CICATS CEO Dr. Cato Laurencin gave the opening remarks at The Institute for Women’s Health and Leadership’s 2018 Helen I. Moorehead-Laurencin, MD Sex & Gender Research Forum at Drexel University. The interactive forum, held on International Women’s Day, highlighted Drexel’s interdisciplinary research focused on sex and gender in a local, national and global context.

Dr. Laurencin’s inspiring remarks payed tribute to his mother, Helen I. Moorehead-Laurencin, who this event is named after. Moorehead-Laurencin broke down barriers for women in medicine and was known for her passionate commitment to helping people. “She exemplified the best of what altruism and a thrill for knowledge and science can accomplish. She didn’t simply practice medicine, she lived it,” said Dr. Laurencin.

For more information about the conference visit the Drexel University website.

Yinghui Duan, a former CICATS Graduate Assistant, successfully defended her dissertation for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in Public Health on March 16, 2018. Her dissertation is titled “Use of Tamsulosin and the Risk of Psychiatric Disorders among Older Men with Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia: a Retrospective Cohort Study Using Medicare Data from 2006 to 2012.”

CICATS staff member Dr. Helen Wu has published a new research paper that suggests Tamsulosin might increase dementia risk in older men. Her paper appears in the March 2018 edition of Pharmacoepidemiology and Drug Safety. In addition to her paper, the March edition features cover art submitted by Dr. Wu and her co-authors Dr. Yinghui Duan, Dr. James J. Grady and Dr. Peter C. Albertsen.

You can read the abstract, view the entire paper, and read Dr. Wu’s interview with Reuters Health News.

Trisha Kwarko, a former Young Innovative Investigator Program (YIIP) scholar, has received a Dean’s Award from the UConn School of Medicine. This award is given in recognition of two outstanding medical student researchers and their faculty mentors. Awards of $250 each were presented to the four awardees. The awards to faculty mentors will be used for travel to a scientific meeting.

The aim of YIIP is to provide academic training at UConn to underrepresented minority students who are dedicated to pursuing careers as scientists and scholars in biological and biomedical science with the intent of developing the next generation of innovative biomedical scientists and increasing diversity among the pool of academic scientists.

“It was a pleasure to be part of Trisha’s early scientific career and to see her excel during and after her time with YIIP. We continue cheering her on and wish her the best of luck with all of her future endevours,” said Lana Angelo, YIIP Program Coordinator.

Four University of Connecticut employees have been selected as “Women of Inspiration” by the Connecticut Women’s Education and Legal Fund (CWEALF). CWEALF is a statewide nonprofit organization that advocates for and empowers women and girls in Connecticut, especially those who are underserved or marginalized. As part of their Women’s History Month celebration, CWEALF will be highlighting one woman of inspiration each day during March 2018 on their social media accounts.

The four UConn employees selected for this honor are:

• Lana Angelo, Program Coordinator for the Young Innovative Investigator Program at the Connecticut Institute for Clinical and Translational Science, for her leadership in mentoring and training underrepresented students interested in biomedical research;
• Sarah McAnulty, Ph.D. candidate in the Nyholm lab, for her pioneering leadership in creating the Skype a Scientist program;
• Jessica McBride, Manager of Research Communications at the Office of the Vice President for Research, University of Connecticut, for her passion and commitment to highlighting innovative research discoveries; and,
• Brandi Welles, Research Assistant at the Southeast HIV and AIDS Research and Evaluation (SHARE) project at the Institute for Collaboration on Health, Intervention, and Policy (InCHIP), for her role in creating positive health outcomes for individuals with HIV and AIDS.

“There are so many women within the University of Connecticut deserving of recognition for their contributions to advancing scientific research, building the educational pipeline and creating better health outcomes for all communities. These four women are truly women of inspiration and I am thrilled to see them highlighted for Women’s History Month,” said Michelle Noehren of the Connecticut Institute for Clinical and Translational Science, who nominated these individuals.

To follow along and learn about each Woman of Inspiration visit CWEALF’s Facebook page.

CICATS congratulates our former intern, Patrick McAllister, on the publication of his new book Highs & Lows of Type 1 Diabetes: The Ultimate Guide for Teens and Young Adults.

Patrick was inspired to write this book because of his own experience as a young adult with Type 1 diabetes. After his diagnosis at the age of 12, McAllister’s life changed forever and he faced an uncertain future of insulin shots, diet regulations, and high school. At the time, he longed for a road map to guide him through the challenges of his diagnosis but he had to learn everything the hard way.

Motivated to help others have a smoother transition after diagnosis, McAllister created the compassionate road map he once wished he had. Whether it is managing mood swings, hormones, or blood sugar levels, Highs & Lows of Type 1 Diabetes is the ultimate young adults handbook for surviving, thriving, and flourishing with Type 1 diabetes during one of the most terrifying, yet exciting, phases of life.

