Seminars & Workshops

Interested in addiction research? Want to meet collaborators and develop grant proposals?

Join Tufts CTSI for our Addiction Research Symposium Plus on Wednesday, March 13 at Tufts University’s Boston Health Sciences Campus. This interactive event will focus on nascent research projects with the goals of assisting teams to develop research project proposals for future grant submissions and engaging all event participants in team science approaches to further catalyze research ideas.

By the end of this interactive symposium, event participants should be able to:

• Identify common regulatory concerns surrounding the unique populations involved in addiction research.
• Recognize how research teams develop research projects, from concept toward a written funding proposal.
• Identify Tufts CTSI team-based translational science resources that can help advance a research project.
• Articulate the value of gathering peer and expert feedback during the development of fundable proposal.

Selected Proposals

The following projects will be presented and discussed:

• Oxygenating the Addicted Brain Through Aerobic Exercise, Eduardo Fontes, PhD, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte and Tufts University School of Arts and Sciences
• Incorporating Acupuncture into the Continuum of Care for People with Severe Opioid Use Disorder, Barbara Herbert, MD, Column Health and Tufts University School of Medicine
• Intranasal Glial-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (GDNF) Gene Therapy for Opioid Use Disorder, Barbara Waszczak, PhD, Northeastern University Bouve College of Health Sciences; Emmanuel Pothos, PhD, Tufts University School of Medicine
• Salivary Gene Analysis and Brain MRI to Understand Hypothalamic and Reward Pathway Dysregulation Affecting Oral Feeding in Infants with Neonatal Opioid Withdrawal Syndrome, Elizabeth Yen, MD; Jill Maron, MD, and Jonathan Davis, MD, Tufts Medical Center Pediatrics Department

Details

Wednesday, March 13, 9:00AM-3:00PM
Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Room 216A
145 Harrison Avenue, Boston MA

Registration

To attend, please register here by March 4, 2019.

The Biomedical and Health Data Science Collaborative (BHDSC), a cross-disciplinary group formed by the Tufts Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) and Institute for Clinical Research and Health Policy Studies (ICRHPS) at Tufts Medical Center, invites you to attend a virtual seminar on Wednesday, January 25, from 2:00PM-3:00PM. Jeremy P. Brown, PhD will give a talk titled “The Elephant in the Room: Unmeasured Confounding in Pharmacoepidemiology”.

Abstract

Unmeasured confounding is a major challenge to causal inference in pharmacoepidemiological research, as it can introduce bias and lead to incorrect conclusions. In this presentation, I will discuss methods for diagnosing, reducing, and quantifying unmeasured confounding in pharmacoepidemiological studies. These methods include negative controls, the high-dimensional propensity score, self-controlled study designs, and quantitative bias analysis. I will provide examples of these methods in action, as applied to two non-interventional studies conducted using UK electronic health records: one investigating the effect of proton pump inhibitors on mortality, and the other examining the effect of fluoroquinolones on aortic aneurysm or dissection. By using methods such as these, we can improve the accuracy and reliability of our findings and make more informed decisions about the safety and effectiveness of medications.

Speaker Bio

Jeremy Brown is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the CAUSALab at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. His research focuses on methods, and in particular causal inference methods, in pharmacoepidemiology and their application to understanding the safety and effectiveness of medications using insurance claims and electronic health records data. Prior to Harvard T.H. Chan he conducted his PhD in pharmacoepidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

Details

Wednesday, January 25, 2023
2:00PM-3:00PM EST
Zoom Link: https://wellforce.zoom.us/j/91467788400?pwd=U2FXdTZRZENkdzdnQTYxczlWVCtFdz09&from=addon

Contact

Please contact Anastasia Gurinovich (agurinovich@tuftsmedicalcenter.org) and Ellaina Reed (ereed1@tuftsmedicalcenter.org) if you have any questions.

Feel free to pass on to others who may be interested.

The Biomedical and Health Data Sciences Collaborative (BHDSC),  a cross-disciplinary group formed by Tufts CTSI and the Institute for Clinical Research and Health Policy Studies (ICRHPS) at Tufts Medical Center, invites you to attend their Winter 2023 Symposium on “Precision Nutrition and Artificial Intelligence” on Wednesday, December 6 at 2:00PM.

The event will feature presentations from Sai Krupa Das, PhD, a senior scientist on the Energy Metabolism Team at Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging and Professor in the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, and Eric Miller, PhD, Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Mathematics, Biomedical Engineering, and Computer Science.

