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Science, Discovery, Health and Healingcctsi.cuanschutz.edu2024 ANNUAL REPORTHIGHLIGHTS2 0 2 4 Message
Table of Contents3Message from the Directors4EDITORS/WRITERSWendy MeyerCristine SchmidtLily VeselCONTRIBUTORSHeather GilmartinKaylee GordonCCTSI DIRECTORSRonald Sokol, MDJanine Higgins, PhDPHOTOGRAPHERSPatrick CampbellWendy MeyerEliza Donley NolteCristine SchmidtDevin SenaUniversity CommunicationsLily VeselBeth WedlakeRyan WullerZGF Architects © Connie ZhouDESIGNERCristine Schmidt5CCTSI Partnering Institutions6 - 7K12 Program 8 - 9Pilot Grant Program10 - 11T32 Fellowship Program12 - 13Awards and Honors14 - 15Community Engagement 16Clinical Translational Research Centers17Colorado Immersion Training18 - 19Community Engagement Pilot Grant20Dissemination and Implementation 21Pediatric Research Poster Session22Research Ethics Conference23CU-CSU Summit24Contact UsIn Brief
We get it: Colorado Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute(CCTSI) is a mouthful. More importantly, it does not communicate theprofound value of the work we do. So, let us explain. Since 2008, our Institute has been training the next generation ofbiomedical research leaders. We do this through our clinical sciencemaster’s degree and doctoral programs, grant pre-review programs,the Colorado Immersion Training for scientists who want to meet theresearch needs of a particular Colorado community, and courses onleading and teaming. We make it possible for physician researchers to test groundbreakingideas in our Clinical Translational Research Centers with ourresearch nurses, nutrition core, research laboratory, exerciseresearch facility, cardiovascular imaging capabilities, and more. Andwe do all of this in collaboration with our incredible hospital partnersat Children’s Hospital Colorado, UCHealth, Denver Health, NationalJewish Health, and the VA Eastern Colorado Health Care System. We fund pre- and post-doctoral trainees, research scholars, and pilotgrants for scientists who are working to solve some of the thorniestproblems in human health.This is just a small portion of what we accomplish. We are incrediblyproud of all that we do. So, with our 2024 Annual Report we offer youa snapshot from the past year. Our vision is to accelerate thetranslation of discoveries into improved patient care and public healthfor all. Whether we are hosting an academic conference on ResearchInnovations in Health AI or helping early career investigators preparea grant application to advance their innovative research ideas, it is allpart of our passion to deliver on the promise of science, discovery,health and healing.Message from the DirectorsPAGE 3CCTSI Operating Director and MPIRon Sokol, MDCCTSI Director and MPIJanine Higgins, PhD
In Brief: 2024Resources & Programs PAGE 4 REDCap5,901 active users1,886 user accountsColorado PROFILES107,504 users273,448 pageviewsResearch Studio11 participants28 expert panelistsCommunityEngagement Forum4 sessions257 attendeesI-Corps@CCTSI16 participants5 teamsScheduler22,575 outpatientappointments1,853 inpatientappointmentsClinical Science GraduateProgram (CLSC)24 active students2 new students6 graduatedDissemination &ImplementationCertificate49 active students16 new students13 graduated
The Partnering Institutions of the CCTSIUniversity ofColoradoAnschutz MedicalCampusUniversity OfColoradoBoulderColoradoStateUniversityUniversity ofColoradoDenverUniversity ofColoradoHospitalChildren’sHospitalColoradoNationalJewish HealthDenverHealthVA EasternColoradoHealth CareSystem PAGE 5
