Vol. 3, Issue 10; October 2008
Published by the Academic Health Center Office of Clinical Research
Accelerate, published monthly, provides information on a wide range of resources available to clinical and translational researchers at the University of Minnesota. To send comments or questions about the publication, or to subscribe or unsubscribe, write to ahcocr@umn.edu.
In This Issue
News
Events
CAPS Profile: Steven Stovitz, MD, FACSM
Extramural Opportunities Requiring Nomination
The Office of the Senior Vice President for Research offers a database of externally funded grant opportunities that require University nomination because the sponsor has limited the number of applications an institution is allowed to submit. For a listing of opportunities and application instructions, visit http://www.research.umn.edu/opportunities/extramural/index.cfm.
This database lists opportunities and describes the internal submission process required for each of the listings. If you encounter an opportunity that limits the number of submissions, this would be the first place to check for information about the University process.
AHC Clinical Scholars Recognized
Three AHC researchers have completed the AHC Clinical Scholars Program, a pilot program that began in 2005 as a precursor to the NIH K12-funded CAPS program. Diane Treat Jacobson, Ph.D., R.N.; Mukta Arora, M.D., M.S.; and Mark Kirstein, Pharm.D. were recognized for their accomplishments at a reception on September 18, 2008 at the Campus Club in Coffman Memorial Union.
From left to right: Scholar Diane Treat Jacobson, Ph.D., R.N.; Associate Vice President for Research Mark Paller, M.D.; Program Director Russell Luepker, M.D., M.S.; Scholar Mukta Arora, M.D., M.S.; Scholar Mark Kirstein, Pharm.D.
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The AHC Clinical Scholars program provided Kirstein, Treat-Jacobson, and Arora with focused mentoring, outstanding educational opportunities, and 75 percent protected time to develop an independent clinical research career.
Mark Kirstein, an associate professor in the College of Pharmacy¿s Department of Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology, works in the area of pharmacokinetics. Kirstein has developed a novel bioreactor system which allows studies to mimic in vitro conditions that reflect in vivo drug kinetics. His methods have been applied to chemotherapy for lung cancer, and he intends to broaden his expertise to better understand chemotherapy in different cancers. Currently, Kirstein is working to identify gemcitabine pharmacokinetics in patients, translating laboratory observations directly to the clinic.
Kirstein has published a number of manuscripts during his time as an AHC Clinical Scholar, including those on his bioreactor system. He has received external support from the Cancer and Leukemia Group B Foundation located in Chicago, as well as additional intramural funding. Kirstein and his colleagues are preparing to submit applications for NIH P01 and R01 awards to continue their novel work in pharmacokinetics. Robert Kratzke, M.D., professor of medicine in the Medical School¿s Division of Hematology, Oncology and Transplantation, served as Kirstein¿s mentor throughout the program.
Diane Treat-Jacobson, associate professor in the School of Nursing, works in an interdisciplinary clinical research program testing innovative interventions designed to improve function and quality of life in patients with peripheral artery disease. Her work focuses on mechanisms associated with exercise training in a study of intermittent claudication, and the development of measurement procedures associated with her work on peripheral artery disease.
During her time in the AHC Clinical Scholars Program, Treat-Jacobson has published and presented her work in major journals and at national meetings. Using preliminary data from her pilot work, she submitted an NIH R01 application, funded in September 2008. Treat-Jacobson recently received the Jeanne Doyle Excellence in Vascular Nursing Award from the Society of Vascular Nursing. Her mentors are Jean Wyman, Ph.D., professor in the School of Nursing, and Daniel Duprez, M.D., Ph.D., professor of medicine in the Medical School¿s Division of Cardiology.
Mukta Arora, M.D., M.S., assistant professor of medicine in the Medical School¿s Division of Hematology, Oncology and Transplantation, is interested in clinical assessment of treatment options for chronic graft versus host disease following allogenic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Specifically, her work is concerned with evaluation of genetic polymorphisms related to predicting treatment response and survival in patients with chronic graft versus host disease.