Abstract

The goal of precision nutrition is to provide individual dietary recommendations based on an individual’s genetic background and overall well-being. The NIH Common Fund’s Nutrition for Precision Health supports the development of algorithms to predict individual responses to food and dietary patterns by contributing and leveraging data from the All of Us Research Program. This challenging project requires collaborations between experts in nutrition, genetics, statistics, machine learning and artificial intelligence. This symposium will highlight some of the ongoing efforts at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging and Tufts Institute for Artificial Intelligence, and highlight opportunities for collaborations in this exciting program.

Details

Wednesday, December 6, 2023
2:00PM-4:00PM

To attend via Zoom, click here.

Join Tufts CTSI’s Dissemination & Implementation Core for their next D&I Interest Group (DIIG) on Tuesday, March 26 at 1:00PM! Carmit McMullen, PhD, will present “Incorporating Qualitative Methods in Your Dissemination and Implementation (D&I) Project.”

Join Tufts CTSI’s Dissemination & Implementation Core for their next D&I Interest Group (DIIG) on Tuesday, January 30 at 11:00AM! Cara C. Lewis, PhD, Deputy Director of the Center for Translation Research and Implementation Science (CTRIS) at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute within the National Institutes of Health, will present “The Next Generation of Implementation Strategy Testing: Optimizing for Impact, Efficiency, and Equity.”

Dr. Lewis’ expertise in implementation science is evidenced through her national and international responsibilities including serving as President of the Society for Implementation Research Collaboration, as co-founding Editor-in-Chief of Implementation Research and Practice, lecturer for implementation science training institutes, scientific advisor domestically and abroad (e.g., centers in Ireland, Australia), and co-editor of Practical Implementation Science.  In 2022, Clarivate recognized her as one of the most highly cited social scientists globally.

Dr. Lewis will anchor the audience in a tale of why implementation science, specifically the study of implementation strategy mechanisms, is critical for impacting public health, equitably and efficiently. NHLBI priorities around dissemination and implementation science will be discussed.

Details

Live session via Zoom: Tuesday, January 30, 11:00AM-12:00PM EST

Registration

To register in advance, click here.

To download and share the event flyer, click here.

All are welcome to attend and learn more about D&I!

Contact

Please contact Anna Thompson with any questions.

Join Tufts CTSI’s D&I Interest Group to learn about stakeholder engagement in implementation science!

Tufts Medical Center’s Alysse Wurcel, MD, MS will present “What Taylor Swift Teaches Us about Engaging Stakeholders” via Zoom. An open discussion will follow her presentation.

Dr. Wurcel is an attending physician in the Division of Infectious Diseases and Geographic Medicine at Tufts Medical Center and Assistant Professor of Medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine. She is board certified in Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases. A graduate of University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, she completed her Infectious Disease fellowship at Columbia-Presbyterian Hospital and Tufts Medical Center, and received a Masters in Clinical Research from the School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences at Tufts University. She currently provides HIV, hepatitis C care at Tufts Medical Center as well as six local county jails. She is the infectious diseases consultant to the Massachusetts Sheriffs Association for COVID19 prevention and mitigation strategies.

Details

Live session via Zoom: Wednesday, November 15, 1:00PM-2:00PM EST

Learning Objectives

Learning objectives:

1. Describe why stakeholder involvement is important in D&I research

2. Explain different strategies for involving stakeholders in D&I research

3. Describe what good stakeholder involvement looks like for an NIH grant

Registration

To register in advance, click here.

To download and share the event flyer, click here

All are welcome to attend and learn more about D&I!

Contact

Please contact Anna Thompson with any questions.

You are invited to a virtual Dissemination and Implementation (D&I) Interest Group Meeting on Monday, September 12 from 1:00PM-2:00PM EST.

The guest speaker for the meeting will be Rachel Gold, PhD, MPH. An open discussion will follow her presentation.

Dr. Gold is an epidemiologist and health services researcher focusing on implementation science and using health information technology to improve care quality and reduce disparities in public clinics. Her work includes studying how to implement a multi-faceted quality improvement initiative that targets cardiovascular disease and diabetes care in community health centers serving socioeconomically vulnerable patients. In this session, Dr. Gold will discuss the ten key ingredients for writing implementation science grant proposals and share examples from her own work.

The talk is based on the article “Writing implementation research grant proposals: ten key ingredients” in Implementation Science.

Details

Live session via Zoom: Monday, September 12, 1:00PM-2:00PM EST

Registration

To register in advance, click here. All are welcome to attend and learn more about D&I!

