Letter from the Co-Directors: Summer 2024

We have lots to celebrate this summer. This past commencement season, we marked the graduation of many UR CTSI-supported students, including nine undergraduates in the Clinical and Translational Sciences major, who represent the second-ever cohort to finish this unique program. Personnel-wise, we are excited to welcome Jin Xiao, DDS, PhD, as the associate director of the KL2 Career Development Program. As a former KL2 scholar herself, Xiao knows firsthand the value of this program for early career researchers.

Thu Le, MD, director of the KL2 Career Development Program, recently accepted a job offer from UC Irvine to become their new chair of Medicine beginning in May of next year. Thu has been an invaluable member of the Department of Medicine, the chief of Nephrology, and our KL2 director, making a lasting impact on the University. She will still be with us through the rest of the academic year, so be sure to congratulate her!

Speaking of the KL2, a recent pilot clinical trial funded in part by a Career Development Award showed promising results around an early, at-home rehabilitation exercise program for patients recovering from a pulmonary embolism. Congratulations to former KL2 scholar Daniel Lachant, DO, on the recent publication in the European Respiratory Journal.

Other UR CTSI programs have long-term successes as well. Wyatte Hall, PHD, now an assistant professor of Public Health Sciences, has been awarded a $3.4 million grant from the National Institute of Deafness and Other Communication Disorders to track language acquisition outcomes of Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing children over five years. Wyatt was the first graduate of the Rochester Postdoc Partnership, a UR-CTSI supported program for Deaf scientists.

Andy Liu, a former research assistant with the Informatics and Analytics Branch, earned the National Student Employee of the Year Award for 2024 in the undergraduate Innovation in Technology category. Liu supported multiple informatics research projects under UR CTSI faculty Dongmei Li, PhD, and staff member Zidian Xie, PhD, before graduating this spring.

The Informatics team is also welcoming Puhua Ye, who is serving in the role of data entry coordinator II. Using AI and large language models, Ye will analyze social media data related to electronic cigarettes to understand the features of social media posts that have high user engagement. The findings will inform efforts to design improved vaping prevention messages that can better engage the public to protect public health. He will also analyze single-cell RNA sequencing and spatial transcriptomics data using advanced deep learning algorithms. Welcome, Puhua!

At the Human Biomolecular Atlas Program (HuBMAP) Consortium All-Hands Meeting in May, Anthony Corbett, MS, lead research data engineer for Informatics, was awarded a Certificate of Recognition for his contributions to the program over the past year.

Karen Vitale, MSEd, operations director of the UR CTSI Population Health Branch, received a UR Star-Meliora Values for Accountability for helping dozens of University employees successfully navigate the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program.

Well done, all!

We are looking ahead to the next stage of UR CTSI’s support for clinical and translational researchers. With our application for a new, seven-year funding cycle under review at NCATS, we are considering changes to both vision and operations to reflect a commitment to translational science and health equity.

“Health equity” means that all people experience their best possible health, and requires addressing barriers such as social injustice, economic disparity, and preventable health conditions. Translational science is a field that reduces or eliminates research barriers and is therefore uniquely suited to address these challenges.

To become a leader in translational science, we will be a participant in and driver of translational science research. This includes expanding our internal research portfolio, collaborating on large-scale translational science projects, and proactively bringing in more funding and grants to support these efforts. However, we will steadfastly remain a service-providing organization for the clinical and translational researchers of the University through our established and ever-improving services, funding, and educational opportunities.

The Translational Science Branch represents one aspect of our anticipated operational shift. The new branch will be home to several funding programs that emphasize and support translational science at the University. However, the branch will not be the sole unit involved in translational science—translational science happens and will happen across the institute in many ways.

We will be discussing these principles and forthcoming operational changes in the year ahead as we await updates on our funding effort. We look forward to sharing more great news and information about our institute’s future soon.

Finally, be sure to save the date for the upcoming Translational Science Day on October 29 at the Saunders Research Building and School of Nursing, which will feature opportunities for researchers, students, and staff to connect, learn, and get what they need to overcome their research barriers.

It is an exciting time to be a part of translational science, and to be a part of UR CTSI. Thank you for taking this journey with us.

Sincerely,

Co-Directors Karen Wilson, MD, MPH, and Martin Zand, MD, PhD

Jonathan Raab | 8/6/2024

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