K12 Program Trains and MentorsEarly-Career ResearchersPAGE 6The path to become an independently funded scientist can be rocky. The K12 program aims to help guideearly-career academics through this challenging course. It provides up to three years of 75% salary support forjunior faculty engaged in clinical and translational research. Part of the award includes intensive training andmentorship to help scholars become independent scientists. It also provides funds for research, tuition, travelexpenses and educational materials.A mentored career development award for junior faculty engaged in clinical andtranslational researchEight Researchers Receive K12 Scholar AwardsIn 2023-2024, eight early-career researchers were selected to receive the CCTSI K12 Mentored ResearchCareer Development Scholar Award. The scholars, their projects and mentors are:Meghan Althoff, MDMentors: Fernando Holguin, MD and Sunita Sharma, MDDr. Althoff's research focuses on the challenges of treatment response in asthma, as upto 35% of patients do not respond to inhaled corticosteroids, despite it being first-linetherapy. The goal is to identify metabolite profiles associated with response to treatmentand assess the genetic contribution to these variations in asthma patients.Aubrey Armento, MD, CAQSMMentors: Wendy Kohrt, PhD and Christine Swanson, MDDr. Armento is studying physical activity and bone health in female adolescents who arerecovering from a restrictive eating disorder. She is using high resolution peripheralquantitative computed tomography (HR-pQCT) to investigate bone microarchitectureand strength, and she is collecting longitudinal physical activity data in this studypopulation. Her research findings will inform the clinical approach to optimizing bonehealth and physical activity guidelines in adolescents recovering from eating disorders. Jose (Pepe) Diaz-Miron, MDMentors: Tell Bennett, MD and Lisa DeCamp, MDDr. Diaz-Miron's research focuses on improving decision-making for complex pediatricsurgical interventions, using Extracorporeal Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (ECPR) asa model. Through a mixed methods approach, he aims to assess stakeholderconsiderations and integrate predictive modeling from patient data to develop decisionsupport tools for ECPR scenarios.
Christy S. Niemeyer, PhDMentors: Kimberley Bruce, PhD and Maria Nagel, MDDr. Niemeyer and her laboratory focus on the interactions between viral infectionsand neuroinflammatory processes in the brain. Her work aims to reveal pathwaysthat may contribute to Alzheimer's disease and other neurodegenerative disorders. Katherine Kissler, CNM, PhDMentors: Teri Hernandez, PhD and K. Joseph Hurt, MD, PhDDr. Kissler is a nurse-midwife and maternal health researcher. Her K12 researchinvestigates the pathophysiologic causes of prolonged labor leading to cesarean birthwhile identifying biomarkers to establish clinical targets. She is dedicated to advancingmaternity care research to improve maternal/fetal outcomes. Andrew Libby, PhD, MSMentors: Paul MacLean, PhD and Dwight Klemm, PhDDr. Libby studies changes in fat tissue that occur after menopause to identifypathways that can be targeted to improve women’s health. He is developing methodsto translate data from rodents to study fat cells in human patients, and he is devisingtherapeutic strategies to limit detrimental effects.Matthew Leroue, MDMentors: Jesse Davidson, MD and Peter Mourani, MDDr. Leroue is a pediatric critical care physician. His research is focused on howcardiopulmonary bypass surgery for neonates with congenital heart disease alters theintestinal microbiome and metabolism of microbial derived indole metabolites. He isfurther investigating how indole metabolites impact the immune system after bypass andhow indole metabolites impact clinical outcomes in this vulnerable patient population.Alicia White, MDMentors: Paul Rozance, MD and Clyde Wright, MDDr. White is a neonatologist at Children’s Hospital Colorado. She studies fetalgrowth and fetal pancreas development. Her research investigates how the fetalgrowth restriction results in intrauterine β-cell failure and an increased risk of type 2diabetes later in life. PAGE 7
