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News Archive
Welcome to Stanford Spectrum News, a publication of the Spectrum CTSA: Stanford’s Center for Clinical and Translational Research and Education. See below for the most recent articles reflecting Spectrum-related developments.
MARCH 2024 | ISSUE 7
O’Hara named Co-Chair of NIH CTSA Program Steering Committee
Steering Committee to Direct and Facilitate the Best Translational Research Across All CTSA Sites
Dr. Ruth O’Hara, Senior Associate Dean for Research at the Stanford University School of Medicine, has been appointed by the NIH National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) to serve as co-chair of the NIH Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSA) Program Steering Committee. In this role, Dr. O’Hara will work alongside fellow co-chair, Michael Kurilla, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Division of Clinical Innovation at NCATS, providing leadership and guidance to the CTSA network.
Stanford researcher shows structural fires are associated with inequities in immigrant and minority housing
Landlord Negligance and Housing Inequities Contribute to Unsafe Hheating Practices, Leading to Deadly Fires
Heating issues due to landlord negligence and housing inequities frequently lead to unsafe heating practices that result in dangerous fires. A media release following one such terrible fire that took place in the Bronx in January 2022, causing the deaths of eight children and nine adults, drew the attention of Stanford’s Spectrum KL2 Scholar Clifford Charles Sheckter, MD, Assistant Professor of Surgery.
“As a burn surgeon and researcher, one of my overarching goals is to reduce fire related injury and death,” explains Dr. Sheckter. “When I read that this fire was due to a space heater in a lower income housing complex, it got me thinking about whether there was a greater connection between unsafe heating practices and structure fires.”
Proposal Development Office supports SoM researchers with opportunities, guidance
PDO Team is Transforming Innovative Ideas Into Impactful Proposals
In 2023, the Proposal Development Office (PDO) at the Stanford School of Medicine (SoM) welcomed new director Kiran Kocherlakota, PhD, who is leading a team of specialists focused on further enhancing the office’s robust services to faculty.
“Our goal is to support the creation of strong, highly competitive grant proposals and achieve an improved award success rate for the Stanford School of Medicine,” stated Dr. Kocherlakota.
Trial Innovation Network supports researchers with multi-site studies
Providing Researchers with Assistance in Leveraging National Support Along with Local Resources
The trial innovation network (TIN) supports researchers in streamlining multi-site study processes, leveraging national support along with local resources, reducing the time required to develop a multi-site study, and connecting investigators with relevant experts. It provides planning guidance, resources, and operational assistance for investigators. A large portion of the TIN’s support is provided at no cost.
Stanford’s SPORR holds Rigor & Reproducibility Colloquium, publishes CTSA-wide survey results
Guest Speakers from Harvard and Duke Share Research Integrity Practices
Stanford University’s School of Medicine (SoM) Program on Research Rigor & Reproducibility (SPORR) hosted its 2nd school-wide Rigor & Reproducibility Colloquium: Conversations on How to Future-Proof our Science on January 29th, 2024. On February 1, SPORR’s CTSA institutional survey results on rigor and reproducibility were published in the Journal of Clinical and Translational Science.
OCTOBER 2023 | ISSUE 6
Stanford Medicine monitors children’s metabolic health at CAMP
Non-invasive Health Monitoring Demonstrates Potential for Wider-Scale Studies
Armed with activity monitors, adhesive sensors, and iPods, 74 children participated in the Stanford Kids Continuous Advanced Metabolic Profiling (CAMP) Study this past summer. Held at the East Palo Alto Family YMCA and the East Valley YMCA in San José, the study was the first expansion of a successful summer 2022 pilot for non-invasive health monitoring in a community setting, rather than in a typical clinical healthcare setting.
Stanford CTRU supports NIH COVID study
Strong Enrollment and CTRU Staff Expertise Contributeto Study Success
Stanford’s Clinical and Translational Research Unit (CTRU) is providing significant expanded support services (enrollment, laboratory, and clinical) for the NIH RECOVER study: A Multi-site Observational Study of Post-Acute Sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Adults.
