June 2022
Issue 1
Letter From the President: Future Perspectives
This month, I want to write about the glue that holds the research enterprise together. I believe the glue is the stakeholders—the agencies that fund our work, the investigators who design the studies, the coordinators who facilitate the projects and manage them, the technicians and research assistants who make things happen, the people who handle the fiscal and regulatory aspects, and the students, who are the next generation of scientists. But the most important stakeholder is the community member who participates in our research. How often do we ask the community what topics are relevant to them? How easy do we make it for everyone to participate? Do we know if our study methods are acceptable and feasible to the people who will be asked to participate? Will we be compensating them appropriately? Do we solicit feedback from them when we deconstruct the project?
Our community engagement program, facilitated by Community Health Workers, meets people where they are in the community and assesses people’s health needs and concerns for two reasons—so they can be linked to medical and social services that are needed, and so they can be offered opportunities to hear about research studies approved by our IRB. Almost everyone is interested in participating in research (97%) and 50% of people are navigated to a study. While that is high, we have also noted that people cannot get into studies because there are none for them, locations and times are inconvenient, or they have no way to get there. We work on these barriers every day.
Our communities are struggling with many stressors right now. It is our duty, more than ever, to holistically address our communities’ concerns and conditions so we can be trustworthy partners.
Linda B. Cottler, PhD, MPH, FACE
ACTS President
Save the Date: Translational Science 2023
ACTS and its partners are looking forward to connecting in Washington, DC for Translational Science 2023, taking place April 19-21, 2023.
Additional details, including information on abstract and scientific programming submissions, as well as registration, will be available in the coming months.
Lasker Clinical Research Scholars Program
The National Institutes of Health, in partnership with the Lasker Foundation, is pleased to announce the 2022-23 Lasker Clinical Research Scholars Program. The program supports clinical researchers in the early stages of their careers, to promote their development to fully independent positions. Lasker Scholars are appointed as independent, tenure-track level investigators in the NIH Intramural Research Program for 5 years, followed by 3 years of funding at an extramural research institution (up to $500,000 direct costs per year) or continued appointment in the intramural program. Candidates must have a clinical doctoral degree and a professional license to practice in the United States, and cannot already have obtained tenure at a research institution. The application deadline is June 24, 2022.
More information can be obtained at the Lasker Scholar website, or by contacting Dr. Chuck Dearolf at LaskerScholar@nih.gov.
Journal of Clinical and Translational Science: The Official Journal of ACTS and CR Forum
- Gold Open Access: fully compliant with Open Access Mandates
- Articles funded by the NIH will be manually sent to PubMed Central
- Articles appear with their final citation details as soon as they are published online
- Prestigious editorial board listing
- Global dissemination of your paper
- Metrics, Altmetrics and Kudos to monitor submissions
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Member Highlights
Do you know someone who deserves to be recognized for outstanding or groundbreaking work? Is your institution embarking on an exciting project? Send ACTS your story to be highlighted in future versions of ACTS Connection.
Submit stories here.
Career Center
The ACTS Career Center is the premier resource for connecting those in the field of translational science with career opportunities. Visit today to find a wealth of resources to help achieve your career goals.
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Translational Science Today
UAMS, CAVHS Studying Health Effects of Arkansas...
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news.uams.edu