Pilot studies awardees present their work at December 14 colloquium

The University at Buffalo Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) Translational Pilot Studies Program Clinical and Translational Research Colloquium, which features presentations highlighting innovative research projects that received Translational Pilot Studies awards, will be held in person on Thursday, December 14.

Starting at 12 p.m. and running until 4:45 p.m., the colloquium will be held in the Murphy Family Seminar Room at the Clinical and Translational Research Center (875 Ellicott Street). Agenda and registration details are available on the CTSI website.

The colloquium will begin with welcoming remarks from CTSI Director Timothy F. Murphy, MD, SUNY Distinguished Professor, and CTSI Pilot Studies Program Director Brahm Segal, MD, Chair, Department of Internal Medicine, Chief, Division of Infectious Diseases, and Professor of Oncology, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center.

“We are very excited to host our annual Clinical and Translational Research Colloquium to highlight the innovative research conducted by pilot studies grant awardees,” Segal says. “The colloquium allows for unique opportunities for dialogue and for fostering new collaborations. It is a special day for the presenters as well as the attendees.”

The remarks from Segal and Murphy are followed by presentations from 2021 Translational Pilot Studies award recipients. The highlighted research projects focus on a range of topics, from cancer studies to sports-related concussions.

“The CTSI Pilot Studies Program supports so much unique research, and the annual colloquium offers an opportunity to hear updates on projects as well as the latest advancements in their fields of research,” Murphy explains.

Murphy says that several of the 2021 pilot studies projects highlighted at the colloquium include examples of translational science — the field in which researchers find novel ways to overcome barriers in the translational pipeline.

“Many of the researchers presenting their work on December 14 are bringing healthcare innovations directly to the community and breaking through some of the barriers that have long existed,” he explains. “Thanks to their work, more treatments are reaching people sooner.”

During an intermission at 1:45 p.m., attendees will have the opportunity to view electronic posters created by 2022 Translational Pilot Studies Program awardees in the CTRC atrium.

The colloquium will also feature presentations from recipients of 2023 CTSI Community Partnership Development Seed Grants. The awarded projects address mental health service barriers in Buffalo’s Black community and barriers to seeking oral healthcare for those living in Buffalo’s Seneca-Babcock area.

“Our CTSI seed grants aim to prepare community-academic partnerships to successfully collaborate on the design of research projects, specifically those that address health disparities and aim to improve health equity,” explains CTSI Community Engagement Core Director Laurene M. Tumiel-Berhalter, PhD, Director of Community Translational Research, Department of Family Medicine, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.

See the agenda for speaker names, titles, and presentation topics, and contact Senior Research Administrator Erin Carnes (O'Byrne)  for more information on the 2023 colloquium.

This program is supported by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences of the National Institutes of Health under award number UL1TR001412 to the University at Buffalo, as well as: UB’s Office of the Provost, Office of the Vice President for Research and Economic Development, and Office of the Vice President for Health Sciences; Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center; and the deans of UB’s Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, School of Dental Medicine, School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, School of Public Health and Health Professions, and School of Nursing.