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Translational Research Institute

Translational Research Institute

UAMS Employees, It’s Time to Nominate Your Community Partners!

UAMS faculty and staff, here’s your chance to have UAMS recognize the work of your community partners! The Translational Research Institute (TRI) will host its sixth annual UAMS Community Partner Celebration on Nov. 16, 2018. This celebration recognizes the outstanding community partners that have helped make our various endeavors possible, whether it involves research, education and training, or services. The deadline for nominations is Friday, Oct. 5, 2018. 

Please click the corresponding link(s) below to nominate your community partner!

The categories are:

Click the corresponding link(s) above to nominate your community partner.

Eligibility Criteria:

  • Submit outstanding community based organizations (CBOs), community advisory boards (CABs), students and institutional partners that have provided invaluable expertise, guidance, and/or support to you on various projects. Patient advisory boards and councils will also be accepted.
  • Nonprofit CBOs that work with “groups of people affiliated by geographic proximity, special interest, or similar situations to address the well-being of those communities” will be recognized at this event.
  • CABs consist of community representatives who advise institutional representatives on issues that affect the public.
  • Institutional partners are defined as non-community based organizations such as state agencies, foundations, and other private organizations.

Only individuals from UAMS, ACH/ACHRI, and the VA are eligible to submit organizations for recognition.

How this works:

  • Submit you nomination by the submission deadline via the REDCap link above. Please contact the TRI CE team with any questions or if you need technical assistance.
  • Award nominees will be reviewed by impartial 3rd party reviewers.
  • Award winner will be recognized and announced at the Community Partner Celebration on November 16, 2018.
  • Additionally, the CE team will contact all nominees to invite them to the celebration and solicit pictures for of their organization that will be featured at the celebration.
  • Individuals may submit multiple nominees and for multiple categories.

Submissions are due October 5, 2018.

For more information contact Rachel Hale at rbhale@uams.edu, 501-526-6628.

ARresearch.org Registry Hits 5,000 Volunteer Milestone

A registry that matches people’s health interests with research studies at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) now has more than 5,000 Arkansans signed up.

Nathaniel Noble of Little Rock joined the ARresearch.org registry and participated in a UAMS research study coordinated by Research Associate Dusio Giuseppina, Ph.D. (right).
Nathaniel Noble of Little Rock joined the ARresearch.org registry and participated in a UAMS research study coordinated by Research Associate Dusio Giuseppina, Ph.D. (right).

The milestone was reached just two years after the registry was created to help address the critical need for research study volunteers.

“Five thousand is significant because now we are reaching a critical mass of volunteers needed to help our researchers meet their study enrollment targets and produce high-quality findings,” said Laura James, M.D., director of the UAMS Translational Research Institute, which established the registry. “We appreciate the tremendous support of our fellow Arkansans. They tell us wherever we recruit that they love UAMS and enthusiastically support our research mission.”

The registry is at ARresearch.org, a UAMS website created by the Translational Research Institute with input from its Community Advisory Board and UAMS patient advisory groups. Registrants select from a list of 29 health interest areas (allergy, heart disease, skin disorders, etc.) so that researchers know who to contact when they have studies in those health areas. Registrants can select as many of the categories as they want.

Studies at UAMS range from clinical trials (investigational drugs and devices) to health-related surveys and tests of health interventions.

One researcher who has found the registry invaluable is John Arthur, M.D., Ph.D., professor and chief of nephrology in the UAMS College of Medicine. Arthur was able to find 31 participants for his research studying bacteria in the gut of chronic kidney disease patients.

Using the ARresearch.org registry, John Arthur, M.D., Ph.D., found 31 Arkansans to participate in his kidney disease study.
Using the ARresearch.org registry, John Arthur, M.D., Ph.D., found 31 Arkansans to participate in his kidney disease study.

“We really couldn’t have conducted this research without the ability to find fairly large numbers of healthy volunteers, and ARresearch has been fabulous for that,” said Arthur, also associate director of the Translational Research Institute. In addition to helping UAMS researchers, the registry is also popular with Arkansans.