Pilot Grant Awards:Central to the mission of supporting early-careerscientists, the CCTSI proudly awards over$940,000 in pilot grants each year. In 2024, weselected 28 recipients across five distinct pilotprograms, each with a specific funding structure.This year, the Colorado Pilot Grant Program (CO-Pilot) awarded eight outstanding recipients. Thisprogram encourages cross-disciplinary andcollaborative clinical and translational medicineresearch to address translational scienceroadblocks. The Community Engagement Pilot (CE-Pilot) aimsto cultivate dynamic community-academicpartnerships in clinical and translational research.This pilot united eight dedicated partnerships—each consisting of one researcher and onecommunity partner—sharing a common vision forcommunity health. One of the partnerships in 2024focused on addressing mental and behavioralhealth needs for youth in rural Colorado (see storyon p. 14).Making a difference for early-career researchers andtheir promising workThe Child and Maternal Health Pilot Program (CMH-Pilot) recognized five award recipients. This programoffers one-year pilot awards for longitudinal researchfocused on children, pregnant women, and mothers.Its objective is to enhance child and maternal healthand prevent early-life diseases. PAGE 8 recipients were selected in 2024across distinct pilot programs.285
These CCTSI funding opportunities aresteppingstones for these researchers’ careerjourneys. Following funding from the CCTSI, andsuccessful project completion, researchers typicallyapply for larger grants from the National Institutes ofHealth (NIH) or other funding agencies.Finally, the Translational Methods Pilot Program(TM-Pilot) drives the development of innovativetranslational methods across the University ofColorado campuses and its affiliated hospitals, withsix awardees in 2024. Alison Xie, PhD, assistantprofessor in the Division of Urology in the CUDepartment of Surgery, is one of the awardees ofthe TM-Pilot, which focuses on how glial cells in theperipheral nervous system affect bladder function.For the third consecutive year, we proudlyannounced the Huntington's Disease Pilot (HD-Pilot), which granted funding to one awardee. Thispilot is instrumental in advancing initiatives anddevelopments in clinical, translational, and basicscience research specific to Huntington's disease.We congratulate all the 2024 awardees for theirremarkable work. To learn more about our pilotprograms, please visit our website.For every invested in CCTSIpilot grants there is a return oninvestment of nearlyin follow-on funding. $1$15 PAGE 9
Aleezah Balolia, BSAlyssa Beck, MPHHaley Bergman, BSCaitlin Blades, MSLillian Folts, BSClarissa Garcia, BSKaylee Mickens, BA/BSCassidy Weeks, MSPearl Wilcock, BSTraining the next generation of translational scientistsThe T32 fellowship program is a research training award for pre- and post-doctoral trainees. Inaddition to providing salary support, the T32 fellowship includes up to two years of mentorship,coursework, and hands-on training in clinical and translational research to prepare fellows for asuccessful research career. PAGE 10Thirteen Researchers Receive T32 Training Grant Awards in 2023-24Nine pre-doctoral and four post-doctoral researchers were awarded up to two years of fundedtranslational research training through the T32 program in 2023-2024. This year’s fellowship cohortincludes talented researchers from CU Anschutz and Colorado State University. Their researchspans the translational research spectrum and includes many different areas of science.T32 Pre-Doc Awardees: T32 Post-Doc Awardees:Nicholas Drysdale, MDCourtney Giannini, MD, PhDRebecca Makii, DVM, MSZoe Williams, DVM, PhDT32 Fellowship Program:
Project Title: Visualization and analysis of gene expression in keloid scar tissueby spatial transcriptomicsT32 Pre-Doctoral Fellow Spotlight: Caitlin Blades, MSCaitlin Blades from the Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at CU Anschutz studiesgenetic activity and immune cells in tissues to better understand the development of keloids, anabnormal scar tissue that often recurs after treatment. She hopes her research will help to developbetter treatments and improve the quality of life for those affected.For Blades, highlights of her pre-doctoral fellowship include the extensive training and quality ofmentorship she has received.T32 Post-Doctoral Fellow Spotlight: Becca Makii, DVM, MS Project Title: Understanding the role of oncogenic MYC