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Translational Research Support and Services for Scientists, Scholars, and Community Members

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Meet our staff

Anna Thompson,
Research Project Coordinator II - RPI
Tufts CTSI

Education, training, and mentorship for new and seasoned researchers

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May 12, 8:00 AM | Conferences & Symposia
25th Annual Clinical and Translational Science (CTS) Graduate Program Symposium
Mar 02, 1:00PM | Seminars & Workshops
CLINICAL RESEARCH STAFF QUARTERLY TRAINING: Peer-to-Peer Onboarding: Techniques for Training Your New Coworker (or Yourself!)
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Translational Research Support and Services for Scientists, Scholars, and Community Members

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Impactful

Since 2009, we’ve awarded 93 grants for innovative, interdisciplinary research through our Pilot Studies Program.

Tracking our progress towards acceleration, innovation and collaboration

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Tufts CTSI 2019 Annual Report
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Featured Success Story

Tufts CTSI Community Partner Awarded Grant to Address the Impact of Problem Gambling in Asian Communities
When the plans were announced for Encore Boston Harbor, a luxury resort and casino located about five miles from Logan... Read More

Building a Culture and Community of Collaboration

The Tufts CTSI team is committed to fostering innovative research through all programs and service areas.
More than 100 diverse faculty members from 17 partner institutions offer a wealth of knowledge and experience.
Use Profiles to find collaborators and subject-matter experts throughout our research community.
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Tufts CTSI's network comprises nearly 40 medical, academic, industry, & community partners and collaborators.
Explore Our Partnership
Tufts CTSI. Tufts Clinical and Translational Science Institute.
Tufts CTSI
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Helping the Quest for Nutrition Come to Fruition at OASIS on Ballou

For Apolo Cátala, community engagement is a way of life. As Farm Manager of Codman Square Neighborhood Development Corporation (NDC)’s OASIS on Ballou, he is committed to engaging people in healthy, affordable nutrition through urban agriculture.

“Our mission is to create food access in a multi-dimensional way by encouraging people to make a better connection with where their food comes from, and by inspiring them to grow their own,” Cátala says.

The OASIS (Opportunity, Affirmation, Sustainability, Inspiration, and Success), a half-acre farm in Dorchester along the tracks of the Fairmount Commuter Rail, wasn’t always a place for growth and community. Formerly the site of four houses, the property was abandoned in the 1970s and became a dumping ground for car parts and trash. In 2008, the City of Boston Department of Neighborhood Development designated the site for urban agriculture and the work to transform it from eyesore to oasis began.

Even after the debris was cleared away, the OASIS wasn’t ready for planting. The ground was contaminated with lead paint and heavy metals, and replacing the soil was too costly. Instead, the Codman Square NDC and the Friends of Ballou contained the soil by covering the lot in wood chips and geotech fabric. Under Cátala’s direction, workers and volunteers use raised beds, containers, and garden bags to grow hundreds of pounds of vegetables, herbs, and flowers. The produce is then made available to the community.

“We choose not to sell at the pricier farmers’ markets,” Cátala says. “We go to Codman Square and Mattapan Square, where the population is more challenged economically. We are making organic food accessible by taking it to where people are, selling it at a lower price, and engaging the community in a healthier relationship with their food.”

OASIS on Ballou’s efforts to bring organic produce to healthy food priority areas are further bolstered by city and state initiatives like the Healthy Incentives Program, DotRx, and Healthy on the Block. Cátala hopes the assessments of these programs’ impact will help to measure the value of urban farming.

“For most urban farmers, the payoff isn’t financial,” he says.

Cátala began thinking about farming and food access during a visit to his birthplace, Puerto Rico. He was struck by the lack of agriculture.

“Despite having a lush, green landscape and lots of water and sunshine, 85% of the food in Puerto Rico is imported,” Cátala says. This contradiction inspired him to take an online EdX course, Food as Chemistry. After that, he enrolled in Urban Farming Institute’s training program, and then found his role at OASIS. In 2018, he joined Tufts CTSI’s Stakeholder Expert Panel.

“I see my role on the Panel as identifying areas of research, bringing people together, and hopefully getting involved with a nutritional food access study,” Cátala says. “Codman Square takes a 360° approach to the social determinants of health. We could be a valuable partner for researchers through Tufts CTSI.”

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This website was supported by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of health, Award Number UL1TR002544.  The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH.