Archives: Success Stories

Join a select cohort of innovators for a six-month-long program focused on translating health-related research into meaningful impact. The Innovate2Impact (i2i) program provides training, expert mentorship, and valuable networking opportunities to help participants strengthen their innovation pathway. Cohort Kick-off & Expo (November 19, 2026, Boston) NSF I-Corps™ Spark Program (January 2027, virtual) Pitch Lab Workshops … Continued

On Wednesday, September 23 at 4:30PM, join Benjamin Wessler, MD, MS, Cardiologist and Tufts CTSI Lead Navigator, for an overview of Tufts CTSI’s services, resources, and expert consultations available to support clinical and translational research. Attendees will learn how Tufts CTSI can help researchers at every stage of the research process through study design and analysis … Continued

How Community Engagement Studios are Building Trust in Science Incorporating patient and interest holder voices into study planning can help shorten the gap between research and its translation into practice. Engaging communities improves the relevance and feasibility of research while strengthening trust, understanding, and the reach of research dissemination. Although many investigators recognize the value … Continued

Advancing NICU Diagnosis: Genome Sequencing Delivers Clinical and Economic Benefits Among the most important benefits of genomic sequencing technologies is their potential to speed the diagnosis of critically ill infants suspected to have a genetic disorder. Because many genetic diseases present with non-specific symptoms in early life, establishing a diagnosis is challenging and often relies … Continued

ADAPT Looks Back to Leverage Community and Research for the Future Shifting socio-political landscapes remind us that local leaders and organizations have always worked in the face of adversity to build healthy, futures for our neighborhoods. To uplift these stories, the ADAPT coalition hosted its 9th Annual ADAPT Community Health Symposium, “Rooted in Resilience: Looking … Continued

Improving Detection of Aortic Stenosis with Machine Learning Aortic stenosis (AS) is a serious heart condition in which the aortic valve is narrowed, impairing the flow of blood out of the heart. Because symptoms appear slowly and are difficult to detect through routine physical examination, diagnosis frequently occurs late in the disease’s progression, when risks … Continued

Tufts CTSI Informatics is Helping Tufts Medicine Scale Research Efforts Researchers often ask, “Why did my cohort change?” Clinical data evolves over time, and in research settings it can be difficult to explain those changes or to reliably reproduce a prior data extraction. Historically, access to high fidelity physiologic and medical device data was limited, … Continued

Strengthening Dementia Screening Through Implementation Science and Learning Health Systems Over the past year, Tufts CTSI partnered with Tufts Medicine Behavioral Health to support the implementation of dementia screening in primary care, with a focus on strengthening the system’s capacity to learn from real-world practice. This reflects Tufts CTSI’s role in applying implementation science to … Continued

Launched in fall 2021, the original Blue Star Program is a 10-week blended learning experience that trains junior investigators in the practical skills of developing and running a clinical trial. Responding to the demands of busy clinical schedules, the program team revamped the original curriculum for fall 2025 and offered the Blue Star Investigator Accelerated … Continued

The Bridging the Divide on Firearm Policy Project is an initiative, supported by Tufts CTSI (non-federal funds), that brought together a nationally representative panel of stakeholders from both the gun rights and gun violence prevention communities. Over the course of a year, participants engaged in a series of professionally mediated deliberations with the goal of … Continued

Advancing discoveries into real-world health solutions requires more than scientific excellence; it depends on access to expertise, infrastructure, and multidisciplinary partnerships that extend beyond academic settings. In alignment with its mission to connect people, resources, and ideas to accelerate research translation, Tufts CTSI, together with partners at Tufts University, Tufts Medical Center, MIT, and Northeastern … Continued

Tufts CTSI is excited to announce that applications are now open for the Fall 2026 Blue Star Investigator Accelerated Training Program. This free program is open to Tufts Medicine and Tufts University faculty interested in learning the operational skills needed to serve as a site PI for industry-sponsored clinical trials. The Blue Star Accelerated program … Continued

We are now accepting letters of intent for the upcoming funding cycle for our institutional K12 awards (Tufts CTSI and BIRCWH) that provide 75% protected time and come with salary support, fringe benefits, and research funds. In the past two years, we received applications from each of our partner sites, and we are looking forward to … Continued

Thank you to everyone who joined us at the first Impact Launchpad pitch competition on Tuesday, May 19! And very special thanks to Morrison Foerster’s Boston office for hosting us in the beautiful 200 Club. More than 100 researchers, clinicians, investors, founders, students, faculty, and life science leaders joined us to learn, network while viewing selected poster … Continued

From the 1990s to today, a growing number of babies are exposed to an opioid before birth and have withdrawal soon after, a condition called neonatal abstinence syndrome. They have painful symptoms and may need to be in the hospital for weeks. Before 2017, there was no research on which medicines best calm these babies. … Continued

Dr. Paola Sebastiani, Director of the Center for Quantitative Methods and Data Science at the Institute for Clinical Research and Health Policy Studies, Tufts Medical Center, and Director of the Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Research Design (BERD) Center at Tufts CTSI, was interviewed by Inform magazine for an article titled, “The Fountain of Youth Could Be on Your Plate.”  The … Continued