signaling in modulating thecanine osteosarcoma immune microenvironment One of the highlights of Dr. Makii’s post-doctoral fellowship is the hands-on research training shehas received.Dr. Makii from the CSU College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences uses samples fromdogs to study metastatic disease caused by osteosarcoma, a bone cancer that is difficult to treat. Shestudies cancer in dogs because research in these “natural animal models” provides key insights in thequest to speed treatment discovery for humans. “I have had the opportunity to directly learn more about the patient populations that my work isimpacting. This experience has been instrumental for my growth as a clinician-scientist, and I lookforward to seeing where the next year takes me!” — Becca Makii, DVM, MSBecca Makii, DVM, MSCaitlin Blades, MS PAGE 11“Through multiple grant writing courses and hands-on training, I obtained a skill set in projectdevelopment, patient consenting, tissue collection and processing, and spatial transcriptomicanalysis. The mentorship I received was nothing less than transformative, as I was constantlychallenged to take on new responsibilities and strive for excellence.” — Caitlin Blades, MS
Awards & Honors PAGE 12The American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE)inducted Cathy Bodine, PhD, into the prestigious AIMBE College ofFellows, recognizing her dedication to advancing accessibility throughinnovative engineering solutions. Dr. Bodine leads the CCTSI’s InnovationEcosystem and is a Professor of Engineering, Design, and Computing atCU Denver. Her contributions have improved accessibility for individualswith disabilities and continue to shape the future of inclusive design.Cathy Bodine, PhDIn 2024, the Annals of Internal Medicine named a publication on LongCOVID biomarkers by Kristine Erlandson, MD, one of the mostinfluential of 2024! Dr. Erlandson’s COVID research, conducted at ourCTRC, has drawn national attention. As part of the NIH-fundedRECOVER initiative, the study in her publication found that 25 routinelab tests cannot reliably diagnose Long COVID, highlighting the needfor identifying clinical biomarkers of Long COVID. In 2024, the Assistant Secretary of Health elected Sarah Jolley, MD, to jointhe Secretary’s Advisory Committee on Long COVID. Dr. Jolley is aProfessor of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at CU Anschutz and alongtime CCTSI researcher. As part of the Advisory Committee, she will helpprovide external perspectives and recommendations on Long COVID toinform action of the Executive Branch. Congratulations on this recognition ofyour excellence in research and clinical care for individuals with LongCOVID. Director of InnovationEcosystemKristine Erlandson, MDProfessor of InfectiousDiseasesSarah Jolley, MDAssociate Professor ofMedicine, Pulmonary Sciences& Critical Care
Awards & HonorsDonald Leung, MD, PhDAssociate Program Director forthe National Jewish HealthClinical Translational ResearchCenter (CTRC)In 2024, the CU Board of Regents named Donald Leung,MD, PhD, a University of Colorado DistinguishedProfessor, CU’s highest honor for faculty. Dr. Leungleads the CCTSI’s Clinical Translational ResearchCenter (CTRC) at National Jewish Health and is aglobally recognized pioneer in pediatrics. Hisgroundbreaking research has reshaped theunderstanding and treatment of atopic dermatitis andallergies. He is dedicated to education and mentorship,making him an outstanding leader in the academic andmedical communities. Congratulations, Dr. Leung!Denver’s 5280 magazine recognized several CCTSI leaders in its Denver’s Top Doctorsof 2024, including Ronald Sokol, MD, Lilia Cervantes, MD, and Emmy Betz, MD, MPH.Congratulations on your research expertise along with your stellar patient care. PAGE 13On December 13, the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research held its Internal AwardsCeremony, and many of the awardees were part of the CCTSI. Wendy Meyer, Sean Sullivan,Chloe Wildman, and the pediatric CTRC nursing team all won awards in 2024.Congratulations!