Nathaniel Noble, of Little Rock, joined the ARresearch.org registry last year after hearing about it at a Rotary Club luncheon. He checked the “Healthy Volunteer” option on the form and soon received an email from UAMS asking if he would be interested in participating in Arthur’s kidney research study.

“It hit home because my dad was on dialysis the last years of his life,” Noble said. “I felt that I needed to do my part so maybe someone else’s dad won’t have to go through the same experience.”

Noble said his participation was a good experience. “They were very personable and walked me through the tests they were running. Mine was in three parts and they did whatever it took to work around my schedule.”

Anita Rose, of North Little Rock, helped put the registry over the 5,000 mark when she joined during the Back to School Bash at North Little Rock Academy on Aug. 11. She said the word “research” immediately got her attention when she saw the

Anita Rose, of North Little Rock, said her mother's breast cancer inspired her to join the ARresearch.org volunteer registry.
Anita Rose, of North Little Rock, said her mother’s breast cancer inspired her to join the ARresearch.org volunteer registry.

ARresearch.org booth.

“My mom had breast cancer and we need that researched more,” Rose said.

Jean McSweeney, Ph.D., R.N., who led development of ARresearch.org, noted that the registry compares well to the demographics in Arkansas’ census data.

“We’ve worked hard to ensure that we are recruiting a broad pool of registrants, and we are proud to have registrants from all 75 Arkansas counties,” said McSweeney, professor and associate dean for research in the College of Nursing. “I think our success can be attributed in part to the early involvement of community representatives when we were developing ARresearch.”

Nationally, up to 48 percent of research studies fail to meet their enrollment goals and most require twice the amount of time to meet their recruitment goals than originally planned, according to a 2013 Tufts University study. As a result, increasing public participation in research has become a priority for the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The Translational Research Institute represents UAMS as part of a national consortium of Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) Program institutions supported by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) of the NIH.

UAMS is the state’s only health sciences university, with colleges of Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Health Professions and Public Health; a graduate school; hospital; northwest Arkansas regional campus; statewide network of regional centers; and six institutes: the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, Jackson T. Stephens Spine & Neurosciences Institute, Harvey & Bernice Jones Eye Institute, Psychiatric Research Institute, Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging and Translational Research Institute. It is the only adult Level 1 trauma center in the state. UAMS has 2,834 students, 822 medical residents and six dental residents. It is the state’s largest public employer with more than 10,000 employees, including 1,200 physicians who provide care to patients at UAMS, its regional campuses throughout the state, Arkansas Children’s Hospital, the VA Medical Center and Baptist Health. Visit www.uams.edu or www.uamshealth.com. Find us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or Instagram.

The TRIbune – New Look and Now Monthly!

This month TRI is unveiling its redesigned TRIbune newsletter.

We’ve made a couple of other changes, too. While we will continue to inform you about TRI activities that benefit UAMS’ research enterprise, more emphasis will be on your work as researchers.

In this issue, we highlight the experience of Marie Burdine, Ph.D., in the TRI-supported fastPace entrepreneurship training program. Burdine, whose lab is spearheading promising work for the Division of Surgical Research, is also the subject of the newsletter’s new Q&A Researcher Profile.

Also new: Research on the Horizon, a brief study overview with a UAMS principal investigator utilizing TRI services – this month featuring Kevin Sexton, M.D. This issue has exciting news about a big milestone for ARresearch.org, and we have your and your colleagues’ publications that cite TRI support. Check it out!

TRI Graduates 17 in Latest Community Scientist Academy

Kate Stewart, M.D., MPH, (left) who leads the Community Scientist Academy, presents a graduation certificate to Ashley Young.
Kate Stewart, M.D., MPH, (left) who leads the Community Scientist Academy, presents a graduation certificate to Ashley Young.

Ashley Young, one of 17 graduates of the UAMS Translational Research Institute’s spring 2018 Community Scientist Academy, said graduation night was bittersweet.

“I loved it. I’m sad that it wasn’t longer,” the Little Rock resident said of the six-week program. “I loved the interactive activities, and I loved how we had a different speaker each week. I also loved the people I met so it’s been a great experience all around.”

