TRI

ARresearch ‘Kick-Starts’ Digital Health Study Enrollment

A UAMS NIH-funded digital health study needed 128 participants with mild to moderate depression. Within 10 weeks, it had 103, well ahead of schedule, said Carolyn Greene, Ph.D., who is leading the study. TRI’s ARresearch registry of volunteers, she said, has provided about 20 participants.

“That was a good way for us to kick-start this study,” said Greene, associate professor in the Department of Psychiatry, Division of Health Services Research.

Greene’s study is targeting UAMS primary care patients with untreated depression. She said finding such patients for her study is difficult because they may not be coming in for regular doctor visits, or may not feel comfortable discussing their mental health with their doctors.

“That’s where the ARresearch database was extremely helpful to us,” she said.

Greene, who is also the national manager of Mental Health Web Services at the Department of Veterans Affairs, said the study is conducted online or over the phone, from screening to receipt of a gift card for participants.

For eight weeks, a coach will help patients with downloading and using a portfolio of mobile apps, and provide encouragement.

The apps use evidence-based cognitive behavioral tools and have shown that they can help significantly reduce depression. Greene’s study will address how the apps, combined with a coach, could fit into UAMS’ system of care.

“The goal isn’t for the coach to replace a therapist, but to help them use the apps to learn skills and tools to become their own therapist,” Greene said.

The study includes gathering input from clinicians and administrators.

“Our goal is to solve a problem for the primary care clinics, which have many patients with mild to moderate depression but not a lot of resources to provide interventions,” she said.

TRI Open House ‘Eye-Opening’ for Researchers

Oleg Karaduta, M.D., visits the information booths at TRI's Open House. — Oleg Karaduta, M.D., visits the Office of Research Compliance booth at TRI’s Open House.

Oleg Karaduta, M.D., made the rounds at TRI’s recent Open House, loading his bag with information cards, brochures and flyers from the 26 research services being promoted. While many are relevant to his work, the Mock Study Section/Grant Review program really caught his eye.

“I am planning to submit a grant application in a couple of months, so the Mock Study Section will be really useful for me,” said Karaduta, a post-doctoral fellow, referring to his NIH R00 Pathway to Independence application.

TRI’s Mock Study Section/Grant Review program assembles experienced NIH-funded researchers to review applications at no cost.

The Aug. 28 Open House, held for a second year, this time included representatives from the Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System, Arkansas Children’s Research Institute, UAMS IRB and Research Pharmacy.

Among the nearly 100 attendees was Jonathan Laryea, M.D., associate professor in the Department of Surgery. “I know about some of the services, but having everything together in one place is very helpful,” Laryea said. “I think it’s eye opening.”

Kate Stewart, M.D., (left) and Rachel Hale, representing TRI's Community Engagement component, talk to visitors during the Open House. — Kate Stewart, M.D., (left) and Rachel Hale, representing TRI’s Community Engagement component, talk to visitors during the Open House.

Leah Dawson, Ph.D., said in an email she was familiar with TRI but didn’t fully appreciate its scope until the Open House.

“Visually it provided a picture of how far reaching TRI is on our campus by the sheer number of people and departments that were involved,” said Dawson, associate director of Clinical Trials at the Data Coordinating and Operations Center of the IDeA States Pediatric Network, UAMS College of Medicine. “I think TRI provides a common atmosphere for researchers to come together, which only betters the university and the research programs on campus.”

Dawson said she made it a point to talk to TRI’s Community Engagement Team to catch up on their activities. “I think they are a great asset to our university system and state,” she said.

Two breast cancer fellows, Sherry Johnson, D.O., and Michalina (Michelle) Kupsik, M.D., said the timing for the Open House couldn’t have been better. They were due to report on their research project plans the day after the Open House but still needed key information.

Helpful guidance came from the Arkansas Clinical Data Repository table with information about accessing de-identified UAMS clinical data. “We knew our clinical question but we didn’t know how we were going to get the data,” Kupsik said.

Michalina (Michelle) Kupsik, M.D., (center, white coat), and Sherry Johnson, D.O., (right) found the Open House to be helpful and timely.

“Now we know!” Johnson said.

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!

Seeking Five Years of Funding, TRI Submits Application to NCATS

One year of bridge funding was great news last year for the Translational Research Institute (TRI), but it set the stage for a big challenge.

While the September 2017 Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) allowed TRI time to strengthen its next application for five years of funding, it meant producing a fourth CTSA application in four years, a mammoth undertaking for TRI Director Laura James, M.D., and numerous faculty and TRI staff.

Work on the application began almost immediately after the bridge award was announced, said James, also UAMS associate vice chancellor for clinical and translational science.

