANTS/FUNDING

GRANTS/FUNDING TOTAL

extramural grants secured

$15,980,912 $119,803,749

• • • • • •

Lupus Bone and joint health Drug-resistant cancer cells Infant responses to flu vaccines Alzheimer’s disease RNA biology

TO DATE, THE UR CTSI HAS: •

Graduated 8 and enrolled 35 graduate students into its Translational Biomedical Sciences PhD Program

•

Supported a year out for research training for 69 medical students in its Academic Research Track

•

Supported 20 MD-PhD students in URMC’s Medical Scientist Training Program

•

Funded mentored research projects for 36 early career faculty through its Career Development Program

* The UR CTSI was established in 2006.

UR CTSI Annual Report 2017–18

21

What is the UR CTSI? The University of Rochester Clinical and Translational Science Institute (UR CTSI) is the research engine for the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC), helping research teams work faster and better. Investigators, research coordinators and administrators will all find helpful programs and services at the UR CTSI, which is located in URMC’s Saunders Research Building.

Not sure what you need, or how to find it? Contact the Research Help Desk at researchhelp@ urmc.rochester.edu for access to research-related services and expertise provided by the UR CTSI and many other organizations across the University.

Planning a new study? Get a roadmap of helpful services and required approvals.

Need space or experienced staff for your clinical study? The Clinical Research Center has skilled nursing and bionutrition staff, available in the conveniently-located inpatient unit in the main medical center building.

Find out what’s happening! The UR CTSI Weekly Update starts your week off right with researchrelated news, events and funding opportunities. The UR CTSI Stories blog provides useful information on programs, services and more. Follow the UR CTSI on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube.

Check the UR CTSI website, ctsi.urmc.edu, for all the details.

Support our work! Consider making a donation to the UR CTSI at giveto.urmc.edu/ctsi.

Clinical and Translational Science Institute Saunders Research Building, Suite 1.200 265 Crittenden Blvd, | Rochester, NY 14642-0708 (585) 275-0653 | ctsi.urmc.edu |   

22

UR CTSI Annual Report 2017–18