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.

CICATS is pleased to be hosting the February Meeting of the Hartford Area SAS Users Group (HASUG). All are invited to attend this free meeting and listen to the featured speakers.

The meeting will take place on Friday, February 23rd from 8:30 a.m. – 12 p.m. in the Grossman Auditorium at the Cell and Genome Sciences Building located at 400 Farmington Ave, Farmington, CT.  Coffee and a light breakfast will be provided. Parking is free, but please park in locations marked as Area 3. When you pull into the driveway, turn right and drive past the building. There is a large parking lot there.

Confirmed seminars:

An Interesting Application of Predictive Modelling in the Health Insurance and Marketing Space, Presenter: Robert Clauss

Texting Mining – Data Prep, Presenter: Bryan Barbera, Performance Manager, Eversource

Moving Towards Asking Causal Questions Through Latent Difference Scores (LDS). A working session on the use of Proc Calis in health disparities research. Presenter: Emil Coman, Ph.D., Research Associate II, Health Disparities Institute, UCONN Health

Case Study of SAS Performance on SSD vs. Traditional Hard Drive, Presenter: ZehuaLaura Xia, Pitney Bowes

To register click here. For questions please contact Dorothy Wakefield at dwakefield@uchc.edu.

From the Office for Human Research Protections (OHRP):

January 17, 2018

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and 15 other federal departments and agencies have announced an Interim Final Rule (IFR) that delays by six months the effective date and general compliance date of the revisions to the “Federal Policy for the Protection of Human Subjects” (also known as the Common Rule) originally published in the Federal Register on January 19, 2017 (82 FR 7149). Most provisions in the revised Common Rule were scheduled to go into effect on January 19, 2018.

The IFR delays the effective date and general compliance date to July 19, 2018, providing regulated entities additional time to prepare to implement these revisions.

The IFR has been put on public display by the Office of the Federal Register and can be accessed at: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2018/01/22/2018-00997/federal-policy-for-the-protection-of-human-subjects-delay-of-the-revisions-to-the-federal-policy-for.

Until July 19, 2018, regulated entities will be required to comply with the pre-2018 Common Rule as published in the 2016 edition of the Code of Federal Regulations (i.e., the Federal Policy for the Protection of Human Subjects, originally published on June 18, 1991, and subsequently amended on June 23, 2005) that can be accessed at: https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CFR-2016-title45-vol1/pdf/CFR-2016-title45-vol1-part46.pdf – PDF
An example of a revised provision that does not conflict with the pre-2018 rule is one that addresses new elements of informed consent (revised rule at §__.116(b)(9), (c)(7)-(9)). It is permissible to incorporate these new elements of consent now because the pre-2018 rule does not prohibit including these elements in informed consent.

An example of a revised provision that conflicts with the pre-2018 rule, and thus could not be implemented prior to July 19, 2018, is the provision eliminating the requirement for continuing review in certain circumstances (as described in the revised rule at §__.109(f)). Because the pre-2018 regulations require continuing review at least annually for all ongoing non-exempt human subjects research, halting continuing review for such research before that date would be considered non-compliance.

The IFR does not delay the compliance date for the cooperative research provision of the revised Common Rule (found at §__114(b)), which remains January 20, 2020.

Federal departments and agencies listed in the IFR are also in the process of developing a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) seeking public comment on a proposal for further delay in the required implementation of the revised Common Rule (for example, until January 21, 2019). If such an NPRM is published, after consideration of the public comments, the federal departments and agencies will determine whether a final rule to further delay the revised Common Rule will be issued.

Original Article

Uconn Today has a new article highlighting the development of a biodegradable pressure sensor that could help doctors monitor chronic lung disease, swelling of the brain, and other medical conditions before dissolving harmlessly in a patient’s body. CICATS is pleased that three of our staff, Dr. Cato Laurencin, Dr. Chia-Ling Kuo and Dr. Kevin Wai Hong Lo, are among of the authors of the corresponding research paper. Additionally, Dr. Thanh Duc Nguyen, the paper’s senior author, is a member of CICATS Biomedical Engineering Core Interest Group.

“We are very excited because this is the first time these biocompatible materials have been used in this way. Medical sensors are often implanted directly into soft tissues and organs,” said Dr. Nguyen. “Taking them out can cause additional damage. We knew that if we could develop a sensor that didn’t require surgery to take it out, that would be really significant.”

To read the full article click here.