BTC research awards recognize UB’s Lipshultz, Roswell’s Zhu

Each year, the Buffalo Translational Consortium Clinical Research Achievement Awards recognize clinical researchers for their innovative work, their dedication to translational research, and the significance of their findings in Western New York and around the world. The 2022 winners’ research:

• Identified genes that cause, or variants that are associated with and may modify, cardiomyopathy in children and influence course over time with the hope of improving disease prevention, surveillance, early management, and prognosis
• Found the first breast cancer biomarker for response to Anthracycline and HER-2 targeting treatments, highlighting the potential of targeting both the UACA gene and the Par-4 pathway as new approaches to improving outcomes of patients with breast cancer

As outlined in a recent CTSI feature, the annual awards honor outstanding accomplishments in clinical research performed at a Buffalo Translational Consortium (BTC) institution, with investigators from the University at Buffalo or Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center serving as principal authors. Research findings must have been published or in press in the past 12 months.

Receiving this year's Top Award is Steven E. Lipshultz, MD, A. Conger Goodyear Professor and Chair, Department of Pediatrics, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. He was selected for the study titled “The Genetic Architecture of Pediatric Cardiomyopathy,” published in the February 3, 2022, issue of The American Journal of Human Genetics.

Lipshultz was previously recognized as an awards finalist in 2021 for “Late Health Outcomes After Dexrazoxane Treatment: A Report From the Children’s Oncology Group,” published in the October 13, 2021, issue of Cancer. In 2020 he was recognized for “Left Ventricular Diastolic Dysfunction in HIV-Uninfected Infants Exposed in Utero to Antiretroviral Therapy,” published in the March 15, 2020, issue of AIDS.

Recognized as the Clinical Research Achievement Award Finalist is Qianqian Zhu, PhD, Professor of Oncology, Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, and Co-Director, Biostatistics and Statistical Genomics Resource, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center. She was selected for the study titled “UACA Locus Is Associated With Breast Cancer Chemoresistance and Survival,” published in the March 23, 2022, issue of npj Breast Cancer.

The annual BTC awards competition aims to identify major advances resulting from the region’s investment in clinical research to benefit the health and welfare of the Western New York community. In order to be eligible for an award, the research should contribute to the understanding of human disease and physiology, and demonstrate an impact on the understanding, prevention, and diagnosis or treatment of disease.

“Our Clinical Research Achievement Awards highlight the innovative clinical research being conducted throughout the Buffalo Translational Consortium,” says Awards Committee Chair Anne B. Curtis, MD, SUNY Distinguished Professor, Department of Medicine, Jacobs School. “The most novel and important of our clinical research studies are recognized for their impact on the diagnosis and treatment of medical conditions, improving the health and wellbeing of patients in our community and far beyond.”

The award winner and award finalist have been invited to present their research at the Clinical and Translational Science Institute Annual Forum on March 15, 2023. For a complete list of past awardees, see the CTSI website.