Stanford-community partnership helps improve health outcomes for Black women diagnosed with breast cancer
Bidirectional Research Partnership Evolves from Community Engagement Outreach
What began as an outreach effort to engage Black women in heightening awareness of breast cancer evolved into a full-fledged bidirectional research partnership between the Spectrum CTSA’s Community Engagement core and its community collaborator, Black Ladies Advocating for Cancer Care (BLACC).
CTSA-supported fellows complete Biodesign Innovation program at Stanford, creating medical technologies
Clinical Immersion, Implementation Bootcamp, Externships, and Projects Result in Discoveries
Two Spectrum CTSA-supported Biodesign fellows, Nicholas Prindeze, MD and Sojung Yi, MD, recently graduated from Stanford’s 10-month Biodesign Innovation Fellowship program, where they were introduced to a wide range of innovation-relevant topics, from design thinking to the art of a good needs statement to the regulatory path of a medical device or therapeutic.
Meet the Research Office Associate Deans
Faculty Members Share Unique Expertise with School of Medicine Research Office
Ten School of Medicine faculty members presently serve as Associate Deans of Research, each sharing their unique skills and expertise with the School of Medicine Research Office and the Office of the Senior Associate Dean of Research (SADR), headed by Dr. Ruth O’Hara.
MARCH 2023 | ISSUE 5
Spectrum CTSA Pilot funding leads to Our Voice Global Citizen Science Research Initiative and Network
Projects catalyze more than 75 worldwide community designed programs, reaching half a million people
Local physical and social environmental conditions impact people’s ability to live healthy and vital lives. However, many individuals and communities lack a voice in or means of addressing local unhealthy conditions affecting them.
Biobank initiatives lead toward service expansion
Services will meet array of needs of human subjects reserach and clinical trials accross the School of Medicine
The Stanford Biobank has launched three significant initiatives that will increase standardization and maximize biospecimen quality while offering services flexible enough to meet the varied needs of human subjects research and clinical trials across the Stanford School of Medicine.
SPORR presents inaugural Rigor and Reproducibility awards
SPORR honors investigators, hosts rigor and reproducability colloquium
Stanford University’s School of Medicine Program on Research Rigor & Reproducibility (SPORR) presented awards to six Stanford investigators at its first school-wide Colloquium and Help-a-thon, held on January 23, 2023 at Berg Hall.
Spectrum CTSA pilot project improves clinical prediction of severe dengue progression
Discoveries published in GENOME MEDICINE
Dengue virus (DENV) is an ongoing threat to global and child health as there are currently no effective vaccines or approved antivirals. About five to 20 percent of symptomatic dengue patients per year – three to six million people – experience progression to severe dengue (SD) infection, yet there are no effective clinical biomarkers to predict which patients will develop this life-threatening complication.
OnCore efficiency updates enhance user experience
Intergrations, effort tracking, and tableu simplify clinical reserach administration
OnCore is Stanford’s secure, centralized system for tracking clinical research. This industry-standard system positions Stanford Medicine to collaborate across all Stanford groups and participate in multicenter clinical trials. All (non-cancer) clinical research involving a Stanford consent must be registered in OnCore.
JUNE 2022 | ISSUE 4
Stanford launches CTSA-wide survey on Rigor and Reproducibility
Results will inform NCATS and the CTSA consortium on state of R&R activities
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is calling for formal training and support for practices and activities that enhance research rigor and reproducibility (R&R). This is requiring many institutions to take a close look at both the formal and informal curricula of their training programs to see if the topics that comprise R&R are adequately covered, and whether related practices have been adopted by faculty.
Stanford CTSA Research Participation Program expands
Services launched to help study teams engage participants in research
The Stanford CTSA Research Participation Program (RPP) provides resources and tools to help study teams meet their participant recruitment goals, with a focus on engaging patients as partners in research. In response to increased demand from study teams, and to better serve the greater Stanford research community, RPP has expanded its Participant Engagement Platform (PEP) “honest broker” services.
