Hot Topics in Research

May 2, 2023: Research Grants and Corporate and Foundation Funding: How to Work with Office of Research Development and the University of Tennessee Foundation presented by Jamie Whartenby, Director, UTHSC Office of Research Development, and Greg Harris, Assistant Vice Chancellor, Strategic Initiatives & Advancement Services, UT Foundation
Watch the May 2nd Presentation

 

April 25, 2023:  The Future of Biology: Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Robot Scientists, and Self-Driving Laboratories? presented by John P. Wikswo, PhD, University Distinguished Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Molecular Physiology & Biophysics, and Physics, A.B. Learned Professor of Living State Physics, Founding Director, Vanderbilt Institute for Integrative Biosystems Research and Education, and Adjunct Professor, Department of Graduate Education, College of Graduate Health Sciences, UTHSC

The complexity of biology is legendary, and the classic approach to research has been for an individual scientist to drill down to a manageable level of detail, for example one’s favorite protein or cell. Systems biology takes a broader view by embracing complexity that spans multiple scales in space and time, but faces the challenge of identifying an appropriate subset of biological variables and interactions that can be managed within the structure of contemporary research groups using state-of-the-art multi-omic technologies and computational models. As the breadth and depth of systems biology models continue to grow, so does the difficulty in generating the many testable hypotheses needed to validate and expand the models, designing and conducting the requisite experiments, interpreting the data so as to test each hypothesis, and iterating the process. The resulting geometric or possibly exponential increase in complexity of both models and experiments suggests that there will be a proportional decrease in the rate of scientific progress, unless scientific discovery can be radically accelerated. Artificial intelligence, machine learning, robot scientists, and self-driving laboratories could revolutionize an individual’s ability to address ever-harder biological problems.

11/15/2022: All About the EDW and TrinetX presented by Lokesh Chinthala, Medical Informatics Scientist and Mark Steiner, VP, TrinetX

A double presentation, featuring Lokesh Chinthala, MIS with the UTHSC Center for Biomedical Information and Mark Steiner, VP of Healthcare Partnerships and Growth Strategy with TrinetX. With a 3.5+ million patient population from across the state of Tennessee, the research Enterprise Data Warehouse (EDW) is a consolidated data resource, which provides a unified view of a patient. TriNetX is a cloud-based health research platform that provides a tabular data summary of the rEDW and can be used as a prep-to-research tool. This presentation focuses on how these tools can be used to answer the research questions.

Watch the Nov 15 Presentation

11/1/2022: Just the FACS Ma’am presented by Deidra Daria, PhD, FCCS Core Director.  An overview of the Flow Cytometry Cell Sorting Core

Watch the Nov 1 Presentation

05/03/2022: PMC, presented by David Kakhniashvili, PhD, PMC Core Director and Salvatore Mancarella, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Physiology. This double presentation spotlights the Proteomics and Metabolomics Core (PMC). 

Watch the May 2022 Presentation

03/29/2022: IRB, Common IRB Audit Findings presented by Lucy Del Mar, MD, CCRP, IRB Compliance Advisor. This presentation discusses the goals of the UTHSC IRB audit process. It also includes a discussion of the most common audit findings and how to prevent and correct them.

Watch the March 2022 PresentationView the March 2022 Presentation Slidedeck

01/25/2022: Overview of Office of Research Communications and Marketing presented by Lee Ferguson, Office of Research Communications and Marketing Director. This presentation discusses the what, where, and how of research communications and marketing, including how to find and use its specialized services. A wide range of topics are covered, designed to answer some of the most common questions we get from researchers, including: "Can you send me the UTHSC logo?"  "How can I get your emails?"  "Can you write about my research?"  "Can you help me with advertising to recruit research participants?" 