The Translational Research Institute established the Community Scientist Academy in 2016 on the recommendation of its Community Advisory Board. Its purpose is to increase community understanding about the research process and offer research decision-making opportunities to communities, patients and other stakeholders. These opportunities include reviewing grants; advising on research projects; serving on community review boards, community advisory boards, and patient and family advisory councils; and assisting with ARresearch, the Translational Research Institute’s research participant registry.

Through four academies it has graduated 44 Arkansans from diverse communities and a variety of socioeconomic backgrounds.  The academies are free and open to the public. The next academy is Sept. 25 through Oct. 30. Classes will be each Tuesday, 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. Contact Nicki Spencer, 501-526-6629 or ndspencer@uams.edu, to

Attendees heard from UAMS researchers during each weekly class.
Attendees heard from UAMS researchers during each weekly class.

register.

Academy graduate JaJuan Johnson of Little Rock thanked the Translational Research Institute in an email for “an insightful six weeks of engaging with medical research experts.”

“I cannot begin to list the areas that most resonated with me, but I can definitely say I am more enlightened and trustworthy of medical research,” Johnson said.

He said the academy deepened his understanding on the importance of community collaboration in medical research.

“I Iook forward to continued work with the Translational Research Institute and will encourage others to get involved,” he said.

Angela Aikens said she was inspired to attend the Community Scientist Academy after being diagnosed last year with empty sella syndrome, a condition involving the pituitary gland that caused her chronic migraine headaches.

Jajuan Johnson said the academy was enlightening and made him more trustworthy of research.
Jajuan Johnson said the academy was enlightening and made him more trustworthy of research.

“I just really thank God for research,” said Aikens, of Little Rock. “This opportunity to attend and to take part in the discussion and to listen to the physicians and the researchers over the past few weeks really gave me a birds-eye view of what all goes into the research process.”

Victoria Akins, M.D., who was a geriatrician at UAMS until she was diagnosed with multiple myeloma three years ago, attended the Community Scientist Academy as way to stay connected with UAMS.

“I realized that as a physician and as a patient at UAMS, I’m in a unique position to educate the community,” said Akins, of Jacksonville. “The academy enables me to better explain research to community people and to explain to physicians how the community is involved.”

Janet Bowen, a retired UAMS registered nurse, said the academy has provided insight and new perspective.

“Instead of one Institutional Review Board, there are now four,” she said, noting that she was a member of UAMS’ single board in the 1980s. The Institutional Review Board must approve all research that involves human participation.

She was also interested to hear how important grant funding has become. “I was just astounded to hear about the importance of grant funding, and in fact if they don’t have it they may not have a job.”

The graduation keynote address was given by Anna Huff Davis, community representative for the Translational Research Institute Leadership Council and liaison with the UAMS Fay W. Boozman

Ti Davis participates in a class exercise.
Ti Davis participates in a class exercise.

College of Public Health.

Davis, a past academy graduate, asked the graduates to encourage their family, friends and community to participate in research, either as a study participant or as a community co-investigator.

“Just imagine what would happen if we aren’t involved?” said Davis, also director of the Mid Delta Community Consortium. “I’m hypertensive, and if the medication that I take had not been tested on someone, I don’t know where I’d be today. I don’t even know if that medication would be available. I might not even be here because that medication might not be available for me.”

May-June TRIbune

This issue of The TRIbune features the Translational Research Institute’s (TRI) recent submission of its 1,864-page Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) application. After receiving a one-year bridge award last year, TRI submitted its application to the NIH National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) on May 24 for five years of funding.

As TRI Director Laura James, M.D., notes, while there are no guarantees, she believes TRI has submitted a competitive application. A May 7 visit from NCATS leaders and congressional staff affirmed that TRI is headed in the right direction. We also highlight some key numbers related to the application, and our TRI & Me features TRI Associate Director John Arthur, M.D., Ph.D. We also include the latest publication citations by researchers whose work has benefited from TRI resources or funding.

New Pilot Awards Available for CTSA Inter-institutional Studies

The Western States Consortium, which includes the UAMS Translational Research Institute (TRI) and four other Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) institutions, has issued the call to all faculty for pilot award applications.

