A retreat to enhance interdisciplinary collaboration across campuses was held Tuesday in Storrs. 150 basic science and clinical faculty attended the event and helped set the stage for developing new ways to strengthen UConn’s research enterprise.
“The goal was to hear what others are doing with an eye toward generating new ideas and partnerships that will lead to discovery and grant support,” said Dr. Paul Skolnik, chairman of the Department of Medicine and one of the event organizers. “At first blush, some of the research interests would not seem related but on further investigation, we found new and important connections.”
Participants were drawn from 22 clinical and basic departments at the medical and dental schools in Farmington and from 19 departments and three schools in Storrs.
Prior to the meeting, faculty members were asked to submit brief profiles and department chairs and deans to provide overviews on the research in their units. Slides of the overview presentations will be made available to all participants in order to encourage interactions.
One of the keynote speakers for the retreat was Jeffrey Bluestone, executive vice chancellor and provost of the University of California, San Francisco. Bluestone described how research and discovery at academic medical centers like UCSF and the UConn Health Center are at risk because of reduced federal funding and the rising costs of research, education and health care.
“His comments resonated with the group,” said Sandra Weller, chair of the Department of Molecular, Microbial and Structural Biology and retreat organizer. “He recommended taking smart risks and making strategic investments that promote team research and lower the barriers to innovative research.”
Bluestone told the group that at UCSF they have promoted an environment for excellent basic and clinical research that is the foundation for achieving a better understanding and improvement in human health and welfare. A development office allows faculty to better take advantage of complex funding opportunities and team building. A website provides “one stop shopping” to promote clinical research. UCSF has also promoted public-private partnerships that have allowed mutually beneficial interactions to flourish. They include small startups, as well as partnerships with large pharmaceutical companies.
Later in the day, four breakout sessions were held in which existing collaborations across schools and across campuses were identified and future collaborations were encouraged.
- Evolution and Ecology of Microbe-Host Interactions
- Drs. Leo Lefrancois, Joerg Graf, and Justin Radolf
- New Strategies for Treatment of Infectious Diseases
- Drs. Mark Peczuh and Paul Skolnik
- Personalized Medicine: The application of iPS cells and “omics” to diagnostics, drug research and treatment of infectious diseases
- Drs. Theodore Rasmussen and David F. Grant
- Global and Health Technology
- Drs. Deborah Cornman and Kevin Dieckhaus
Weller says the organizers plan on preparing a report summarizing the most frequently mentioned ideas from the breakout sessions.
“The breakout sessions gave participants a chance to interact and get down to the next level – to the project level,” said Skolnik. “Overall, new connections were made which hopefully will result in new collaborations and engender entrepreneurship.”
The retreat was sponsored by the Department of Medicine, the Department of Molecular, Microbial and Structural Biology, the UConn Office of Economic Development, and the Connecticut Institute for Clinical and Translational Science.
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