Watch the January 2022 PresentationView the January 2022 Presentation Slidedeck

12/07/2021: Overview of services available at UTHSC Molecular Resource Center (MRC) and Molecular Bioinformatics Core (mBIO) presented by Dr. Daniel Johnson, Molecular Bioinformatics Core (mBIO) Director. This presentation discusses how you can utilize the services available at the MRC and mBIO core to amplify your molecular research and grant submissions. Topics include experimental design to assure quality data, RNA-Seq, ChIP-Seq, and ATAC-Seq, and the new scRNA-Seq analysis pipelines. The intended audience is UTHSC faculty in staff interested in molecular research.  Watch the December 2021 Presentation 11/16/2021 - "The Office of Sponsored Programs" presented by Sarah White, MA, EdM, Associate Vice Chancellor for Research, Office of Sponsored Programs. This presentation provides quick updates on a number of policies and procedures within the Office of Sponsored Programs, as well as agency updates on upcoming changes to NIH submissions (Form G) and other regulatory changes. The intended audience is UTHSC faculty and staff interested in research funding.  Watch the November 2021 Presentation 10/26/2021: The Medicinal Chemistry Core and The Proteomics & Metabolomics Core (PMC) presented by Dr. Jiawang Liu, Medicinal Chemistry Core Director, and Dr. Michelle Puchowicz, Professor of Pediatrics-Obesity and MPMS Director. This presentation describes "How to Use MedChem Core to Achieve Your Research Goal" and "The application of high performance mass spectrometry in small molecule targeted omics research." The intended audience is UTHSC faculty and staff interested in research technology.  Watch the October 2021 Presentation 8/24/2021: The Clinical Trials Unit presented by Dr. Csaba Kovesdy, Fred Hatch Professor of Medicine; Director, Clinical Outcomes and Clinical Trials Program in Nephrology; Medical Director, Clinical Trials Unit. This presentation describes the clinical, administrative and regulatory background of clinical trials at UTHSC. The intended audience is UTHSC faculty and staff interested in clinical trials.  View the August 2021 Presentation Slidedeck

09/13/2019: Leveraging Non-Dilutive Federal Funding to Springboard Science & Technology Ventures presented by Sharon C. Ballard, President/CEO for Enable Ventures, Inc. and NuShores Biosciences, LLC

05/21/2019: Performing Clinical Research at UTHSC: The Clinical Trials Governance Board and You presented by Dr. Ari VanderWalde, Associate Vice Chancellor for Research- Clinical Trials; Chair, Clinical Trials Governance Board; and Dr. Karen Johnson, Endowed Professor for Women's Health Department of Preventive Medicine; Vice Chair, Clinical Trials Governance Board; Co-Director, TN-CTSI

05/09/2019: The Pursuit of Extramural Funding: How the Office of Research Development Can Help You presented by Lisa Youngentob, Director, Office of Research Development

View the May 2019 Presentation Slidedeck

04/16/2019: Advancing Clinical and Translational Research at UTHSC: The Tennessee Clinical and Translational Science Institute (TN-CTSI) presented by Karen C. Johnson, MD, MPH, Co-Director, Tennessee Clinical and Translational Science Institute, College of Medicine Endowed Professor in Women’s Health, Professor of Preventive Medicine, UTHSC; and Michelle Martin, PhD, Co-Director, Tennessee Clinical and Translational Science Institute, Director, Center for Innovation in Health Equity Research: A Community Cancer Alliance for Transformative Change

03/26/2019: Using the Advanced Compute Facility of the Joint Institute of Computational Sciences presented by Robert Davis, MD, MPH, Governor’s Chair, UTHSC-ORNL Center for Biomedical Informatics, Professor, Department of Pediatrics; and Akram Mohammed, PhD, Center for Biomedical Informatics

01/31/2019: Promoting a Culture of Research Safety presented by Tim Barton, MS, CIH, Director, Research Safety Affairs

12/18/2018- "A Recent Core Lab Success Story Supported by a Partnership Between the Proteomics and Metabolomics and Molecular Bioinformatics Cores" presented by Dr. Anna N. Bukiya, Associate Professor in the Dept. of Pharmacology, and Dr. Daniel Johnson, Director of the Molecular Bioinformatics (mBIO) Core

11/27/2018- "Business Relationships and Global Partnerships" presented by Gabor Tigyi, MD, PhD, Associate Vice Chancellor for Research and Industry Relations and Global Affairs; Professor of Physiology, UTHSC

10/23/2018- "Working with the Office of Scientific Writing to Create the Most Successful Proposals and Manuscripts" presented by Richard Redfearn, PhD, Director, Office of Scientific Writing, UTHSC

9/25/2018- "UTHSC’s Animal Care and Use Program: An Update on Promoting Research and Compliance" presented by David Hamilton, DVM, DACLAM, Director, Laboratory Animal Care Unit (LACU); and Jeff Steketee, PhD, Chair, Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC), Professor, Department of Pharmacology, UTHSC

8/28/2018- "Utilizing RBL Services for Basic and Translational Research" presented by Colleen Jonsson, PhD, Regional Biocontainment Laboratory Director, UTHSC

4/30/2018- "An Integrated Vision for the Future of UTHSC Clinical Trials" presented by Steve Goodman, Ari VanderWalde, Bob Davis, Phil Cestaro, Bill Mason, Richard Magid, and Karen Johnson, UTHSC