Among the most important benefits of genomic sequencing technologies is their potential to speed the diagnosis of critically ill infants suspected to have a genetic disorder. Studies such as the Genomic Medicine in Ill Infants and Newborns (GEMINI) Study, co-led by Tufts CTSI Associate Director Jonathan Davis, MD, show that clinical genomics can have high … Continued

Informed consent forms are long and complex, making it hard for potential research participants to understand the study. Did you know that investigators from Tufts CTSI-affiliated institutions can now access the NEW Key Information Checklist?   The Informed Consent Key Information Checklist is a new validated and reliable tool that investigators can use to assess … Continued

Dr. Lisa Welch, Denise Daudelin, Lisa Serrano, Siyu Chen, Alyssa Cabrera, and Erin Gibson are the authors of Assessing Impact on Health, Health Care, and Public Support: The Evolution of a CTSA Hub’s Evaluation and Continuous Improvement Program, published in the Journal of Clinical and Translational Science. The paper focuses on: moving beyond traditional outputs … Continued

The Tufts University Affiliate of Cochrane US will host a three-day online Systematic Review Standard Author Training Series on November 6, November 13, and November 20. Topics will include: Overview of The Cochrane Collaboration, Defining the Research, Developing a Protocol, Systematic Literature Search, Study Selection, Critical Appraisal, Risk of Bias, Data Extraction, Analysis and Interpretation, GRADE Evidence and Findings Review, RevMan Software, Rayyan, and Use of AI in Systematic Reviews. … Continued

Students, clinicians, engineers, and visionaries from every discipline are invited to explore the frontiers of pediatric innovation at the first Hood Pediatric Innovation Summit on Thursday, October 23 at the Museum of Science, Boston. The program will feature innovation leaders who will provide perspectives and insights from multiple disciplines including: Emerging Technology, Economics, Education, Policy, and Patient Advocacy. In … Continued

Applications are now being accepted for two NIH mentored career-development opportunities offered through Tufts CTSI: the CTSI K12 in Translational Science and the Tufts Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women’s Health Program (BIRCWH). The awards provide research training, funds for protected research time and some research supplies, and a structured program to enhance and prepare … Continued

The Small Grants to Advance Translational Science (S-GATS) Program offers pilot awards up to $50K for research with the potential to improve health through innovations in clinical and translational science. The program supports projects aimed at overcoming persistent barriers to translation across various diseases and health conditions, while also encouraging the exploration of novel opportunities and … Continued

Tufts CTSI’s Clinical Trial Design Labs are a powerful demonstration of Tufts CTSI’s mission to support broadly engaged team science at the earliest stages of research. Design Labs bring together experts from across the intervention development pathway to support innovative study teams. Teams with an original clinical trial idea are guided to think about the … Continued

Community leaders, researchers, clinicians, students, and neighborhood residents gathered in Boston’s Chinatown neighborhood on April 6 to talk about stress. The 4th Annual Asian Health Symposium, In Pursuit of Health and Wellness: Addressing the Impact of Stress in Asian Immigrant Communities was presented by Tufts CTSI and local community partner organizations. All are members of Addressing Disparities in Asian Populations through Translational Research (ADAPT).

More than 90 community leaders, researchers, clinicians, students, and neighborhood residents gathered in Boston’s Chinatown neighborhood on December 6 to talk about working together to improve Asian health. The 3rd Annual Asian Health Symposium: From Collecting Data to Collective Impact was presented by Tufts CTSI and local community organizations. All are members of Addressing Disparities … Continued

Since the inception of Tufts CTSI, we have worked to break down silos within and across our institutions, build relationships, and develop a sense of common purpose across the research enterprise. In June 2015, our Comparative Effectiveness Research (CER) signature program, led by John Wong, MD (Director) and Thomas W. Concannon, PhD (Associate Director), made … Continued

Can a dog with a knee injury help to inform the treatment of a person with an Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) tear? Veterinarians and physicians using the One Health approach to translational research think so. One Health, a signature program at Tufts CTSI led by Director Lisa Freeman, DVM, PhD, DACVN, acknowledges the importance of the evolutionary and ecological links between … Continued

Sarah Goff, MD and her team at Baystate Medical Center recently received a Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) award for Project ACCCES: A Collaboration to develop Capacity for Community-Engaged Research in Springfield. This project seeks to build a coalition of stakeholders and investigators who will be prepared to examine health inequities faced by at-risk populations … Continued

What’s the key to speeding the process of discovery and development of solutions that improve human health? One critical element is multi-site collaboration to quickly enroll subjects into clinical research studies; however, the traditional Institutional Review Board (IRB) review process to establish these studies can be complex and time-consuming. Harvard Catalyst (the Harvard Clinical and Translational Science Center), in partnership with Tufts CTSI, … Continued

“Comparative effectiveness research and patient/family engagement are changing health care,” says Dr. Leyenaar. “We’re giving families a real voice to express their priorities and preferences, and this generates new knowledge about patients who may benefit most from particular treatments or processes.”