Advance-CTR

National IDeA Symposium of Biomedical Research Excellence (NISBRE) 2024 Highlights

Over 1200 people attended the National Symposium of Biomedical Research Excellence (NISBRE) in Washington, DC last week, and Rhode Island investigators were there in force. Some highlights.

SUNDAY JUNE 16th

NISBRE was held at the Washington Hilton in Kalorama on June 16th through 19th. On Sunday, there were several pre-conference sessions along with a welcome reception on the terrace.

Attendees on the terrace at NISBRE
Welcome Reception at NISBRE

MONDAY JUNE 17th

On Monday morning, Dr. Laura Stroud, of the STAR COBRE for Stress, Trauma and Resilience, gave an engaging plenary talk featuring new research into the effects of marijuana use during pregnancy entitled Women's & Perinatal Health: The importance of Stress, Trauma, and Resilience.

Plenary talk by laura stroud

Following the plenary talks, there were several sessions of short research presentations and flash talks, grouped by topic.

Artificial Intelligence

Dr. Indra Neil Sarkar, President and CEO of the Rhode Island Quality Institute and Co-Lead for the Advance RI-CTR BIBCE Core, presented Establishing A Statewide Learning Health System with OMOP-on-FHIR for High Need Children.

Neil Sarkar delivers talk at NISBRE

Infectious Diseases

Dr. Katie Siddle, Brown University presented Clinical, epidemiological and demographic indicators of COVID-19 in Rhode Island. Later in the day, Dr. Ghada Bourjeily Co-Chaired the Women’s Health Science talk sessions.

Dr. Bourjeily co-chairing Womens Health Sessions at NISBRE

Dr. David Rand Co-Chaired the Metabolism and Obesity I Panel, and Dr. Pamela Swiatek was on the panel entitled Improving Outcomes for Core Facilities and Increasing Opportunities for Sustainability.

The day ended with poster presentations followed by an informal gathering at McClellan’s Sports Bar.

Group at Pub

TUESDAY JUNE 18th

On Tuesday, Dr. Stephen Kogut, Professor at the University of Rhode Island’s College of Pharmacy and Lead of Advance RI-CTR’s Tracking and Evaluation Core, moderated the Evaluation and Metric Tracking for Reporting and Sustainability Panel. Joining him on the panel was colleague and Co-Lead of the Advance RI-CTR Tracking and Evaluation Core, Dr. Judy Kimberly.

Stephen Kogut and Judy Kimberly on a panel at NISBRE

The Cardiovascular Biology Session saw 4 short science talks:

  • Bedia Akosman, Brown University presented Deciphering the Role of the SOX17/Runx1 Axis in Endothelial Dysfunction and Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension Pathogenesis
  • Carly Goldstein, Brown University, The Miriam Hospital presented: Using the Multiphase Optimization Strategy and an Electronic Health Record Review to Refine, Finalize, and Prepare Trauma-Informed Interventions to Increase Phase II Cardiac Rehabilitation Initiation in a Full Factorial Experiment
  • Tasnim Imran, Brown University Building Capacity and Increasing Competitiveness for NIH’s Institutionally-Supported Training Programs
  • Olin Liang, Brown University Deciphering the Role of the SOX17/Runx1 Axis in Endothelial Dysfunction and Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension Pathogenesis

While in town, Advance RI-CTR leadership took the opportunity to meet with our representatives to thank them and ask for their continued support of IDeA funded programs in Rhode Island.

Advance RI CTR Leadership visiting congressional delegation

Dr. Elizabeth Harrington, Associate Dean Office of Graduate Studies and Professor of Medicine at Brown University was on a panel entitled Capacity and Increasing Competitiveness for NIH’s Institutionally-Supported Training Programs.

Anastacia Kudinova, Brown University gave a short science talk: Quadratic association between ecologically assessed sleep duration and next-day suicidal ideation in youth.

The day ended with poster presentations.

3 Investigators from RI with their Poster Presentations at NISBRE

WEDNESDAY JUNE 19TH

The final day of NISBRE 2024 was no less action-packed than the first three. 

Dr. Sharon Rounds Co-Chaired the Environment and Health II scientific presentation session at which Dr. Sarah Arias of Brown University and Butler Hospital presented Challenges and Considerations when using Electronic Health Record Data for Identification of Suicidal Ideation and Behavior and Dr. Mehtap Haktanir Abul, of Brown University and Rhode Island Hospital, presented Asthma and Sleep-Related Environmental Factors Contributing to Sleep Awakenings in Urban Children with Asthma.

Health Effects of Environmental Change Talks

Dr. Jerome Sanes, of Brown University, Co-chaired the Neuroscience scientific presentations, at which DrHaiyue Song, also from Brown University, gave a flash talk entitled  Leverage of Functional Connectivity and Effective Connectivity by Selective Inference with Sample Splitting and fMRI Data.

Dr. Ghada Bourjeily, of Brown University and Lifespan, was a panelist on Elevating Scholarly Writing, while Dr. Laura Stroud, of Brown University and The Miriam Hospital, was a panelist on Tips and Techniques for Successful Grant Submission: Focus on Behavioral and Biopsychosocial Proposals.

The day ended with an award luncheon. Dr. Daphne Koinis-Mitchell received a well-deserved CTR Excellence in Service and Mentoring Award. We cannot thank Dr. Koinis-Mitchell enough for her mentorship of investigators funded by Advance RI-CTR and for serving on our Steering Committee. We are so pleased that she was recognized at NISBRE for her valuable service.