Pilot studies awardees take center stage at CTSI colloquium

*UPDATE*: Due to reports of difficult weather conditions, the CTSI Pilot Studies Colloquium scheduled for Thursday, December 12, will be held online via Zoom rather than in person at the CTRC. Register to watch live from 12 to 5 p.m. (Registration required for viewing.)

The University at Buffalo Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) Translational Pilot Studies Program Clinical and Translational Research Colloquium, featuring presentations that highlight innovative research projects that received Translational Pilot Studies awards, will be held on Thursday, December 12.

Running from 12 to 5 p.m., the colloquium will take place 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.

Welcoming remarks include CTSI Director Timothy F. Murphy, MD, SUNY Distinguished Professor; 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; and 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.

“We are very excited to host our annual Pilot Studies 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."

Murphy says the 2024 colloquium has a “bittersweet element.” It is the last to feature Segal, who will be starting as Chair of Medicine at Moffitt Cancer Center in Florida in the new year.

“I want to express my appreciation to have served as Director of the UB CTSI Pilot Studies Program,” Segal says. “I am delighted to see how the program has benefited Buffalo Translational Consortium researchers and the Westen New York community and improved public health.”

“During the colloquium we will be recognizing and celebrating the tremendous leadership that Dr. Segal has provided to the program over the last eight years,” Murphy says. “His commitment and leadership have been critical to the success of the pilot studies program. I express my gratitude and congratulate him on his new position.”

The welcoming remarks are followed by presentations from 2022 Translational Pilot Studies award recipients. The highlighted research projects focus on topics ranging from sport-related concussion recovery to overcoming therapeutic resistance in prostate cancer.

“I especially enjoy the colloquium because it is a great opportunity to hear about the outstanding research that has been performed by pilot studies,” Murphy says. “This year’s presenters have made remarkable progress in advancing their work and moving it toward winning larger extramural grants. Several have already been awarded NIH grants as a result of their pilot studies.”

The colloquium also feature presentations from recipients of CTSI Community Partnership Development Seed Grants. Murphy says the seed grants "align well with our CTSI goal to actively engage with our community." 

Tumiel-Berhalter explains that seed grant awardees involve community-academic partnerships that successfully collaborate on the design of research projects.

“Our past recipients have forged strong partnerships that have resulted in funding, publications, and sustainable improvements locally and beyond,” she says. “The 2024 awarded projects — one addressing youth literacy and one supporting cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) training in Buffalo churches — are helping make Western New York a healthier and more equitable place for all members of the community.” 

Posters from 2023 Translational Pilot Studies award recipients will be available for viewing virtually on the CTSI website during the colloquium and for a short time afterwards. Each poster will be supported by a two-minute audio description of the project provided by the principal investigator.

See the agenda for speaker names, titles, and presentation topics, and contact Senior Research Administrator Erin Carnes for more information on the 2024 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.