The purpose of the pilot awards is to promote inter-institutional collaboration by funding innovative, translational research projects that involve two or more of the four Western States Consortium members. Awards of up to $25,000 will be provided by each participating institution.

In addition to TRI, the Western States Consortium members are the University of Kentucky, University of New Mexico, University of Kansas Medical Center, and University of Utah, all part of the national CTSA consortium supported by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Applications are due August 10, 2018, at 5 p.m. (CT). Each proposal’s lead principal investigator will submit one combined proposal via an online application system.

For additional details, view the Request for Applications (RFA) document.

If you have any questions, please contact Nia Indelicato at NLIndelicato@uams.edu or 501-614-2287.

Key Dates:

  • Application Release Date: June 15, 2018
  • IRB Submission Deadline: July 13, 2018
  • Application Deadline: Aug. 10, 2018, 5 p.m. Central Time
  • Notice of intent to fund at each CTSA: Aug. 24, 2018
  • Just-In-Time Period: Aug. 24, 2018 – Aug. 31, 2018
  • Submission to NIH for Prior Approval of Human Subjects: Sept. 21, 2018
  • Funding Cycle: Nov. 1, 2018, through Oct. 31, 2019

Public Invited to Attend UAMS Community Scientist Academy

Arkansans interested in having a voice in research programs at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) or simply learning how research is done are invited to participate in UAMS’ Summer 2018 Community Scientist Academy.

Sponsored by the UAMS Translational Research Institute, the Community Scientist Academy will be on Tuesdays each week May 22 through June 26, from 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. on the UAMS campus in Little Rock.

For questions and to register, contact Nicki Spencer, ndspencer@uams.edu, or (501) 526-6629. The training is being offered at no cost to participants.

Participants in the Community Scientist Academy will interact with UAMS researchers and community members involved in research in small roundtable discussions and other interactive sessions. They will learn:

  • How researchers decide what health issues to study
  • The research process
  • The benefits of individual and community organizations’ involvement in research

Graduates of the Community Scientist Academy will become more knowledgeable volunteers with additional opportunities to help influence UAMS research decisions on behalf of their communities. Examples include serving on:

  • Standing community advisory boards
  • One-time community boards created to advise researchers on specific studies
  • Panels that decide what research grants get funded

For graduates who are leading community organizations, there may also be opportunities to partner with UAMS on community-based research projects.

“The Community Scientist Academy will provide the basic knowledge to strengthen the public’s voice on research steering committees, mentoring committees, review committees, research projects, and in other leadership capacities,” said Kate Stewart, M.D., M.P.H., who leads the Translational Research Institute’s Community Engagement program. “We want our fellow Arkansans to understand what we do because their input makes a big difference in our efforts to improve health.”

UAMS researchers conduct clinical studies and community-based studies. Its clinical studies are conducted in UAMS’ hospital and clinics across the state, including at its main campus in Little Rock, its eight regional campuses, Arkansas Children’s Research Institute, and the Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System.

UAMS, TRI Honor Community Partners at 2017 Celebration

Pastors Johnny Smith and Jerome Turner accepted the Chancellor’s Community Research Partner Award for the Phillips and Jefferson Counties Faith Task Forces

The UAMS Translational Research Institute honored UAMS’ many Arkansas community partners Nov. 17 with its fifth annual Community Partner Celebration.

During the event at the Centre at University Park in Little Rock, the Phillips and Jefferson Counties Faith Task Force, led by pastors Johnny Smith and Jerome Turner, received the Chancellor’s Community Research Partner Award. The task force is using a faith-based intervention study with UAMS to prevent depression and promote emotional wellness in the Arkansas Delta.

The award, which focuses on partnerships that involve research, was presented by interim UAMS Chancellor Stephanie Gardner, Pharm.D., Ed.D.

Nominees for the Chancellor’s Award also included Ashley County Cares and the Arkansas Birthing Project.

“I enjoyed reading the applications for these,” Gardner said during her keynote address to about 150 attendees at the Centre at University Park in Little Rock. “In my book they were all winners.”