Contact

Please contact Anna Thompson with any questions.

Interested in optimizing the health of humans, animals, and the environment through an innovative and integrative, interdisciplinary approach to education, research, and practice?

Want to meet collaborators and develop grant proposals?

Join Tufts CTSI for One Health Symposium Plus on Monday, October 7 at Tufts University’s Health Sciences Campus in Boston. This interactive event will focus on new research project ideas with the goals of assisting teams to develop research project proposals for future grant submissions and engaging all event participants in team science approaches to further catalyze research ideas.

By the end of this interactive symposium, event participants will be able to:

• Recognize how research teams develop research projects, from concept toward a written funding proposal.
• Identify Tufts CTSI team-based translational science resources that can help advance a research project.
• Articulate the value of gathering peer and expert feedback during the development of a fundable proposal.

Details

Monday, October 7, 2019, 9:00AM-1:00PM
Tufts University School of Dental Medicine, Room 1415 (14th floor)
1 Kneeland Street, Boston MA

Registration

To attend, please register here by October 2, 2019.

Agenda

• 9:00AM: Registration
• 9:30AM: Introduction
• 10:00AM: The Urban Lead Burden in Humans, Animals, and Plants
  • Research team:
    • Ronnie Levin, MA, Visiting Scientist, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
    • Marieke Rosenbaum, DVM, MPH, MS, Research Assistant Professor, Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University
    • Carolina L. Zilli Viera, PhD, Research Fellow, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
• 10:30AM: CAAN: Canines for Autism Activity and Nutrition
  • Research team:
    • Deborah Linder, DVM, DACVN, MS, Research Assistant Professor, Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University
    • Christina Mule, PhD, Pediatric Psychologist, Tufts Medical Center; Assistant Professor, Tufts University School of Medicine
    • Aviva Must, PhD, Chair of Public Health and Community Medicine, Tufts University School of Medicine
    • Sara Folta, PhD, Associate Professor, The Friedman School of Nutrition and Science Policy, Tufts University
    • Sean Cash, PhD, Associate Professor, The Friedman School of Nutrition and Science Policy, Tufts University
• 11:00AM: Introduction to Breakout Sessions
• 11:15AM: Lunch
• 11:30AM: Working Lunch: Breakout Groups
  • Levin, Dental 1415
  • Linder, Dental 1414
• 12:45PM: Debrief Breakout Sessions, Next Steps, Evaluations, & Adjourn

Download a handout of our presenter biographies and abstracts (PDF).

Translational Research Across the Spectrum

Interested in learning about how research that spans translational phases leads to discoveries like the COVID-19 vaccines? Mark your calendar for Translational Research Day 2021:

Tuesday, April 27
9:00AM-3:00PM
Online via Zoom

Registration

Please register here to attend.

Keynote

The keynote address will be given by John R. Mascola, MD, Director of the Dale and Betty Bumpers Vaccine Research Center (VRC) at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), National Institutes of Health (NIH). Dr. Mascola will highlight the scientific discoveries that laid the foundation for rapid COVID-19 vaccine development.

Agenda

• 9:00-9:15AM: Welcoming remarks
  • Harry Selker, MD, MSPH
    Dean and Principal Investigator, Tufts CTSI; Executive Director, Institute for Clinical Research and Health Policy Studies, Tufts Medical Center
• 9:15-10:00AM: Keynote address:
  • John R. Mascola, MD
    Director of the Dale and Betty Bumpers Vaccine Research Center (VRC) at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), National Institutes of Health (NIH)
    Rapid Response to a Novel Pathogen: COVID-19 Vaccine Development
• 10:00-10:05AM: Break
• 10;05AM-noon: Plenary: Scientific talks
  • Session Chair Part 1: Jonathan M. Davis, MD (Tufts CTSI)
    Matthew Goodwin, PhD, MA (Northeastern University)
    Predicting Challenging Behavior in Minimally-Verbal Youth with Autism Using Wearable Biosensor Data and Machine Learning Classifiers
    
    Micha Feigin, PhD, MS (MIT)
    Realtime Functional Muscle Imaging
    
    Dana M. Cairns, PhD (Tufts University), Dorothy Dulko, PhD (Tufts Medical Center), Yoav Golan, MD, MS, FIDSA (Tufts University), and Jeffrey K. Griffiths, MD, MPH (Tufts University)
    Team Niclosamide: From Treating Microcephaly in Chickens to Treating COVID-19 Patients
  • Session Chair Part 2: Debra Lerner, MS, PhD (Tufts CTSI)
    Lori Frank, PhD, MA (RAND Corp)
    Decision Making about Health Care Resources in a Pandemic (co-author Thomas W. Concannon, PhD)
    