Dee Leyba works at Otero County Public Health, grew up in Southeast Colorado, and has long focused onmental health in her community. She also volunteers in her school district and serves as the president of theBoard of Education.Collaborations are essential in the research world, and were featured at the October CommunityEngagement Forum. These highly interactive meetings are sponsored by the Colorado Clinical andTranslational Sciences Institute (CCTSI) and the Adult & Child Center for Outcomes Research & DeliveryScience (ACCORDS). One case study outlined how a researcher and a community partner collaborated toenact changes in youth mental and behavioral healthcare and digital media safety in Southeast Colorado.Addressing Mental and Behavioral Health Needs for Youth in Rural Colorado:A thriving community partnership grows out of CCTSI programsPatrick Romani, PhD, BCBA-D, associate professor of developmental pediatrics visited SoutheastColorado last summer through the CCTSI's Colorado Immersion Training program. He met Dee andothers for the first time and learned about the community challenges Otero County Public Health wasfacing. "The program provided an opportunity and mentorship to think about community-basedintervention and research," Romani said. His research interests focus on identifying effective assessmentand treatment procedures for children engaging in severe problem behavior.At the forum, Dee talked about a class of high-schooljuniors that had been facing a devastating challengefor years. Before the beginning of sixth grade, one oftheir classmates took their own life. "How did we allowsomething like that to happen?" Leyba said. "Whatwas the disconnect between the home and school?"When the CCTSI announced the Request forApplications for its Partnership DevelopmentProjects, Pat reached out to Dee, rekindledtheir connection from the immersion trainingprogram, and applied for the grant."I have a passion for youth mental health, andI see many issues in our area," said Dee. Sheexpressed appreciation for Pat's enthusiasmabout the project. PAGE 14Patrick Romani,PhD, BCBA-DDee Leyba
In 2023, they began their Partnership Development Award andconducted a needs assessment by interviewing 36 communitymembers on the state of youth mental and behavioral health inSoutheast Colorado. During their data collection, one of themain areas of focus that emerged was the lack ofextracurricular activities available for youth in the community.They also noted the prevalence of social media use. The purpose of their project is to empower adolescents and adultsto talk to their peers about the risks of social media on youthmental health. They partnered with the Digital Futures Initiative(DFi), a free online platform that informs youth and adults aboutsocial media safety, including youths' digital citizenship, distracteddriving, emotional intelligence, and relationships.In 2024, they received the Community Engagement Pilot tocontinue their work. "The CCTSI awards build on each other sonicely that the partnership development grant sets you up to havea strong core of people in the community-academic partnershipswho have ideas," Romani said. In 2025, they plan to expand theDFi curriculum, and the training program to surroundingcommunities in Southeast Colorado. "The pilot grant serves asencouragement to start interveningand to experience what it is like to puttogether a community-based projectand let it flourish in your community,"said Romani. Romani continued, "The opportunitiesafforded by the PartnershipDevelopment Grant and Pilot Grantallowed us to critically consider waysto support youth mental and behavioralhealth in Southeast Colorado. We'reso appreciative for these opportunitiesand are excited for the future of youthmental and behavioral health in theregion and our ongoing partnership."To learn more about CCTSI programsthat aim to give communities a voice inresearch and provide researchers withtraining and funding opportunities tosupport communities in Colorado, visitour website. PAGE 15
Clinical Translational ResearchCenters (CTRCs)We aim to support the highest quality clinical research possible through our CTRCs where511 active studies took place in 2024. We provide CTRCs at UCHealth University ofColorado Hospital, Children’s Hospital Colorado, National Jewish Health, and the University ofColorado Boulder. The resources and services include: outpatient facilities for adults andchildren; specialized research nursing; core lab services; nutrition evaluation and services;cardiovascular bioimaging; exercise and body composition testing; an infusion center;negative pressure rooms; and sleep study rooms. In 2024, we rolled out two new tools toincrease efficiency for CTRC investigators:PAGE 16Adult CTRC Study Startup DashboardSpeeds study launch time by allowing users to visualizeprogress by all cores and create MD orders in one place.It has reduced startup time by 54%.CTRC User GuideDetails all the information neededto conduct a study at the CTRC,addressing loss of knowledgewith staff turnover.
