Jennifer Larsen, M.D., who has been named the new associate vice chancellor for clinical and research effective July 1, is no stranger to clinical research.
She’s designed, conducted and taught research for a quarter of a century.
Her work with diabetes has branched from treatment to prevention, especially in high risk populations, with a particular focus on preventing vascular disease after organ transplantation.
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Jennifer Larsen, M.D. |
Dr. Larsen, the Louise and Morton Degen Professor and chief of diabetes, endocrinology and metabolism, also has worked closely with multiple American Indian tribes to develop programs of research and has found additional contributing factors to diabetes in this high-risk population.
In 2007, Dr. Larsen became the director of the Center for Clinical and Translational Research, which is the foundation for the Great Plains Health Research Consortium (GPHRC). The consortium is made up of 12 universities, hospitals and research centers in the region.
The GPHRC submitted a Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) proposal in October 2009 to the National Institutes of Health with hopes to speed research translation from bench-to-bedside and clinical trials into communitywide applications, Dr. Larsen said.
There are 46 CTSAs in 26 states across the nation and Nebraska is one of 22 states and territories not part of the consortium. When the program is fully implemented, it will support approximately 60 CTSAs across the nation. Acquiring a CTSA is a highly-competitive process and institutions looking to gain such an award must fulfill several requirements.
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“The ultimate goal is to make a difference by building the number of clinical research investigators, protocols and grants on campus,” she said. “The infrastructure, which includes such areas of expertise as biostatistics and biomedical informatics, are needed to support them.
“Many of these activities have and will continue to focus on improving health and reducing health disparities in Nebraska.”