The abstract submission deadline for Student Research Day is March 26. Check out the new online form and other pertinent information for the April 16 Student Research Day.

The 2014 McGehee Distinguished Lectureship speaker is Tom Caskey, M.D., F.A.C.P., professor of molecular and human genetics at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. Caskey will present “Genome Sequencing Utility in Disease Gene Discovery and Patient Care” at noon in the Wilson Education Building, Room 126.

Contact: Linda Williams, ldwilliams@uams.edu

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Russell Rothman, M.D., M.P.P., an associate professor of medicine and pediatrics and a translational research leader at Vanderbilt University, will present the next UAMS Translational Research Institute Health Literacy Research Grand Rounds on April 4, from noon-1 p.m. in the Fay W. Boozman College of Public Health, Room G219.

Rothman, the principal investigator on several studies addressing literacy and health communication in obesity prevention and diabetes, will present “Addressing Health Literacy and Health Communication in Obesity and Diabetes.”
Lunch will be served to the first 40 attendees. Registration is not required. View a flier about the event.

Rothman is director of the Vanderbilt Center for Health Services Research, associate director of the Vanderbilt Center for Diabetes Translational Research and co-director of the Community Engagement Research Core at the Vanderbilt Institute for Clinical & Translational Research.
He has been funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), American Diabetes Association, the Pfizer Clear Health Communication Initiative, and other sources to examine the role of literacy and numeracy in patients with diabetes and obesity. He has served as a reviewer on the NIH Special Emphasis Panel on Health Literacy and the Pfizer Health Literacy Fellowship Awards. Rothman has been a Pfizer Visiting Professor in Health Literacy at the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
The Health Literacy Grand Rounds series will be broadcast via interactive video to UAMS’ eight Regional Centers (formerly the Area Health Education Centers, AHECs) across the state.
Low health literacy is a significant issue in Arkansas that contributes to higher health care costs and poor health outcomes, said Kristie Hadden, Ph.D., director of health literacy in the UAMS Center for Rural Health and coordinator of the TRI Health Literacy Research Grand Rounds.

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Laura James, M.D., and Cornelia Beck, Ph.D., R.N., are inviting all researchers to bring their ideas as plans for UAMS’ research enterprise are drafted for the next five years.

New TRI Leaders Bring Complementary Research Perspectives

The distinguished research careers of Laura James, M.D., and Cornelia Beck, Ph.D., R.N., have been built at opposite ends of the human lifespan.

James, a pediatrics researcher, and Beck, a geriatrics researcher, had not worked together until they were recently named by Chancellor Dan Rahn, M.D., to leadership posts at the Translational Research Institute (TRI). James is director, while Beck is associate director, and both are co-principal investigators for the Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and its National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS).

“We’re excited to have this opportunity,” said James, a professor in the Department of Pediatrics. “We each bring somewhat different backgrounds that I believe will contribute to a productive partnership for UAMS’ research enterprise.”

James takes the role previously held by Curtis Lowery, M.D., who stepped aside to focus on his duties as chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and director of the Center for Distance Health. Greer Sullivan, M.D., M.S.P.H., who was leading the CTSA application process for TRI, recently accepted a position at the University of California at Riverside School of Medicine.

James and Beck are taking up the mantle to produce a successful application for a second CTSA, which provides comprehensive support for collaborative, multidisciplinary research by investigators in UAMS’ five colleges and Graduate School, UAMS regional centers, and several partner institutions. The current five-year, $19.9 million CTSA expires at the end of March, but it is anticipated that bridge funding will be made available to support the CTSA until the next request for applications is released.

James said one of her goals is to ensure an inclusive approach to the work of TRI.

“I think it’s crucial to hear as many voices as possible as we develop our plans for the next five years,” she said. “All UAMS researchers are invited to participate in the process.”

James’ research career has focused on acetaminophen toxicity and addresses the study of mechanisms and biomarkers of toxicity in animal models and clinical samples. She previously served as the director of the Pediatric Pharmacology Research Unit at Arkansas Children’s Hospital (ACH) and is section chief of Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology at ACH. James also oversees clinical trials in children that are addressing the appropriate and safe use of a number of medications.

Beck is a professor in the Department of Geriatrics and the Louise Hearne Endowed Chair in Dementia and Long-Term Care. She has served as a TRI co-director for the last five years. Her research career has been focused on improving the care of people with Alzheimer’s disease though clinical trials of non-pharmacologic interventions. Beck also is the co-director of the UAMS John A. Hartford Center for Geriatric Nursing Excellence and has been responsible for the research arm of that center for the last 12 years.

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These new funding opportunities were compiled by TRI’s Comparative Effectiveness Research component. The linked document includes an archive page with funding opportunities that are still open.