In 2024, the CommunityEngagement team published amanuscript about CIT in theJournal of Clinical andTranslational Science, detailingthe program’s first ten years ofimpact.The 2024 Colorado Immersion Training (CIT) in Community Engagement hosted twocommunity tracks: 1) Rural San Luis Valley co-led by Marlayna Martinez and Lisa Lucero and2) Urban Aurora Denver led by Javier Garcia. Ten participants (academic researchers)engaged in didactic learning about community engaged research methods and practices aswell as humility, community history, and community values. During the six-month training,participants are immersed for a week in their selected community track to foster relationships,understand local research interests, and learn how communities' traditions and history impacttheir research participation. Academic research participants consistently report a change intheir research trajectory. "My commitment to Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR)has strengthened and I'm hoping it will become a foundational piece of my long-term researchgoals," said Clinical Psychologist Kyle James Haws, PhD, who participated in the Urban AuroraDenver Track. Colorado Immersion Training PAGE 17
Research has always been a passion for EileenWang, MD, MPH, allergist and immunologist atNational Jewish Health. This passion motivated herto partner with Jennifer McCullough, MSEd, todevelop a program to enable students at MorgridgeAcademy to self-manage their asthma.CCTSI Pilot Grant Helps Students Develop Strategies toBetter Manage Their Asthma PAGE 18In July 2024, Wang and McCullough received theCommunity Engagement Partnership Grant from theColorado Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute(CCTSI), to fund the pilot study for their newprogram. The program aims to empower the studentsand help them build self-efficacy. Morgridge Academy is a day school on the NationalJewish Health campus for children in kindergartenthrough eighth grade diagnosed with chronicdiseases. McCullough is director of education for theschool where the students are impacted by povertyand severe disease.Wang, who is also an associate professor in theDepartment of Medicine at the University of ColoradoSchool of Medicine, explained that, although theschool nurses do a great job helping studentsmanage their asthma while they’re in school,management often declines once they go home. Jennifer McCullough, MSEdEileen Wang, MDThe goal of this 12-month pilot study is to determinethe most effective intervention to help MorgridgeAcademy students self-manage their asthma.Using a community-based participatory researchmodel, the Morgridge Academy students, nurses,and staff will be heavily involved in all aspects of theresearch.Focus groups with students and caregiversdetermine what intervention the study team willimplement. During these focus groups, the studyteam and Morgridge Academy staff, nurses andstudents discuss community strengths, barriers toimplementation, and key priorities to tailor thisintervention to meet their needs.
"We want to ground it [study intervention] inthe community's priorities and what they thinkwill work so that it's sustainable andaddresses what they want it to address,” saidWang. “The school nurses have been part ofthis since the very beginning. They were theones to tell us what they need becausethey're the ones talking to the students to geta sense of what would be most beneficial forthem.”Throughout the study, select students willparticipate in the Student Champions Program,where they will join the study team. After selectingand fine-tuning the school’s intervention andestablishing the Student Champions Programwith this pilot grant, Wang and McCullough planto apply for a second grant that will allow them toimplement this intervention.Wang looks forward to continuing to grow therelationship with Morgridge Academy and theircommunity, and to getting to know the students.When she found out that she and McCulloughhad received the CCTSI pilot grant, she said, "Itwas the best news I've received in a long time!The school's enthusiasm for all of this -- thestudents, the nurses and the community, isamazing.”Physician researcher and Morgridge Academylaunch innovative partnership PAGE 19