    Peter Levine, PhD (Tufts University) and Wenhui Feng, PhD, MPP (Tufts University)
    Transforming Science, the Public and Policymakers: A Nationally Representative COVID-19 Survey
• noon-12:30PM: Lunch break
• 12:30PM-2:00PM: Concurrent breakout sessions
  • Jonathan Garlick, DDS, PhD
    Director of Science Communications, Tufts CTSI; Director, Tufts Initiative In Civic Science; Professor, School of Dental Medicine, School of Medicine, School of Engineering, Tufts University
    Building Trustworthiness and Vaccine Confidence through Dialogue in COVID-19-vulnerable Communities
  • Kinna Thakarar, DO, MPH
    Assistant Professor of Medicine, Tufts University School of Medicine; Attending Physician, Maine Medical Center
    Improving Discharge Decision-making among Vulnerable Hospitalized Patients
    
• 2:00-2:05PM: Break
• 2:05-2:45PM: Plenary: Report-out and next steps
  • Alice Rushforth, PhD
    Executive Director, Tufts CTSI
• 2:45-3:00PM: Closing Remarks
  • Harry Selker, MD, MSPH

Get Social

Look for #TranslationalTufts2021 on social media and join the conversation.

Download our presenter biographies and abstracts (PDF).

The Impact and Promise of Learning Health Systems

Mark your calendar for Translational Research Day 2022:

Tuesday, March 15
10:00AM-4:00PM (eastern time)
Online via Zoom

Registration

Registration for Translational Research Day 2022 has closed.

Morning Keynote

The morning keynote address will be given by Michael K. Gould, MD, MS of the Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine.

Closing Keynote

The closing keynote address will be given by Gordon Bernard, MD of Vanderbilt University School of Medicine.

Agenda

• 10:00-10:15AM: Welcoming remarks
  • Harry Selker, MD, MSPH
    Dean and Principal Investigator, Tufts CTSI; Executive Director, Institute for Clinical Research and Health Policy Studies (ICRHPS), Tufts Medical Center
• 10:15-11:00AM: Keynote address
  • Michael K. Gould, MD, MS
    Director for Health Services Research and Implementation Science, Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine
    Research Associate Professor of Medicine, Keck School of Medicine of USC
    Senior Research Scientist, Kaiser Permanente
    Embedded Research in the Learning Healthcare Systems at Kaiser Permanente
    
• 11:00-11:05AM: Break
• 11:05AM-1:00PM: Scientific Talks
  • Alysse Wurcel, MD, MS, Tufts Medical Center
    Engaging Stakeholders to Improve Inpatient Healthcare for People Who Inject Drugs
  • Jenica Upshaw, MD, Tufts Medical Center
    Reducing Readmissions and Mortality for Patients with Heart Failure
  • Nicole H. Moraco, MD, MA, Lahey Hospital and Medical Center
    Filling the ICU Communication Gap
  • Neil Korsen, MD, MSc, Maine Medical Center
    Rob Chamberlin, MD, MBA, MaineHealth ACO
    How Do Primary Care Staff Spend Their Time? Preparing for Changes in Primary Care Reimbursement
  • Ronald Kulich, PhD, MS, Tufts School of Dental Medicine
    Development and Evaluation of an Interprofessional Controlled Substance Risk Training Program within Dentistry
• 1:00PM-1:30PM: Lunch break
• 1:30PM-3:00PM: Concurrent breakout sessions: Mini Research Studios
  • Session A: Addressing Tobacco Use Behavior in Young Adults with Psychosis
    David Weiss, PhD, Maine Medical Center Research Institute
  • Session B: Produce Prescriptions on Maternal and Birth Outcomes: A Food is Medicine Intervention Among Pregnant Women
    Perrie O’Tierney-Ginn, PhD, Tufts University/Tufts Medical Center
    Fang Fang Zhang, MD, PhD, Tufts University
• 3:00-3:05PM: Break
• 3:05-3:25PM: Closing Keynote
  • Gordon Bernard, MD
    Senior Associate Dean for Clinical Research
    Professor of Medicine
    Melinda Owen Bass Chair in Medicine
    Vanderbilt University School of Medicine
• 3:25-4:00PM: Leading Learning Health Systems Panel Discussion
  • Moderator: Harry Selker, MD, MSPH, Tufts CTSI and ICRHPS
  • Michael Dandorph, MHA, Tufts Medicine
  • Helen Boucher, MD, FACP, FIDSA, Tufts Medicine and Tufts University School of Medicine

Get Social

Look for #TranslationalTufts2022 on social media and join the conversation.

