College of Medicine research retreat set for June 1

UNMC is primed to take its research to the next level.

In an effort to strengthen collaborations between departments for translational and interdisciplinary research, the UNMC College of Medicine will hold a research retreat on June 1 from 2 to 7 p.m. in the Truhlsen Campus Events Center on the first floor of the Sorrell Center.

The event, called “Clinical and Basic Scientists — Meet your Blind Date,” — is open to all UNMC investigators, lab members and collaborators.

“This is an opportunity for clinical and basic science investigators to meet and mingle with colleagues and learn about translational research possibilities and resources at UNMC,” said Shelby Kutty, M.D., Ph.D., assistant dean of research and development in the UNMC College of Medicine. “The retreat will be especially beneficial for investigators in departments with emerging translational programs and those programs moving into new scholarly directions.”

Dr. Kutty and Howard Fox, M.D., Ph.D., senior associate dean of research and development for the College of Medicine, will serve as co-chairs at the retreat.

Michael Lauer, M.D., deputy director for extramural research at the National Institutes of Health, will deliver the keynote address. His talk is titled, “Big Data for (Learning about) Research across the Translational Continuum: From Basic Science to Population Research.”

Another highlight, Dr. Kutty said, will be the presentations by the “speed talkers.” Similar to a speed-dating format, six researchers — Ken Bayles, Ph.D., Nora Sarvetnick, Ph.D., Deepta Ghate, M.B.B.S., Michael (Tony) Hollingsworth, Ph.D., Iraklis Pipinos, M.D., and Dmitry Oleynikov, M.D. — will make 10-minute short talks in their areas of expertise designed to inspire attendees.

Here are the titles of their talks:

• Ken Bayles, Ph.D. — Common themes in tumor and biofilm development;
• Nora Sarvetnick, Ph.D. — Immune basics for human disease;
• Deepta Ghate, M.D., M.B.B.S. — The episcleral veins – a new way to measure intracranial pressure;
• Tony Hollingsworth, Ph.D. — New diagnostics and therapeutics for pancreatic cancer;
• Iraklis Pipinos, M.D., Ph.D. — Research in support of Serious Medicine, Extraordinary Care;
• Dmitry Oleynikov, M.D. — Robots for surgery, coming to your operating room soon!

Once they finish their presentations, the audience will break into six focus groups below, and move to a new table every 15 minutes.
The focus groups and moderators will be:

• “Gene Therapy and Genome Editing,” Channabasavaiah Gurumurthy, Ph.D., Paras Kumar Mishra, Ph.D., Tammy Kielian, Ph.D.
• “Inflammation and Metabolism,” Vimla Band, Ph.D., Kaustubh Datta, Ph.D., Keshore Bidasee, Ph.D.
• “Imaging: From People to Molecules,” Andrew Dudley, Ph.D., David Danford, M.D., Irving Zucker, Ph.D.
• “Informatics and Systems Improvement,” Jim McClay, M.D., Matthew Rizzo, M.D., Kaleb Michaud, Ph.D.
• “Drug and Device Development,” Donny Suh, M.D., Benson Edagwa, Ph.D., Sarah Holstein, Ph.D.
• “Robotics and Artificial Intelligence,” Jason MacTaggart, M.D., Tim Baxter, M.D., Estelle Chang, M.D.

After the moderated focus group sessions, John Spertus, M.D., the Lauer/Missouri Endowed Chair and Tenured Professor of Medicine, University of Missouri-Kansas City, will give the closing talk titled, “Maximizing Impact: Moving Research into Clinical Care.”

Click here to register.