Applications are being accepted through June 2 for TRI-sponsored KL2 Career Development Awards. Benefits of the two-year program for UAMS junior investigators include:

Up to $52,000 each year for salary support
Up to $25,000 each year in research funds
Travel and graduate-level tuition support
Eligible candidates are those with professional doctorates committed to academic careers in translational research.

View details of the program.

Download TRI’s 2014 Request for Applications.

Contact: behudson@uams.edu.

Laura James, M.D., and Cornelia Beck, Ph.D., R.N., were named this week as director and associate director of the Translational Research Institute. They will also serve as co-principal investigators of UAMS’ Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA).

The two were appointed by Chancellor Dan Rahn, M.D., who noted that the $20 million, five-year CTSA from the National Institutes of Health, one of the largest awards in UAMS history, is up for renewal. The CTSA provides comprehensive support for collaborative, multidisciplinary research by investigators in UAMS’ five colleges and Graduate School, UAMS regional centers, and several partner institutions.

In his announcement, the chancellor expressed his appreciation to Curtis Lowery, M.D., chair of the Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology and director of the Center for Distance Health, who also has served as principal investigator of the CTSA since 2008.

“Curtis is nationally recognized among the CTSA consortium and has worked hard to build an important program that continues to make significant strides at UAMS in improvements to the translational research infrastructure,” Rahn said.

James is a professor in the Department of Pediatrics with a successful research career focusing on acetaminophen toxicity that addresses the study of mechanisms of toxicity and biomarkers of toxicity in animal models and clinical samples. She previously served as the director of the Pediatric Pharmacology Research Unit at Arkansas Children’s Hospital (ACH) and is section chief of Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology at ACH. James also oversees clinical trials in children that are addressing the appropriate and safe use of a number of medications.

Beck is a professor in the Department of Geriatrics and the Louise Hearne Endowed Chair in Dementia and Long-term Care. She has served as a co-director for the TRI for the last five years. Her research career has been focused on improving the care of people with Alzheimer’s disease though clinical trials of non-pharmacologic interventions. Beck also is the co-director of the UAMS John A. Hartford Center for Geriatric Nursing Excellence and has been responsible for the research arm of that center for the last 12 years.

“Please join me in congratulating Laura and Cornelia on their new roles and thanking them and Curtis for their commitment to improving population health through translational research,” Rahn said.

“Training for Community-Engaged Research” will be held Feb. 24, from 1-5 p.m. in the UAMS ED II building, Room 8/121. The training will be conducted by the Arkansas Prevention Research Center’s Community Advisory Board and will include video testimonials, role-playing scenarios and group discussion.

It is designed to help researchers and community members gain insight into each other’s perspectives on community engaged research, and to provoke all participants to think critically and creatively about their roles in the training’s fictionalized scenarios as well as in their daily lives. Register here.

The next Showcase of Medical Discoveries will be March 19 from 4-5:30 p.m., with a focus on Neuroscience. The wine and cheese event in the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute 10th floor rotunda features UAMS investigators discussing their research and discoveries. View a flier about the event.

Til Sturmer, M.D., Ph.D., M.P.H., professor and director of the Center for Pharmacoepidemiology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, will be featured at the next PCORI Methodologies Seminar on Feb. 14 at noon in the College of Public Health, G225.

Sturmer will present “Improving the Validity of Nonexperimental Research on Medical Interventions.”

The seminar series is sponsored by TRI’s Comparative Effectiveness Research component and the College of Pharmacy Pharmaceutical Evaluation and Policy Division. The series’ purpose is to assist investigators with understanding the difficult PCORI methodologies that grant submissions are required to follow.

View the seminar series schedule.

Television and radio stations across Arkansas began airing public service announcements last week thanking Arkansans for their contributions to research at UAMS. The 30-second television and 1-minute radio ads were sponsored by the UAMS Translational Research Institute (TRI) and produced by the Creative Services division of the UAMS Office of Communications & Marketing. The idea for the ads was sparked by TRI’s Community Advisory Board.

TRI covered the minimal production costs, and Communications & Marketing is leveraging its annual contract with the Arkansas Broadcasters Association, whose member stations will deliver upwards of $250,000 worth of free air time for the radio and television spots.

The ads feature two TRI KL2 Scholars, Keneshia Bryant, Ph.D., R.N., F.N.P.-B.C., and Dennis Kuo, M.D., M.P.H., and two UAMS patients: Susan Pruitt of Fort Smith and Jeanette Perkins, R.N., of Little Rock. In addition to expressing gratitude for Arkansans’ participation in research, the ads help brand UAMS as a research institution and invite viewers interested in participating in research to visit www.ResearchMatch.org.

View the television public service announcement.