McAllister credits his internship with CICATS for preparing him to write and launch his book. “CICATS was my very first internship. It was the first time I had the freedom and responsibility to learn and work independently. My experiences at CICATS played huge role in the way I approached planning and writing my book. I was undoubtedly more methodical, proactive and confident because of my time there,” he said.

We know his new book will help so many young people and wish him the best as he finishes his studies at Saint Michael’s College and applies to medical school.

Each month CICATS hosts a science cafe with the Kavli Foundation on a different scientific topic. Our science cafe series aims to bring science to members of the community in an engaging and informal way. Our March science cafe will focus on celebrating the successes of CICATS Core Interest Groups (CIGs). Our CIGs are made up of groups of researchers who collaborate on a variety of different issues, including women’s cancers, sickle cell disease, health disparities, child mental health and more.

For this March event, attendees will hear from each of our CIGs about the work they are doing in their respective areas. After the presentations are completed, there will be ample time for members of the public to network directly with these researchers to ask questions and create connections. This event is free and all are invited to attend. Food and beverages will be provided.

Topic: Celebrating Excellence in Research

When: Friday, March 16, 2018, 4:30 – 7 p.m.

Where: Grossman Auditorium, Department of Genetics and Genome Sciences, UConn Health, 400 Farmington Avenue, Farmington, CT

RSVP: Please use this link to RSVP for this science cafe.

For questions please contact Noehren@uchc.edu.

The Connecticut Institute for Clinical and Translational Science (CICATS) announces a call for nomination/application for a third co-Director to work with Julie Robison, PhD and Lisa Barry, PhD, MPH.  Created in 2013, the CICATS Pre-K Career Development Award Program is a 2-year interactive program designed to equip junior faculty with the knowledge and competencies to effectively apply for an NIH Research Career Development Awards (K award) as well as become leaders in clinical and translational science. The position involves co-leading 1.5-hour sessions focused on K Award development and career development, modifying/updating and implementing the curriculum (as necessary), and providing coaching/guidance/grant review to junior faculty who are selected for the Program based on their potential to receive K awards.  The next Scholar Award cycle dates are: July, 2018-June, 2020.

Ten percent (.10 FTE) of the new co-Director’s effort will be supported by CICATS, July 1, 2018 to June 30, 2019. Continuation of this appointment is contingent upon satisfactory performance, availability of funding, and/or programmatic direction.

Applications are now closed.

If you  have questions, please contact Emy Flores at eflores@uchc.edu.

The Connecticut Institute for Clinical and Translational Science (CICATS) at UConn is partnered with the University at Texas at El Paso (UTEP), as a Research Partner institution, on their funded 5-year NIH Building Infrastructure Leading to Diversity (BUILD) Initiative (U54) grant that is aimed at engaging undergraduate students in innovative mentored research training programs. BUILD awards also support institutional and faculty development to further strengthen undergraduate research training environments.

Currently, CICATS is recruiting host faculty members from UConn Health and UConn Storrs to participate in the fourth year of the UTEP BUILDing Summer Sabbatical Program for Faculty. 

About the Summer Sabbatical Program for Faculty
This program provides interested faculty members from UTEP and the BUILDing SCHOLARS Pipeline Partner institutions to collaborate with a host faculty member at one of 13 Research Partner institutions on health-related research during a 10-week summer period (June-August 2018).  Hosts are expected to provide a work space for their faculty mentee, welcome the mentee into their research team/lab, and provide mentorship to the faculty mentee over the summer.  Host faculty members will receive a stipend of $2,000 for accommodating the visiting researcher.  Each visiting researcher will receive a $14,000 stipend to cover housing and travel expenses, as well as an honorarium. This program is an important step towards establishing collaborative ties between the institutions involved and will run all five summers of the grant.  Five awards will be made for summer 2018 and selected faculty will be alerted in late March.

If you are interested in participating, please complete the Summer Sabbatical Program for Faculty Interest Form no later than Thursday, February 15th.

For reference, last year’s awardees are highlighted here.

CICATS CEO Dr. Cato Laurencin is a co-director of the Biomedical Entrepreneurship Course taking place during the Fall of 2018.

Course Details:

• The course will be held Wednesdays, 3:00-6:00 p.m. at the Connecticut Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, 222 Pitkin Street, East Hartford
• The course is presently offered only in the Fall semester.
• Application (available on this page) is required before registration.
• 3-credit course.
• The course is cross-listed in the Schools of Engineering (BME 6086-020) and Business (BADM 5894-011 and MGMT 5895-012).

Teams will be coached by industry experts who address fundamental topics in biomedical entrepreneurship. Students will gain experience that will help them be entrepreneurs in startups or with established firms. Projects will be presented to external experts and teams will be considered for subsequent awards/funding.

This course is designed for graduate students or very advanced undergraduates. It represents a multi-disciplinary effort between the Schools of Engineering, Business, Medicine, Pharmacy, and Liberal Arts and Sciences and will be co-taught by expert faculty from these schools. Interdisciplinary teams will tackle real clinical needs to offer technical solutions and business models that might enable future commercialization.

For more information click here.