Web-based Tool Encourages Researchers to Connect and Collaborate

BOSTON (February 14, 2013) -Scientists and researchers throughout the Tufts community have a new way to connect online. Today, Tufts Clinical and Translational Science Institute (Tufts CTSI) and Tufts University launched Profiles, a free, web-based research networking tool designed to promote collaboration.

Available at https://profiles.med.tufts.edu, Tufts CTSI Profiles is a publicly accessible library of web-based electronic curriculum vitae (CVs) and information about research at Tufts.

Researchers can use Tufts CTSI Profiles to find potential collaborators, co-authors, and mentors. Each Profile contains contact information, publications, primary research areas, co-authors, people with similar research interests, people who work in the same department, and people who work in neighboring offices. Researchers can log into Tufts CTSI Profiles with their Universal Tufts Login Name (UTLN) and password to edit their contact and publication information and to build their research networks.

“Collaboration is key to effective translational research – research that has impact – and Profiles is a fantastic tool to develop collaborations across people, research groups, and disciplines,” says Harry P. Selker, MD, MSPH, Dean of Tufts CTSI. “I hope researchers and students will use this online system to learn about the amazing span of Tufts faculty expertise and to develop new collaborations across Tufts, and beyond.”

Data is derived from the Tufts University Office of Faculty Affairs records and the PubMed database, and then fed directly into Profiles. In this first phase, nearly 1,400 people from 42 different institutions appear in Profiles, including Tufts CTSI and Tufts University faculty members. Tufts CTSI Profiles will expand as more researchers are included in the coming months.

Profiles is an open-source program originally developed by Harvard Catalyst: the Harvard Clinical and Translational Science Center. Funded through Tufts CTSI’s grant UL1 RR025752 from the National Center for Research Resources, now the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health, the application was modified for Tufts by the Office of Information Technology (OIT) at Tufts University School of Medicine.

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About Tufts Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI)

Tufts CTSI was established in August 2008 with Grant Number UL1RR025752 from the National Center for Research Resources, now the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health. A collaboration of organizations, founded by Tufts Medical Center and Tufts University, Tufts CTSI accelerates the translation of laboratory research into clinical use, medical practice and health policy. It connects people to research resources, consultation, and education, and fosters collaboration with scholars of all disciplines and with community members, with the ultimate goal of improving the health of the public.

About Tufts University School of Medicine and the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences

Tufts University School of Medicine and the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences are international leaders in innovative medical education and advanced research. The School of Medicine and the Graduate School are renowned for excellence in education in general medicine, biomedical sciences, public health, health communication, special combined degree programs in business, health management, public health, bioengineering and international relations, as well as basic and clinical research at the cellular and molecular level. Ranked among the top in the nation, the School of Medicine is affiliated with six major teaching hospitals and more than 30 health care facilities. Tufts University School of Medicine and the Graduate School undertake research that is consistently rated among the highest in the nation for its effect on the advancement of medical science.

About Tufts Medical Center and Floating Hospital for Children

Tufts Medical Center is an exceptional, not-for-profit, 415-bed academic medical center that is home to both a full-service hospital for adults and Floating Hospital for Children. Conveniently located in downtown Boston, the Medical Center is the principal teaching hospital for Tufts University School of Medicine. Floating Hospital for Children is the full-service children’s hospital of Tufts Medical Center and the principal pediatric teaching hospital of Tufts University School of Medicine. Tufts Medical Center is affiliated with several community hospitals and with New England Quality Care Alliance, its community physicians’ network.