February 2020
Issue 2
Letter From the JCTS Editor
Busy Times
Once the holiday season is behind us, it seems that time is flying by and deadlines are approaching at a frightening speed. We are now looking forward to the upcoming Translational Science meeting with many opportunities to network and hear about scientific advances, including many from the strong group of trainees interested in clinical and translational science. In addition, the first issue for the year of JCTS is now available and I am happy to report that it includes a number of interesting contributions in the Education and Implementation, Policy and Community Engagement areas.
A paper by Daudelin and co-workers summarizes experiences from a project that has engaged virtually all of us, the national Common Metrics Initiative centered at Tufts University. In an Editorial, Harry Selker places these experiences in a wider perspective. Another subject that also engages virtually all of our institutions is the development of responses to the severe opioid crisis. Humensky and colleagues report on the interdisciplinary strategy taken by the Columbia University CTSA to address these issues. In other contributions in the Implementation, Policy and Community Engagement area, several toolkits and resources are described, including a summary of the development and evaluation of Priority Populations Toolkit by Rak and collaborators and a description by Kim and colleagues of the process to develop a Center for Health Equity Research, both from the University of Illinois. A primary care perspective on clinical trial recruitment is given by Taft and colleagues at the University of Utah, while Bougrab and collaborators at New York University report on the use of EHR to recruit a Patient Advisory Council. Papers focused on Education include a description of a Good Clinical Practice game for training by Jones and colleagues from the Ohio State University and the University of Alabama, and a review of KL2 programs by Sorkness and colleagues, representing three CTSAs.
Also, in two Special Communications, Greenberg-Worizek and colleagues from the Mayo Clinic, and Brouwer and collaborators from Duke University describe the development of resources in regulatory science training and consultation services, respectively. Collectively these papers serve as a rich set of shareable ideas and resources and we encourage everyone to explore the findings. ACTS, the Editorial Board of the journal and myself are very interested to hear feedback and ideas for the future development of the journal and the coming ACTS meeting represents an opportunity to voice this. In coordination with Cambridge University Press we will have a table at the meeting where we hope you will come by and convey your suggestions. Looking forward to seeing you all soon.
Lars Berglund, M.D., Ph.D.
Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Clinical and Translational Science (JCTS)
Translational Science 2020
Last Chance to Save with Early Bird Savings
Early bird savings end February 28! Register today to join more than 1,100 research mentors, directors, and trainees at Translational Science 2020.
SIG Spotlight: Scholar SIG
The Scholar Special Interest Group (SIG) of the Association for Clinical and Translational Science (ACTS) was established in 2020 by early-career members of the organization to provide trainees and other early-career scholars with experiences and opportunities to advance their careers in academia, industry, government, or entrepreneurship in the fields of clinical and translational science. The long-term goal of the Scholar SIG is to nurture the development of the next generation of leaders through research, education, advocacy, and mentoring opportunities that provide a sense of community around trainees and early career scholars in the ACTS community.
In its inaugural year, the Scholar SIG developed two initiatives to promote networking, mentoring, and opportunities for collaboration and career advancement of early-career members (and attendees at all career stages) at the annual Translational Science meeting. In a first-in-kind event for the Translational Science meeting, the Scholar SIG will host a Mentor/Mentee Networking Event, where early career scholars and more advanced meeting delegates will be in a near-peer mentoring environment. The goals of this initiative are to encourage networking among meeting attendees at all career stages and increase trainee engagement and involvement in the ACTS organization. Also, in line with our objective to develop and integrate scholar-oriented sessions and events at the annual TS meeting, the Scholar SIG and National TL-1 Trainee Committee will be joining forces to host the 2nd Annual Peer Choice Poster Competition, where poster session attendees will be encouraged to nominate outstanding peer presenters for cash prizes. Finally, the Scholar SIG is working towards developing a “Today’s Trainees, Tomorrow’s Entrepreneurs” initiative, where scholars will have the opportunity to promote the translation of their research. This initiative is modeled after the NSF I-Corps program, and we hope to implement a business model competition at future TS meetings.
Beyond these founding initiatives, the Scholar SIG seeks to provide opportunities for community engagement, professional and personal enrichment, and avenues for trainees to contribute to the advancement of clinical and translational science community through the proposal and implementation of new initiatives.
We welcome all early-stage scholars and pre- and post-doctoral trainees who are members of ACTS to join the Scholar SIG. For more information, please message acts.scholarsig@gmail.com or visit the ACTS website.
Wheels Up: Conference Season Tips Contest - Edge for Scholars
Paying it forward can pay off literally. We’re awarding $1,000 for travel to Translational Science 2020 (April 14-17, 2020) to the author of the most viewed post between now and March 2, 2020.
Read more
edgeforscholars.org
Journal of Clinical and Translational Science
Volume 4 / Issue 1 of the Journal of Clinical and Translational Science is available online!
JCTS's mission is to provide a forum for the rapid communication of topics of interest and relevance to the large and diverse community of clinical and translational scientists with the goal of improving the efficiency with which health needs inform research and new diagnostics, therapies, and preventive measures reach the public. The Association for Clinical and Translational Science has partnered with the American Physician Scientists Association (APSA) and the Clinical Research Forum (CRF) to support the growth and development of JCTS.
Submit your article today to be featured in future issues of JCTS! Please also visit the JCTS website for information on our themed issue on Data Science in Clinical and Translational Research.
News From the Hill
The administration kicked off the Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 appropriations process on Capitol Hill with the release of the president’s annual budget request to Congress. The non-binding document once again calls for deep cuts to non-defense discretionary programs, including medical research and public health activities. The budget request also includes the administration’s position on some policy issues and program activities. Congress is unlikely to support any funding cuts for medical research or public health in FY 2021, and the upcoming effort to craft the spending bills will clarify the support for key areas of interest.
See the full newsletter on the ACTS Advocacy page.
Translational Science Today
Dr. Rebecca Jackson: Healthcare Achievement Awards 2020
Trailblazer Award - Individual Healthcare Achievement Awards 2020 Trailblazer Award - Individual Dr. Rebecca Jackson, associate dean of clinical research, Ohio State University College of Medicine; director, Ohio State University Center for...
Read more
www.columbusceo.com