2024 DISSEMINATION PROJECT HIGHLIGHTS:The CCTSI Dissemination & Implementation (D&I) Research Core supports the research and healthcarecommunity by driving innovation, education, and application of D&I science. The core aims to translateresearch findings to be clear, easy to understand, and accessible so they can better inform and engageaudiences. Through free dissemination consults and fee-for-service expertise, the core provides tailoreddissemination strategies so that research can be put into practice and make a bigger impact. Collaborated with researchers at Children’s HospitalColorado to design a website with e-commerce capabilitiesto provide affordable treatment for pelvic floor dysfunction.The website incorporates engaging video games for moreeffective treatment for all ages.Designed an infographic guide with step-by-stepinstructions to help clinical administration and care teamsat Federally Qualified Health Centers implementscreening for adverse childhood experiences in pediatriccare. Launched the free Dissemination Inspiration Library, adigital resource showcasing examples of disseminationproducts used in health research. The library includesflyers, videos, legislative briefs, websites, visualabstracts, newsletters, infographics and more.In 2024, the dissemination core conducted 27 free consultations and supported 12 service contracts acrossCU Anschutz, Colorado State University and Children’s Hospital Colorado. These efforts produced a variety ofdissemination strategies that resulted in websites, infographics, presentations and strategic plans aimed ateffectively engaging audiences.CCTSI Dissemination & Implementation Core: PAGE 20Fostering CollaborationsThe CCTSI Dissemination Serviceoffers tailored, collaborative solutionsto help research findings effectivelyreach target audiences, enhancingvisibility, community impact, andevidence-based practice adoption.Why Partner with Us? The CCTSI Dissemination &Implementation Research Core drivescross-institutional collaboration throughinitiatives like the ResearchRoundtables, while contributing to keyevents like the Colorado PragmaticResearch in Health Conference andcollaborating with a variety of researchorganizations to tackle dissemination &implementation challenges.Helping research make a greater impact
PAGE 21The CCTSI hosts a Pediatric Research Poster session twice a year. Faculty,residents, clinical fellows, post-doctoral fellows, graduate students, medicalstudents, and staff showcase research in their section, division or program. Theposter session encourages collaborations across the full breadth of child healthresearch—from basic laboratory to clinical, translational to health outcomes, anddissemination & implementation to public health.Pediatric ResearchPoster SessionsDecember 8, 2023 - 102 attendeesJune 21, 2024 - 137 attendees
Research EthicsConference PAGE 22Exploring the Ethical Challenges ofDecentralized Clinical Trials14th Annual CCTSI Research Ethics ConferenceDecentralized clinical trials have soared in popularity, fueled by COVID-19 restrictions and the riseof telehealth in recent years.They offer potential benefits such as increased access and convenience for research participants andgreater cost-efficiency over traditional clinical trials. Some or all trial activities occur outside of traditionalclinical trial sites, such as in a hospital, and take place in participants' homes or their local clinic. Yetwithout a central study location or trained staff conducting a research visit, maintaining oversightbecomes far more complex, posing unique ethical challenges. Presenters explored these challenges at the 14th Annual CCTSI Research Ethics Conference onNovember 7. The conference was co-sponsored by the Center for Bioethics and Humanities and theColorado Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute (CCTSI). You can read the full story in the CCTSI Newsroom.
CU-CSUSummit 2024Every year, the CCTSI hosts a conference forresearchers and trainees at University ofColorado and Colorado State University (CSU)and across the state. In 2024, the topic wasResearch Innovations in Health AI, which broughttogether 150 attendees who stayed throughoutthe day from CU Boulder, CSU, CU Denver, andCU Anschutz.In addition to several keynote presentations,the CU-CSU Summit featured a live ChatGPTdemonstration, presentations on healthcare inAI, and discussions on AI limitations andethics. The event also featured an interactiveposter session and lightning talks frompostdocs and early career researchers. Thegoal of the conference, which started in 2013,is to deepen participants’ knowledge in aparticular content area, and to foster researchcollaborations across institutions anddisciplines. PAGE 23
PAGE 24Through our many programs and services, we provide theinfrastructure to help build research teams of the future, speedthe development of new treatments and improve human health. VISIONOur vision is to accelerate the translationof discoveries into improved patient careand public health for all.CCTSI CITATIONSFrom 2023 - 2024, the CCTSI operated withsupport of grants UM1 TR004399, K12TR004412, Pre-Doc T32 TR004367, and Post-Doc T32 TR004366 from NCATS/NIH.MEMBERS3165,000The CCTSI is multi-institutional and includes morethan 5,000 members who have opted in to receiveour newsletters.CONTACT UScctsi.cuanschutz.educctsi@cuanschutz.edu303-724-1222ABOUT USIn 2024, the CCTSI was cited times.