4/10/2018- “A Fund Raising Conversation: Research Philanthropy” presented by Love Collins, III, MBA, Vice Chancellor of Development and Alumni Affairs (DAA); and Greg Harris, Senior Director of Development- Regional and Research Philanthropy, UTHSC

3/27/2018- “Conversations on Entrepreneurship- Building a Startup into Your Research Plan” presented by Richard Magid, PhD, Vice President, University of Tennessee Research Foundation; and Steve Bares, PhD, MBA, President and Executive Director, Memphis Bioworks

2/27/2018- "Unifying the Office of Sponsored Programs - Past, Present and Future” presented by Steven Youngentob, PhD, Senior Associate Vice Chancellor for Research; and Sarah White, Associate Vice Chancellor for Research- Office of Sponsored Programs, UTHSC

11/14/2017- "How to Get a Patent" presented by Richard Magid, PhD, Vice President, University of Tennessee Research Foundation

9/26/2017- "Shared Analytical Chemistry Core Facility for Drug Discovery and Development at the College of Pharmacy” presented by Wei Li, PhD, Professor and Faculty Director of Instrument Facility, Director of the UTCoP Drug Discovery Center, UTHSC

8/22/2017- "Principal Investigator/Lab Manager Training on iLab” presented by Amanda Casey, Implementation Consultant at iLab Solutions, Agilent Technologies

5/23/2017- "Technology Transfer at the University of Tennessee: Inventions and Disclosures" presented by Richard Magid, PhD, Vice President, University of Tennessee Research Foundation

4/25/2017- "Write like a Winner: Working with the Office of Scientific Writing to Improve Your Proposals and Manuscripts" presented by Richard Redfearn, PhD, Director, Office of Scientific Writing, UTHSC

3/28/2017- "Search, Discover, and Connect: Elsevier’s Pure and What It Can Do For You” presented by Vadim Sobolev, Solutions Manager, Research Intelligence, Elsevier

1/24/2017- "Data Generated in the Proteomics and Metabolomics Core at UTHSC: Tips for Success in Planning your Proteomics Experiments" presented by Larry Reiter, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Neurology and Heather Smallwood, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Pediatrics, UTHSC

12/12/2016 - "New Changes in the Animal Care and Use Program- What to Expect in 2017" presented by David Hamilton, DVM, Interim Director, Laboratory Animal Care Unit; and Jeffery Steketee, PhD, Chair, Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee, UTHSC

11/15/2016 - "New and Improved On-line IBC Protocol Form: Why, Where, and How” presented by Mark Miller, PhD, Chair, Institutional Biosafety Committee; Michelle Clayton, Program Manager, Electronic Research Administration; and Patricia “Tricia” Page, Senior Program Manager, Electronic Research Administration, UTHSC

10/25/2016 - "From study design to cranky reviewers: How the Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Research Design (BERD) Unit can help you publish (and not perish)” presented by Saunak Sen, PhD, Chief of the Division of Biostatistics, and Tristan Hayes, Biostatistics Consulting Manager, UTHSC

9/21/2016 - "Industrialized Academic Drug Discovery- Combining Academic Research and Translational Sciences” presented by Mark J. Suto, PhD, Vice President Drug Discovery, Southern Research.

8/23/2016 - "Illumina’s sequencing and array-based solutions for genomic research” presented by Kevin Shianna, PhD, Executive Sequencing Specialist, and Zach Johnson, PhD, Territory Account Manager TN, MS & AL, Illumina

7/19/2016- "CRISPRs: How to Make a Mouse Faster” presented by: Robert Kesterson, PhD, Director, Transgenic & Genetically Engineered Models (TGEMS), The University of Alabama at Birmingham- Contact the Office of Research for a copy of the presentation.

6/28/2016- "UAB Microbiome Resource: Precision Medicine to Repair Dysbiotic Microbial Communities” presented by Casey D. Morrow, PhD, Director, UAB Microbiome Resource, The University of Alabama at Birmingham

5/24/2016 - "Proposed Regulations on Biospecimen Storage for Research: Ethical and Policy Issues” presented by Terrence F. Ackerman, PhD, Chair, Institutional Review Board (IRB), UTHSC

4/26/2016 - "The Molecular Resource Center and what it can do for you" presented by Bill Taylor, PhD, BS, Director, Molecular Resource Center, Larry Reiter, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Neurology, and Jeffrey M. Rybak, PharmD, Infectious Diseases Pharmacist, Integrated Biomedical Sciences PhD Student, UTHSC