“We dedicated ourselves to the application, but we also remained committed to our ongoing initiatives and innovative plans in collaboration with research leaders across our hub [UAMS, Arkansas Children’s Hospital (ACH), Arkansas Children’s Research Institute (ACRI), and Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System (CAVHS)],” she said.

1,864 Pages

“Until you’ve been in the middle of this type of grant application, it’s hard to understand the amount of work involved in weaving together a consistent and compelling story that clearly explains the incredible progress achieved at UAMS since our first CTSA grant in 2009, as well as the exciting vision we have for the future,” James said.

The latest journey concluded on May 24, 2018, when James and 32 other UAMS faculty submitted the 1,864-page document to the NIH National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS). TRI is seeking five years of funding – $26.1 million – in an application with three funding components: the main component, an Institutional Career Development Core (KL2 Program) and National Research Service Award Training Core (the Health Sciences Innovation and Entrepreneurship Training Program).

The application describes numerous core strengths at UAMS and how various research champions at UAMS, ACH, and CAVHS will work as a team to enhance the health of Arkansans through transformative research.

Challenges and Opportunities

TRI’s strategy for the application was to craft a story that reflected the unique challenges and opportunities in Arkansas.

“Our clinical and education footprint around the state is very strong, as reflected by the numerous outreach clinics and expansive telemedicine program,” she said.

The application emphasizes plans for not just strengthening UAMS’ research footprint, but also for addressing the needs of Arkansas’ underrepresented communities.

“For our research to be relevant for Arkansans, it really needs to engage those who traditionally have not been in the center of clinical and translational research,” James said. “It needs to align with the health care needs of special populations, including children and older adults, as well as underrepresented minorities, and individuals with low health literacy.”

The quality partnerships that TRI has developed with other CTSA sites over the last four years strengthens the application. “We have partnerships that are centered on research itself, as well as partnerships that address research processes, such as grant reviews, or that are building off our successes in engaging community members to help us with decision-making,” James said.

Washington Delegation

UAMS and TRI leaders were buoyed by the May 7 visit from a delegation that included NCATS Director Christopher Austin, M.D., staff from U.S. Sen. John Boozman’s office and the Senate Health and Human Services (HHS) Appropriations Subcommittee.

The day began with welcomes from James and Donald R. Bobbitt, Ph.D., president of the University of Arkansas System, followed by 17 faculty and a community representative giving brief presentations highlighting individual scientific programs and/or TRI programs. Faculty from informatics, pharmacy, public health, pediatrics, psychiatry, family and preventive medicine, pharmacology and toxicology, biochemistry, and internal medicine gave presentations, as did research leaders from ACRI and CAVHS. The day concluded with a small-group discussion that included new UAMS Chancellor Cam Patterson, M.D., MBA, and Lawrence Cornett, Ph.D., UAMS vice chancellor for research.

Congressional staff attending were:

Laura Friedel, staff director/clerk, HHS Appropriations Subcommittee, U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations
Mackensie Burt, Legislative Director, Office of U.S. Senator John Boozman

NCATS representatives attending with Austin were:

Adrienne Hallett, associate director, Office of Legislative Policy and Analysis, NIH
Pamela McInnes, D.D.S., M.Sc., deputy director, NCATS, NIH
Michael Kurilla, M.D., Ph.D., director, Clinical Innovation, NCATS, NIH
Mary Purucker, M.D., Ph.D., director, CTSA Program Hubs, Clinical Innovation Division, NCATS, NIH
Samantha Jonson, MPS, special assistant to the director, NCATS, NIH

“We were encouraged with the nature of the questions from NCATS as well as their comments about our programs,” James said. “It was clear that we are on the right path.”

While “third time’s a charm” is the best known maxim, James said she would be happy to make it “four’s a charm” for this CTSA application.

“I feel confident that we’ve delivered a competitive application,” she said.

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

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.

‘Dos & Don’ts of Community Engagement’ Workshop for Researchers

A new workshop on the Dos and Don’ts of Community Engagement is being offered to researchers, students and staff, Oct. 18, 1 – 5 p.m., College of Public Health, G232.

The workshop was developed by the Translational Research Institute, College of Public Health and UAMS’ community partners. The workshop will include simulation and role reversal, video testimonials, and group reflection and debriefing. The objective is to increase researchers’ knowledge of the dos and don’ts of community engaged research in the research domains of entering the community; the realities and constraints of community-based organizations; and dissemination.

The workshop is supported by the Arkansas Prevention Research Center and the Arkansas Center for Health Disparities.

For more information, contact jcoffey@uams.edu.