KL2 integration with Stanford CTSA cores benefits scholars
Interaction with Spectrum’s cores broadens scholar training and career development
Spectrum’s Institutional Career Development (KL2) Program provides didactic training, mentoring, and career development to prepare junior faculty for independent careers in translational research, as well as offering training experiences for early career investigators across the translational pipeline. The program’s success is a direct result of its integration and engagement across the Spectrum CTSA’s Cores and Programs, exemplifying that “it takes a village.” Read on for examples of partnerships between Spectrum Cores and the KL2 Program.
Spectrum services support researchers, clinicians, and students across Stanford School of Medicine and beyond
Cores and programs provide comprehensive services to support the research enterprise
Spectrum, Stanford’s Center for Clinical and Translational Research and Education, provides researchers, clinicians, and students from the School of Medicine and across the entire University with services that support, sustain, and enhance their work. Organized into 10 interconnected cores, these services are sponsored by the Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS).
In this issue of Stanford Spectrum News, we are pleased to introduce two more of our cores, Network Capacity and Research Methods.
MARCH 2022 | ISSUE 3
Stanford Researchers Named to Clinical Research Forum Top Ten List
Award-winning study focuses on using artificial intelligence to make clinical trials more inclusive
Dr. James Zou, Assistant Professor of Biomedical Data Science, and Ruishan Liu, a Ph.D. student in Electrical Engineering, have received a Clinical Research Forum 2022 Top Ten Clinical Research Achievement Award in recognition of their study, “Evaluating eligibility criteria of oncology trials using real-world data and AI,” the results of which were published in Nature last year. Dr. Zou will present the research at the 2022 Translational Science Conference in Chicago, IL in April, and be honored at an awards gala during the conference.
Harnessing Real-World Data to Reduce Health Disparities and Address Inequalities
Research and data services are aimed at accelerating the shift from T3 to T4
Structural racism and social inequalities have led to deep and persistent health disparities, but the team at Stanford’s Center for Population Health Sciences (PHS) is focused on harnessing data to address these disparities and improve population health.
“We have seen incredible advances in diagnostics, drugs, and devices over the past decade,” explains Dr. David Rehkopf, Director of PHS and Associate Professor of Epidemiology and Population Health. “Unfortunately, many communities have been excluded from resources and scientific advances, contributing to significant health inequalities.”
BERD Builds Bridges Between PIs and Data Science Experts
Initiative helps junior faculty navigate data science resources
The Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Research Design (BERD) Program is a data science resource within Spectrum, Stanford’s Center for Clinical and Translational Research and Education. It facilitates the bridging of investigators to the appropriate data science collaborators across campus, connecting them to the optimal quantitative expertise needed for their study.
Spectrum CTSA Launches OnCore User Enhancements
Platform collects and manages study protocols, participants, and financial data
The OnCore Enterprise Research system, or OnCore, is a vendor-supported Clinical Research Management System (CRMS) that benefits Principal Investigators, research teams, and administrators involved in financial and regulatory functions by providing them with a single platform for collecting and managing study protocol, participant, and financial data. Several OnCore upgrades are on the horizon, all of which will enhance operations.
Spectrum Services Support MDs, Researchers, and Students Across Stanford School of Medicine
Cores and programs provide comprehensive services to support research enterprise
In this issue of Stanford Spectrum News, we are pleased to introduce two more of our cores, Community and Collaboration, and Hub Research Capacity.
Spectrum, Stanford’s Center for Clinical and Translational Research and Education, provides researchers, scientists, and doctors from the School of Medicine and across the entire University with services that support, sustain, and enhance their work. Organized into 10 interconnected cores, these services are sponsored by the Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS).
OCTOBER 2021 | ISSUE 2
Stanford Researchers Design Consultation Service Utilizing Aggregate Patient Data
Unique data and computa-tional infrastructure built using Spectrum-provided resources
In an article published this month by the New England Journal of Medicine’s Catalyst: Innovations in Care Delivery, Stanford researchers and data scientists shared the success of their recently developed consultation service for interpreting data from electronic medical record (EMR) systems and examined how clinicians are using that data at the bedside.