Other awards/winners:

  • The Community Based Organization of the Year: Samaritan Community Center

    The center aids underserved populations in the Rogers area through community garden development, pantries, community meal programs, snack pack program, resale shops, and social and dental services.
  • Community Advisory Board of the Year: Northwest Arkansas Marshallese Community Health Advisory Board

    The board provides significant direction and consultation to the UAMS Office of Community Health and Research via active involvement with community based participatory approaches related to diabetes self-management education, diabetes prevention programs, physical activity, medication adherence, and the translation of health materials and health survey instruments.
  • Community Partnership Student: Steven Keller

    Keller devoted his time to a student project working with a research team to develop home exercise programs for Marshallese community health workers. This project allowed the community health workers to teach exercise to the Marshallese population.
  • Institutional Health Partner Award: University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service

    Since 2010, the Clinton School has awarded five practicum teams, groups of students who spend two semesters completing a project directly related to the work of an organization, to the Access to Healthy Foods Research Group at the Arkansas Children’s Research Institute. The students completed work and provided the research group with deliverables that the team would not have had time to do.

“It’s just a joy to know so many people across our state are engaged in this effort of trying to make our communities healthier,” Gardner said. “It’s a celebration of the extraordinary service that non-UAMS organizations provide to UAMS.”

More photos

Watch the Video

Marshallese Community Health Advisory Board members Rumina Lakmis and Rotha Mejbon-Samuel.
Hilary Trudell of the Clinton School of Public Service
Steven Keller

Speed Collaborating Event Creates New Research Opportunities

UAMS’ first Speed Collaborating event was so productive for at least one researcher that she joked she now has too many collaboration options.

The two-hour gathering Oct. 5 drew 34 UAMS faculty. Researchers were paired based on their top five research interests and were given 5-10 minutes to discuss potential collaborations. After each brief session, they were paired with another researcher.

Participants who filled out an evaluation form following the event all rated it as either excellent or good. A sampling of their comments include:

  • “This was so good now I have too many collaboration options lol”
  • “The best thing about the event was meeting folks from across campus and hearing about different lines of research going on all over UAMS.”
  • “Thank you very much for the organization. This was something new and exciting I’ve never seen done before. I enjoyed meeting new people!”
  • “What a wonderful networking opportunity, thank you!”

The event was led by the Women’s Faculty Development Caucus Research Committee with support from the UAMS Faculty Center, the Translational Research Institute (TRI) and Office of Interprofessional Education.

First TRI Open House Draws More than 100

Sarah Rhoads, Ph.D., D.N.P., visits with TRI’s Nia Indelicato and Amy Jo Jenkins.

The first Open House for the UAMS Translational Research Institute (TRI) drew more than 100 attendees from UAMS’ research community interested in learning about the resources and services offered by TRI.

TRI held the open house as a fun way to introduce itself to new researchers and for others to learn more about what all TRI has to offer. In addition to the 19 featured research services, the event included food and wine, as well as door prizes.

Both new and veteran UAMS researchers echoed their approval.

Hari Eswaran, Ph.D., a long-time professor in the College of Medicine Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, said he was familiar with many of TRI’s offerings, but he discovered more during the open house.

TRI-supported services and resources on display included those of its Clinical Trials Innovation Unit, community engagement, participant recruitment, pilot awards, KL2 scholar awards, biostatistics, biomedical informatics, implementation science and entrepreneurship initiatives.

“Everybody knows TRI but probably not the whole gamut of what they do,” Eswaran said. “For example, I didn’t know about their implementation science function.”

Carolyn Greene, Ph.D., an associate professor in the Department of Psychiatry who is new to UAMS, said she was pleasantly surprised by the event.

“I’m really impressed by all the resources in one place,” she said. “Everything I need is right here.”

Sarah Rhoads, Ph.D., D.N.P., was also happy with the event. “I like how I can see everything that TRI offers, from A to Z, in one place.”

TRI’s Kate Stewart, M.D., M.P.H., and Anna Huff, (seated) speak with attendees about TRI’s Community Engagement Program.

TRI Director Laura James, M.D., said she plans to hold the Open House annually.