Transcript Whitaker - webx

Translational Research:
From Bench to Bedside
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Experimental Biology 2013
TAC Symposium
Annie Whitaker, PhD
Jessica Bradley, PhD
LSUHSC, New Orleans
For Dr. Joni Rutter
Objectives
1.
To define translational research and the role it will play in
future scientific investigation
2.
To provide examples of laboratories that have been
successful in establishing a translational research program
3.
To have an interactive question and answer session and
discussion
What is translational
research?
Translational Research – A Basic Science
Perspective
 Translational Research
 Translates basic science discoveries into clinical applications, and/or
uses clinical observations to generate new research topics
 Focus on the integration of activities from bench to bedside and
training laboratory and clinical investigators in team-based translation
improving communications with new technologies and information.
http://www.ncats.nih.gov/research/cts/cts.html
The NIDA Drug Abuse
Genetics Research “Engine”
Epidemiology
Discover new human
genes/variants
Clinical &
Pharmacogenetics
HUMAN
GENETICS
New candidate genes
For human studies
Test Function
ANIMAL
GENETICS
Discover new animal
genes/variants
IdentificationReplicationFunctionCausality Clinical Utility
What are examples of
translational research?
Addiction injection: the mission to
immunise drug users against dependency
 Dr Kim Janda, a medicinal chemist at the Scripps Research
Institute, has worked on anti-addiction vaccines over the last
25 years.
 "I've tried to invent every kind of drug vaccine --cocaine,
nicotine, crystal meth, heroin, even marijuana, morphine and
alcohol," Janda says. "Not all of them worked." But today's
experiment could make all those years of toil worthwhile.
 Similar vaccines are currently being tested on patients in
psychiatric clinics around the US and the Netherlands.
Science 29 March 13 by Madhumita Venkataramanan
Addressing Research Challenges
 Researchers nationwide face common barriers in clinical and
translational research, including:
 Increased research costs and complexity.
 A shortage of information systems.
 Increased regulatory burdens.
 Low patient recruitment and retention in clinical research
studies.
 Difficulties in recruiting, mentoring and retaining a critical
mass of qualified clinical and translational investigators.
 Barriers such as these can cause delays in achieving ideal end
results.
http://www.ncats.nih.gov/research/cts/cts.html
The NIH is committed to improving the process
of bringing new treatments, preventions and
diagnostics to patients faster and more
economically.
National Center for Advancing Translational
Sciences
 The mission is to catalyze the generation of innovative
methods and technologies that will enhance the
development, testing and implementation of diagnostics and
therapeutics across a wide range of human diseases and
conditions.
http://www.ncats.nih.gov/research/cts/cts.html
Clinical and Translational Science
Awards
 NCATS’ Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSA)
program seeks to strengthen the full spectrum of translational
research
 NIH launched the CTSA program in 2006 to:
 Create academic homes for clinical and translational research.
 Provide investigators and research teams with research cores, tools and a
local environment that encourages and facilitates the conduct of clinical
and translational research, including with community and industry
partners.
 Train the scientific workforce needed for the translational sciences.
http://www.ncats.nih.gov/research/cts/cts.html
What type of awards are
provided by the CTSA?
Formal Clinical Research Training
Awards
 The CTSA program supports two types of
formal clinical research training awards at CTSA
institutions
1. KL2 Mentored Clinical Research Scholar
Program
2. TL1 Clinical Research Training Program
http://www.ncats.nih.gov/research/cts/cts.html
KL2 Mentored Clinical Research
Scholar Program
 Provides institutional support to provide mentored research career
development to clinical investigators who have recently completed
professional training and who are commencing basic, translational
and/or clinical research.
 Selects KL2 candidates providing them with a rich career
development experience in a multidisciplinary setting.
 KL2 appointees come from a variety of fields (e.g., medicine,
dentistry, nursing, the behavioral sciences, biostatistics and
epidemiology) and can receive up to five years of career
development support.
http://www.ncats.nih.gov/research/cts/cts.html
TL1 Clinical Research Training Program
 Provides institutional support to students seeking a practical
research introduction to clinical and translational research.
 Selects TL1 candidates providing full-time research training support
for:
 Predoctoral Ph.D. candidates
 Health-professional doctorate-master's candidates
 Postdoctoral fellows
 The goal of the TL1 program is to increase the number of well-
trained clinician-scientists who will assume leadership roles in
the design and oversight of future clinical investigations
critical to the overall mission of NCATS and the NIH.
http://www.ncats.nih.gov/research/cts/cts.html
Where do I look for
funding opportunities?
Grants.gov
Commonfund.nih.gov
projectreporter.nih.gov
Invited Speakers
Mike Joyner, MD
 Received MD from University of Arizona
 Professor of Anesthesiology and practices clinical medicine as an
Anesthesiologist at the Mayo Clinic
 Numerous honors including
 Distinguished Investigator of the Mayo Clinic
 Fulbright award
 Walter B. Cannon Lecture (APS)
 Research interests include
 autonomic control of the circulation,
 muscle blood flow, skin blood flow, exercise,
 oxygen transport and metabolic regulation in humans.
Babbette LaMarca, PhD
 Received PhD in Microbiology/Immunology and postdoctoral training in 2008 in
Physiology at UMMC
 Associate Professor in Pharmacology and Obstetrics & Gynecology
 Peer reviewer for the AHA/Immunology Section and the Vascular Endothelial Biology
Clinical Section, Preeclampsia Foundation and Career Awards for NIH/NHLBI.
 She is active in the American Physiological Society, as At-Large Councilor for
Membership, Water and Electrolyte Homeostasis section and Committee on Careers
in Physiology.
 Research focus:
 How inflammation mediates renal and placental dysfunction leading to
hypertension during pregnancy
 Determine a role for vasoactive pathways to mediate hypertension and the
development of uterine lieomyomas in female patients