Stanford KL2 Mentored Career Development Program Hosts Visiting CTSA Scholars
Stanford Scholars Serve as Visiting Scholars at Harvard, John Hopkins, and University of Michigan
For the second year, Stanford’s KL2 Mentored Career Development Program is participating in the virtual CTSA Visiting Scholars Program. The goals of this program are to:
- Offer Scholars the opportunity to serve as a visiting professor at a CTSA Consortium institution to facilitate connections with faculty outside their home institutions, and
- Foster an exchange of ideas and collaboration among different CTSA hubs.
This academic year, Stanford’s Scholars are serving as visiting professors at four CTSA partner institutions: Harvard Medical School, Johns Hopkins University, University of Michigan, and the Medical University of South Carolina. The program includes virtual meetings between Stanford’s Scholars and faculty at the host institution. Program participants also give a virtual Grand Rounds lecture, open to the entire CTSA Consortium and promoted internally through departments and nationally through the Center for Leading Innovation & Collaboration (CLIC) website.
Spectrum Leads Clinical Research Unit Initiative
CRUs support researchers, help increase quality and efficiency of clinical research
The Stanford School of Medicine Dean’s Office launched the Clinical Research Unit (CRU) initiative in 2019 to enhance review and oversight of clinical research activities. Fifty percent of School of Medicine clinical departments now have at least one CRU, and because of their success, the SoM is moving towards enterprise-wide CRU adoption and implementation.
Established by a team from Spectrum, Stanford’s Center for Clinical and Translational Research and Education, CRUs are charged with the continuous development and improvement of a robust, well-organized, and productive clinical and translational research program.
Spectrum Services Support MDs, Researchers, and Students Across Stanford School of Medicine
Cores and programs provide comprehensive services to support the research enterprise
Spectrum, Stanford’s Center for Clinical and Translational Research and Education, provides researchers, scientists, and doctors from the School of Medicine and across the entire University with services that support, sustain, and enhance their work. Organized into 10 interconnected cores, these services are sponsored by the Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS).
JULY 2021 | ISSUE 1
Faculty, Staff, and Students Contribute to Spectrum Website Launch
A case study for collaborative web development
The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic last year vastly changed the operating structure of Spectrum, Stanford’s Center for Clinical and Translational Research and Education. Led by PI and Director Dr. Ruth O’Hara, Spectrum leadership quickly had to plan, implement, and roll out initiatives, systems, and information to address the needs of the CTSA team and its constituents in a virtual, remote environment.
Spectrum Researcher Addresses COVID-19 Trial Prioritization Issues
Ethicists publish in Clinical Trials on research prioritization
Early in the pandemic, Dr. David Magnus, Director of Stanford’s Center for Biomedical Ethics, and Dr. Angela Rogers spoke with Spectrum’s Director and PI, Stanford School of Medicine’s Senior Associate Dean of Research, Dr. Ruth O’Hara, about creating a task force to make decisions about which COVID-19 clinical trials should be prioritized.
Spectrum EAB to meet in October
The Spectrum CTSA External Advisory Board (EAB) will meet with Spectrum leadership on October 14 and 15, 2021.
The EAB meets annually to conduct a review of Spectrum plans, programs, and goals, and to assess the degree to which milestones both for the overall program and each of its components have been achieved. The Board then prepares a written summary report that is shared with the NIH and Spectrum leadership.
Spectrum CTSA Resources Help Advance Asian Health and Research
The Stanford Center for Asian Health Research and Education (CARE) is growing multi-disciplinary research, education, and clinical care support for Asian health
To counter the underrepresentation of Asians in clinical trials and genetics research, CARE provides support, training, and mentorship opportunities for clinical and translational science research in Asian health to positively impact Asian clinical care and improve the health of Asians everywhere.
Community Engagement Researchers Support Vaccination PSA Production
Spectrum’s Community Engagement Core supports public service announcement videos encouraging COVID-19 vaccination
In an effort to reduce transmission rates in certain communities, a team from Spectrum’s Office of Community Engagement recently partnered with Stanford Health Care (SHC) to produce bilingual public service announcement (PSA) videos on the benefits of becoming vaccinated against COVID-19.