I am happy to report that the University of Connecticut submitted an Institutional Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) application last week. This is the largest organized grant effort in the history of the university with over 150 faculty members participating throughout the region.
The CTSA program supports a national consortium of medical research institutions that are transforming the way biomedical research is conducted. Its goals are to accelerate the translation of laboratory discoveries into treatments for patients, to engage communities in clinical research efforts, and to train a new generation of clinical and translational researchers.
As the Principal Investigator for the grant, I would like to thank and acknowledge everyone who has been involved in this application for their phenomenal work during the past several months in getting this grant successfully completed and submitted. Especially, I would like to thank the CTSA executive leadership group, the sector directors, core leaders, and my administrative staff listed below. It was a great pleasure working with you in putting together this fine proposal.
Co-Investigators, and CTSA Executive Leadership Group:
Canalis, Ernesto, Co-Investigator
Hesselbrock, Victor M., Co-Investigator
Hurley, Marja, Co-Investigator
Kuchel, George, Co-Investigator
Liu, Edison, Co-Investigator
Oncken, Cheryl, Co-Investigator
Srivastava, Pramod K., Co-Investigator
Sector and Key Core Directors, Co-Directors, and Associate Directors:
Agresta, Thomas, Co-Director, Biomedical Informatics Division
Babor, Thomas, Director, Tracking & Evaluation
Barry, Linda, Associate Director, Pilot and Collaborative Translational and Clinical Studies
Chapman, Audrey R., Co-Director, Clinical Research Ethics
Cherniack, Martin, Co-Director, Gateway
Demurjian, Steven, Co-Director, Biomedical Informatics Division
Ford, Julian, Co-Director, Regulatory Knowledge and Support & Clinical Ethics
Grady, James, Director, Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Research Design Resource
Knaus, William, Director, Biomedical Informatics Division
Lalande, Marc, Chair, Scientific Advisory Board
Liang, Bruce, Co-Chair, Scientific Advisory Board
Makoul, Gregory, Co-Director, Community Engagement, Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center
McCullough, Louise, Co-Director, Clinical and Translational Resources and Services (CTRS)
Nair, Lakshmi S., Associate Director, Gateway
Oncken, Cheryl, Director, Pilot and Collaborative Translational and Clinical Studies
Ruaño, Gualberto, Co-Director, Community Engagement, Hartford Hospital
Schensul, Jean, Co-Director, Community Engagement, Institute for Community Research
Skolnik, Paul, Director, Gateway
Steffens, David, Director, Clinical and Translational Resources and Services (CTRS)
Weller, Sandra, Co-Director, Pilot and Collaborative Translational and Clinical Studies
Wrensford, Granville, Director, Education, Training, and Career Development
Yasnoff, William, Associate Director, Biomedical Informatics Division
CTSA Core Administrative Staff:
Burian, Linda, Regulatory Specialist
Donaldson, Trisha, CICATS Administrative Officer
Schwager, Julie, Director, Research Services
Serra, Debra, CICATS Administrative Program Coordinator
Steciak, Cheryl, CICATS Administrative Coordinator
I am very pleased to announce that Dr. Tao Jiang, CICATS Investigator Advocate and Assistant Professor of Medicine, has been appointed to the faculty of the Institute for Regenerative Engineering. Dr. Jiang received a B.S. in Chemical Engineering in 1999 and an M.S. in Materials Science in 2001, both from Tsinghua University in Beijing.
In early June, I was honored to give a keynote address at the World Biomaterials Congress in Chengdu, China. During my talk, “Hierarchical Nanostructures for Tissue Regeneration,” I highlighted the elegant work done by the Institute for Regenerative Engineering, including my students and fellows. The symposium, Hierarchical 3-Dimensional Structures for Tissue Regeneration, was chaired by my former graduate student, Professor Justin Brown from the Department of Bioengineering, Pennsylvania State University. In addition, Dr. Lakshmi Nair, Dr. Sangamesh Kumbar and Dr. Meng Deng, also from the Institute, gave talks during the symposium. This was my first visit to Chengdu, I was deeply impressed by its natural beauty, as well as its historical and culture treasures. I so appreciated the hospitality provided by the planners. I also want to thank Professor Xingdong Zhang, chairman of the 9th WBC organizing committee, for arranging a wonderful conference.
I was fortunate to be asked to provide a keynote speech for the Second International Conference on Nanotechnology held in Kochi, India. There I was reunited with some of my former students, all of whom are now professors. Swami Sethuranum (left) is the director of the Center for Nanotechnology at SASTRA University near Chennai, India; Dhiru Katti (center) is a leading researcher at the Indian Institute of Technology at Kanpur; and Lakshmi Nair (right) is an outstanding scientist who has been with me since our days at Drexel University in the 1990s. She is currently a core member of the Institute for Regenerative Engineering at the University of Connecticut. All are internationally known for their work in nanotechnology, and all were invited to speak at this conference.
Dr. Lo is a fellow who’s been in my team since 2008. He was born in Hong Kong and received his Ph.D. degree in Biochemistry from Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. Dr. Lo’s research interests include musculoskeletal tissue engineering, drug delivery, regenerative medicine, biomaterials, biochemistry, and cell molecular biology. Dr. Lo has been an outstanding fellow and it’s been great to have the opportunity to mentor him. His research contributions are reflected in his nineteen papers published in high-impact journals which have been highly cited by other investigators. Dr. Lo submitted several grant applications to funding agencies and two of the applications were recently funded. Dr. Lo also serves as an independent reviewer for a number of international peer-review journals.