Download our Poster Session Abstracts (PDF)

Download our Speaker Biographies (PDF)

Translational Science Day 2023: Advancing Health Equity Through Translational Science

Tufts CTSI is excited to announce that its 2023 Translational Science Day symposium is scheduled for Monday, October 16 in person on the Tufts University School of Medicine campus.

The theme of this year’s symposium is “Advancing Health Equity through Translational Science,” and the event will include lightning talks, an interactive research studio, and two keynote speakers: Michael G. Kurilla, MD, PhD, Director, Division of Clinical Innovation, National Center for Advancing Translational Science (NCATS), and Robert M. Califf, MD, MACC, Commissioner of Food and Drugs, FDA.

Event Details

Monday, October 16

8:00AM – 4:00PM EST

Tufts University Center for Medical Education

145 Harrison Ave.

Boston, Mass. 02111

Click here for directions

Symposium Flyer

To download the event flyer to share with your networks or print for community bulletin boards, click here.

Registration

Registration is now open! Click here to register. 

Check back on this page in the coming weeks for more details, and subscribe to our bi-weekly Happenings newsletter for event updates.

Morning Keynotes

The first morning keynote address (35–minute talk, + 10 min Q&A) will be given by Michael G. Kurilla, MD, PhD, Director Division of Clinical Innovation, NCATS

Topic: “The Science of Translational Science”

The second morning keynote address (35–minute talk, + 10 min Q&A) will be given by Robert M. Califf, MD, MACC, Commissioner of Food and Drugs, FDA

Topic: “Health Equity in Research”

Full Agenda (PDF)

8:00AM – 8:25AM

Registration check-in

8:30AM – 8:45AM

Welcome

Harry P. Selker, MD, MSPH

Dean, Tufts CTSI

8:45AM – 10:15AM

Keynote 1 (35-minute talk, + 10 min Q&A)

Michael G. Kurilla, MD, PhD

Director Division of Clinical Innovation, NCATS

Topic: “The Science of Translational Science”

Keynote 2 (35-minute talk + 10 min Q&A)

Robert M. Califf, MD, MACC

Commissioner of Food and Drugs, FDA

Topic: “Health Equity in Research”

10:15AM – 10:30AM

Break

10:30AM – 11:30AM

Translational Science Lightning Talks (three talks @ 10-min each + five-min Q&A each)

Goal: Showcase exemplar research projects that advance health equity through translational science approaches

John W. Jackson, ScD, Johns Hopkins University  | “Evaluating Effects of Interventions on Health Disparities”

Amanda Petrik, PhD, Kaiser Permanente | “Diversifying Recruitment into Clinical Trials and Research”

Marzyeh Ghassemi, MSc, PhD, MIT | “The Pulse Of Ethical Machine Learning in Health”

11:30AM – 12:30PM

Panel Discussion: “Embedding Translational Science and Health Equity into Research Programs” (60 minutes)

Lightning Talk presenters and keynotes

Moderator: Ayanna Thomas, PhD, Professor, Department of Psychology, Dean of Research for Arts and Sciences, Tufts University

Panelists:

Michael G. Kurilla, MD, PhD, Director Division of Clinical Innovation, NCATS

John W. Jackson, ScD, Johns Hopkins University  

Amanda Petrik, PhD, Kaiser Permanente

Marzyeh Ghassemi, MSc, PhD, MIT  

12:35PM – 1:00PM

Poster Plenary

Moderator: Aviva Must, PhD, Director, Small Grants to Advance Translational Science (S-GATS) Program, Tufts CTSI

1:00PM – 1:45PM

Lunch, networking, poster viewing

2:00PM – 3:30PM

Interactive Research Studio: “Uncertainty as a driver of financial distress in cancer patients”

Presenter: Eric Anderson, PhD, Faculty Scientist I, MaineHealth Institute for Research

This session will consider a planned study of the financial hardships associated with cancer and its treatment, particularly when involving advanced therapies. Dr. Anderson is interested in understanding how the cost uncertainties, unknown out-of-pocket expenses, and difficulty and stress in interpreting complex medical bills can impact patients’ decision making and health behaviors and drive their experience of financial distress.

Get Social

Look for #TranslationalTufts2023 on Twitter and join the conversation.

Contact

If you have questions or require additional assistance, please email training@tuftsctsi.org.