Arora has completed several important peer-reviewed papers during her time as an AHC Clinical Research Scholar, and she serves as assistant scientific director at the Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research. Currently, Arora is working with Dr. Vladimar Cherkassky in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering to develop methods to analyze genetic data based on machine learning, and she will continue her genetic studies with funding from an NIH R21 award. Arora¿s mentor is Daniel Weisdorf, M.D., professor of medicine and director of the Adult Blood and Marrow Transplant Program.
AHC Clinical Research Conference
8-9 a.m.
D199 Mayo
October 6: "Transition from Chronic Kidney Disease to Dialysis: Targets for Improvement."
Yelena Slinin, M.D., M.S., assistant professor of medicine
October 20: ¿Exploring HIV-mediated Cardiovascular Risk¿
Jason Baker, M.D., M.S., assistant professor of medicine
Breakthrough Series: Frontiers in Heart Failure
October 27, 2008
7:30 a.m. ¿ 5 p.m.
Continuing Education and Conference Center, St. Paul Campus
Breakthrough technology calls for Breakthrough collaboration between the University of Minnesota and the member organizations of LifeScience Alley. LifeScience Alley has joined with the Office of Clinical Research at the University of Minnesota in this educational partnership.
The topic of this Breakthrough Series event is Heart Failure, presenting important academic research into prevalence and incidence, cardiac remodeling and heart failure, and advanced and emerging therapies. Sixteen leading researchers and speakers from the University of Minnesota are confirmed for this full-day program.
This program will be highly interactive. Presentations and panel discussions will add intellectual depth to our understanding of current and future research directions, and will look at emerging interventions. Question-and-answer periods will give everyone opportunities to interact with presenters and with each other. The purpose is to enhance Minnesota-based leadership in new technology.
The registration fee for University of Minnesota full-time faculty, staff, and students is $79.
Visit our website to view the full agenda and register for the event.
CAPS PROFILE: Steven Stovitz, M.D., F.A.C.S.M.
Career Advancement Program for Clinical Research Scholars
CAPS scholar Steven Stovitz, M.D. is a family physician and sports medicine specialist, and an assistant professor in the Medical School¿s Department of Family Medicine and Community Health. His research is focused on improving the ability to identify children at highest risk for adult obesity, with a goal of contributing to the prevention and treatment of obesity.
Stovitz acknowledges that as a physician trained in sports medicine, it may seem odd that his research interests are in the realm of childhood obesity and public health. Yet, Stovitz and his colleagues are calling for the field of sports medicine to be at the forefront of the battle against childhood obesity by encouraging physical activity and healthy lifestyles. Stovitz completed his residency at the Greater Lawrence Family Practice Residency Program at Tufts University School of Medicine¿the only family medicine residency program in the nation based in a community health center. Stovitz¿s work in the community¿s primarily Spanish-speaking population led to his interest in developing clinically useful methods for combating obesity and improving childhood risk assessment for obesity in adulthood.
His work in the CAPS program centers on the analysis of heights, weights, and body mass index (BMI) measurements of pre-pubescent children, and on the usefulness of BMI as a predictor of obesity in adulthood. Stovitz is working with data from the longitudinal CATCH study (Child and Adolescent Trial for Cardiovascular Health), which measured the heights and weights of 2,802 children in third grade and again in twelfth grade. ¿There¿s an interesting issue when it comes to height and BMI,¿ explains Stovitz. ¿When you look at overweight adults, just as many are taller than average as are shorter than average. However, overweight children tend to be taller than average, and have a very high probability of becoming overweight adults.¿ Given that height-squared is in the denominator for the calculation of BMI, this poses many interesting research questions. In order to accurately identify and treat those children at highest risk for adult obesity, Stovitz and
his team are currently working to assess the predictive value of BMI classification based on children of different heights.
Stovitz is working with his mentors to secure access to other large longitudinal data sets, and is excited at the prospect of securing substantial research time and the formal training necessary to become an independent investigator. As a CAPS scholar, Stovitz is provided 75 percent protected time to conduct research. As part of a collaborative team, Stovitz will be working with School of Public Health professors Robert Jeffrey, Ph.D., and John Himes, Ph.D., M.P.H.; with associate professors Mark Pereira, Ph.D. and Ellen Demerath, Ph.D.; and biostatistician Peter Hannan, MStat.
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