Bio-banking is the topic of the next Omaha Science Café on April 3 at 7 p.m. at the Slowdown, 729 N. 14th St.
Jennifer Larsen, M.D., vice chancellor of research at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, and Christopher Kratochvil, M.D., assistant vice chancellor for clinical research at UNMC, will talk about bio-banking, the collection of biological material from patients with their consent for clinical research purposes. Learn more about what it is, why it’s done and what is collected.
Dr. Larsen trained at the University of Iowa, University of Utah, and the National Institutes of Health prior to joining the faculty at UNMC in 1987. She has served in a number of administrative roles since then, including director of the diabetes center, division chief for diabetes, endocrinology, and metabolism, associate dean for clinical research in the College of Medicine, director of the Center for Clinical and Translational Research, and associate vice chancellor for clinical research. She was named vice chancellor for research in 2011.
Her research focuses on evaluating mechanisms for immunosuppressant medication-induced diabetes and vascular disease, nontraditional risk factors of vascular disease in high risk populations, including organ transplant recipients, and community-based strategies to prevent diabetes and vascular risk.
Dr. Kratochvil is a professor of psychiatry and pediatrics, as well as chief medical officer of UNeHealth. UNeHealth is a not-for-profit partnership facilitating clinical research opportunities between UNMC, UNMC Physicians and The Nebraska Medical Center.
Dr. Kratochvil received his bachelor’s and medical degrees from Creighton University, completing his psychiatry residency at the Creighton-Nebraska Residency Program and his child & adolescent psychiatry fellowship at Duke University Medical Center. His own research has primarily targeted the pharmacotherapy of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and depression.
He has conducted NIH-funded clinical research, served on a review group for the National Institutes of Mental Health, and he was named a UNMC Distinguished Scientist in 2008.
Science Cafe is a free educational event sponsored by UNMC and other groups to increase the population’s science literacy. Hosted by UNMC, Bio Nebraska and the Nebraska Coalition for Lifesaving Cures, Science Cafes are held the first Tuesday of each month in Omaha and one Thursday every other month in Lincoln.
Free pizza, available for the first 50 people, will be provided by Nebraska Coalition for Lifesaving Cures. For more information about Science Cafes, go to www.unmc.edu/sciencecafe