Building Research Teams for Impact on Health: Spanning Disciplines and Stakeholders

Interested in learning how to build authentic partnerships for translational research collaboration? Mark your calendar for Translational Research Day 2020 on Friday, March 6 at the Tufts Health Sciences Campus in Boston.

Friday, March 6
8:30AM-3:30PM
Tufts Medical Center
Wolff Auditorium
800 Washington Street, Boston, MA 02111

Download and share the Translational Research Day 2020 flyer (PDF).

Watch the livestream on March 6 starting at 9:00AM EST!

Access the Translational Research Day slides here (PDF).

Registration

Please register to attend.

Keynote

The Grand Rounds keynote address will be given by Sharon Terry, MA, President and CEO of Genetic Alliance in Washington, DC. Ms. Terry is internationally known for her work on engaging individuals, families and communities to transform health and further biomedical research. She played a central role in identifying the gene for a rare disease affecting her two children.

Agenda

  • 8:30AM: Registration, breakfast, and digital poster session
  • 9:00AM:
  • 9:15AM: Taming the Wild Beast: Fueling the Power of Collaborative Innovation (Gigi Hirsh, MD, MIT Center for Biomedical Innovation)
    • NewDigs is a collaborative biomedical innovation platform that for the past 10 years has developed new methods for delivering value faster to key stakeholders. Dr. Hirsch will share her extensive experience gained in identifying and working with the value chain of decisionmakers, including the critical role of effective communication processes in sustaining collaboration. She will also discuss new tools that have emerged from these processes that drive value to stakeholders.
    • Moderator: Harry Selker, MD, MSPH, Tufts CTSI)
  • 9:45AM: Scientific Talks: Handbook of Broadly-Engaged Team Science
    • Anticipating the Growing Use of Real-World Data in Clinical Research (Kenneth Getz, MBA, Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Development)
      • Dr. Getz will discuss the shift towards the use of real-world data in the drug development and drug approval process. The use of real-world data in drug innovation and approval reflects the growing importance of obtaining insights directly from patients and their caregivers and others involved in patient care. Access to and use of real-world data requires a new level of collaboration and teamwork among multiple stakeholders, which is now occurring.
    • The Changing Role of Patient Advocates in Oncology Research (Susan Parsons, MD, MRP, Tufts Medical Center)
      • Dr. Parsons will draw on her extensive experience as a Principal Investigator on numerous studies of patient-centered cancer care and her key role in clinical trial development for the National Cancer Institute as a member of the NCI’s Scientific Steering Committee for Cancer Care Delivery an NCI-funded inter-group study of newly diagnosed patients with Hodgkin Lymphoma. Dr. Parsons will discuss the emerging role and importance of advocates in planning and conducting clinical trials as well as the challenges and benefits of integrated research teams.
    • Moderator: Jonathan Davis, MD, Tufts CTSI
  • 10:25AM: Break
  • 10:40AM: Panel: Authentic Engagement of Non-researchers in Team Science (Robert Sege, MD; Linda Hudson, PhD; Sara Folta, PhD, Tufts CTSI)
    • We will hear from three experts in community engagement in research. Dr. Hudson will discuss the value of partnering with communities, and the critical role of relationship-building, including how to engage and retain the interest of community stakeholders. Dr. Folta will draw upon an innovative theory to discuss principles of creating equity in research partnerships between scientists and community members. She will identify the six different types of capital non-scientist stakeholders bring to research and examples of how to achieve equity in these relationships. Dr. Sege will discuss his innovative work with community-based pediatric providers to achieve change in community-based clinical practices.
    • Moderator: Jonathan Garlick, DDS, PhD, Tufts CTSI
  • 11:25AM: Digital poster session, lunch, networking
  • 12:00PM: Keynote Address and Medical Grand Rounds
    • If You Are Not At the Table, You Are On the Menu: Building Research Teams for Impact on Health (Sharon Terry, MA, Genetic Alliance)
    • Moderator: Harry Selker, MD, MSPH, Tufts CTSI
  • 1:00PM: Travel to Dental Building, 14th Floor, for afternoon sessions
  • 1:15PM: 
    • Session A: Engaging Diverse Stakeholders in Basic Science Research (Jonathan Garlick, DDS, PhD, Tufts CTSI; Cheryl London, DVM, PhD, Tufts CTSI; Jens Rueter, MD, The Jackson Laboratory. Moderator: John Castellot, PhD, Tufts CTSI)
      • This groundbreaking session will involve presentations from three major basic scientists who have done pioneering work in diversification of research teams, demonstrating partnerships to advance research and leading to innovative approaches to research design and implementation. Dr. Garlick will discuss his transformation as a scientist researching scleroderma based on inclusion of patients in conceptualizing and implementing studies. He has since developed the Civic Communication curriculum, which engages scientists and all stakeholders in acquiring skills in authentic collaboration. Dr. London, a leader in the One Health initiative, will discuss the necessity and complexity of cross-species research and her new approaches that blend multi-team, multi-institutional resources to include mouse, dog and human models. Dr. Rueter from The Jackson Laboratory is leading a project at the other end of the translational spectrum — he is conducting implementation research community based health care providers. This is research on the use of genomic testing to improve the care of cancer patients in rural Maine. Dr. Rueter’s project is at a critical flexion point in scientific research—the translation from laboratory to widespread use. This project is using a collaborative model in which the lab is partnering with cancer care providers in local clinics to improve access to and use genomic testing by patients and their physicians in cancer care. The use of genomic testing in precision medicine is relatively new and integration into community use is challenging.
    • Session B: Innovative Broadly-Engaged Team Science Tools, Methods, and Frameworks (Peter Levine, PhD, Tufts University; Sarah Goff, MD, PhD, Baystate Medical Center; Kathleen Szegda, PhD, MPH, MS, Public Health Institute of Western Massachusetts; Denise H. Daudelin, RN, MPH, Tufts CTSI; Moderator: Robert Sege, MD, PhD, Tufts CTSI)
      • This session is a unique opportunity to hear from experts in community-based research and stakeholder engagement. Drs. Goff and Szegny have developed a training program for community leaders designed to model authentic partnerships in research. Additionally, they developed a training course, community-engaged research 101, focused on researchers and building relationships with communities. Drs. Goff and Szegny will talk about their training, giving examples of key concepts and approaches. Attendees will participate in a short exercise to demonstrate these ideas. Ms. Daudelin will discuss the Math Equipoise project, which was a large-scale project in which diverse stakeholders were involved in designing research to address the outcomes of osteoarthritis. This presentation will focus on the approaches used to create a patient and scientist integrated research team. Peter Levine has extensive experience developing partnerships for health improvement with members of social movements. Social movements such as ACT-UP have changed the course of scientific research; however, many researchers do not have knowledge of social movements or how to effectively engage with them. He will present a framework to assist researchers to engage effectively with social movements relevant to their research interests.
  • 3:00PM: Networking and refreshments (Alice Rushforth, PhD; Debra Lerner, MS, PhD, Tufts CTSI)

Poster Session

Present your translational research at our poster session!

Posters will be displayed electronically (on HD screens from ePosterBoards) from 8:30AM-noon. Previously presented posters are welcome. Learn more and submit your abstract by Friday, February 21. 

Get Social

Look for #TranslationalTufts2020 on social media and join the conversation.