The Connecticut Institute for Clinical and Translational Science (CICATS) at the University of Connecticut has announced its 2018 Core Interest Group (CIG) award recipients. A total of $130,000 will be awarded to nine researchers from UConn Health and UConn.
“CICATS has a strong commitment to supporting collaborative research development,” said Dr. Cato T. Laurencin, CICATS CEO. “These new CIG awards will further strengthen the University of Connecticut’s research presence and contribute to discoveries that may lead to the increased well-being of patients.”
The 2018 CIG Awardees are:
UConn Health:
Dr. Biree Andemariam of the Sickle Cell Disease CIG for “Patient-Centered and Culturally Sensitive Education of Sickle Cell Disease among Hispanic Populations.”
Dr. Rocio Chang of the Health Disparities CIG for “Improving Retention in Medication-Assisted Treatment by Using Stepped-Care Model.”
Dr. Mohamad Halawi of the Musculoskeletal Research CIG for “Real-Time Three-Dimensional Analysis of Acetabular Kinematics: Bridging the Gap to Patient-Specific Total Hip Replacement.”
Dr. Isaac Moss of the Musculoskeletal Research CIG for “Structural and Molecular Mechanisms of PDGF for Intervertebral Disc Degeneration.”
Dr. Lakshmi Nair of the Innovation and Inventorship CIG.
Dr. Sandra Weller of the New Pathways to Drug Discovery CIG for “Development of a New Strategy for Anti Herpesvirus Therapy.”
Dr. Helen Wu of Methodology in Patient-Centered Outcomes Research CIG for “Improving methodological expertise in patient-centered and health disparities research.”
Dr. Lixia Yue of the Clinical and Translational Research in Cardiovascular Diseases CIG for “Cardiac Fibroblasts as a mechanical transducer in heart diseases.
UConn:
Dr. Song Han of the mHealth/eHealth CIG for “Development of a Wearable Earpiece Sensor System to Assess Dietary Behaviors and Physical Activity among Underserved Groups.”
CICATS currently supports the work of 22 CIGs consisting of hundreds of specialists committed to advancing research in their field. CIGs collaborative, multidisciplinary teams of researchers work together to advance knowledge and solutions to diseases and health care issues. CICATS CIG program’s mission is to foster excellence in research and scholarship while supporting activities aimed at securing extramural funding.
Over the past several years, CICATS CIG program has conducted high-profile activities that have translated into a return on investment that goes beyond dollars and cents.
“The CICATS CIG granting mechanism has provided much needed funding for our research in sickle cell disease in order to generate the requisite framework for competitive federal grants,” said UConn Health’s Dr. Biree Andemariam, who received an award for her Sickle Cell Disease CIG in 2016 and again in 2018. “Although sickle cell disease is famous for being the first molecularly-defined disease, it remains one of the most understudied. Federal funding to further treatment progress pales in comparison to other less common blood-related illnesses.”
UConn Health’s Dr. Damion Grasso, leader of the Child Mental Health CIG echoes Andemariam’s sentiments.
“I am extremely grateful for the resources CICATS has provided to us,” said Grasso. “Pilot funding from CICATS awarded to my CIG has proved instrumental in helping us to launch three collaborative projects in the area of child mental health that focus on: (1) the intergenerational transmission of trauma-related risk in mothers and their newborn infants, (2) biobehavorial stress reactivity and emerging psychopathology in young, violence-exposed children, and (3) the mental health and educational needs of Latino youth and their families.”
