Translational Research Development Program
The Translational Research Development Program (TRDP) aims to provide an opportunity for early stage investigators to gain significant experience with clinical and translational research.
The program is available to predoctoral trainees, postdoctoral fellows, and medical fellows and provides research funds up to $16,000 available over one year.
Program overview
- For predoctoral and postdoctoral trainees, especially those from under-represented populations
- Aims to provide an opportunity for early stage investigators to gain significant experience with clinical and translational research
- Research funds up to $16,000 available over one year for up to four Scholars.
- Requires a primary research mentor and a translational mentor (a senior faculty member or biostatistician who will help guide and advise)
Nature and purpose
The Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) will provide institutional research funds for predoctoral and postdoctoral trainees with a demonstrable and significant interest in clinical or translational research focused on human health. The program aims to provide an opportunity for early stage investigators to gain significant experience with clinical and translational research as a foundation for the development of an independent research career focused on human health.
Funds are designed to support a modest research project that will result in a publication in a peer reviewed journal. The TRDP project is secondary to the applicant’s primary research endeavors and must advance the trainee’s research along the clinical and translational research spectrum. For example, a TRDP project for a trainee currently conducting basic research (T0) should be in the T1, T2, T3, or T4 translational categories. Similarly, a trainee currently conducting health services research (T3) should develop a TRDP project that demonstrates a clear movement toward the T4 category.
Pre-doc scholars
Post-doc scholars
Former scholars
Former scholars
Mariam Ahmed, MS
Primary mentor: Richard Brundage
Additional mentor: Gerald Raymond
Project title: A Model-based Approach to Optimize Lorenzo's Oil Therapy in X-Linked Adrenoleukodystrophy
Daniel Beisang, BS
Primary mentor: Michael Georgieff
Additional mentor: Marc Jenkins
Project title: Quantitative Assessment of the Diversity of the Neonatal T cell Repertoire
Tyler Bosch, PhD
Primary mentor: Lisa Chow
Additional mentor: Patrick Bolan
Project title: The Effect of High Intensity Interval Training on Liver Fat and Insulin Sensitivity in Adults with Obesity
Nicholas Brady
Primary mentor: Kathryn Schwertfeger
Additional mentor: Douglas Yee
Project title: JAK Inhibition Disrupts Inflammatory Homeostasis in Human Macrophages
Michael Burns, PhD
Primary mentor: Ran Blekhman
Additional mentor: Timothy Church
Project title: Using Virulence Genes in Stool as Markers of Colorectal Cancer
Caroline Diep, BS, BA
Primary mentor: Peter Argenta
Additional mentor: Carol Lange
Project title: En vivo modeling of primary ovarian cancer cells in 3D culture systems
Amy Dwyer, PhD
Masonic Cancer Center
Primary mentor: Carol Lange, PhD, Department of Medicine, Medical School
Translational mentor: Doug Yee, MD, Department of Medicine, Medical School
Project title: Targeting the Progesterone Receptor in an ex vivo model using primary mammary epithelial cells
Jeff Flynn, PhD
Primary mentor: Ryan Hunter
Additional mentor: Jordan Dunitz
Project title: Anaerobic bacterial consortia sustain the growth of pathogens in the upper airways of cystic fibrosis patients
Anne Frosch, MD
Primary mentor: George Ayodo
Additional mentor: Chandy John
Project title: The effect of HIV infection on malaria specific B cell subset frequency
Zachary Galliger
Biomedical Engineering PhD Program, College of Science and Engineering
Primary mentor: Angela Panoskaltsis-Mortari, PhD, Department of Pediatrics, Medical School
Translational mentor: Rafael Andrade, MD, Department of Surgery, Medical School
Project title: 3D Bioprinted HumanTracheal Graft for Pediatric Trachea Reconstruction in a Rabbit Model
Diego Garcia-Huidobro, MD
Primary mentor: Michele Allen
Additional mentor: Iris Borowsky
Project title: Feasibility of a One-To-One Parenting Intervention to Prevent Substance Use in Latino Youth
Benjamin Hanisch, MD
Primary mentor: Gregory Vercellotti
Additional mentor: Chandy John
Project title: Impact of Iron Supplementation on Oxidative Stress in Children Recovering from Severe Malaria
Lauren Harasymiw, MD, PhD, MPH
Medical School
Primary mentor: Kyriakie Sarafoglou, MD, Department of Pediatrics, Medical School
Translational mentor: Scott Grosse, PhD, National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
Project title: Prevalence and Implications of Mental Health Comorbidities in Children and Young Adults with
Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia
Rachel Hardeman, PhD, MPH
Primary mentor: Diana Burgess
Additional mentor: Katy Kozhimannil
Project title: Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Birth Outcomes: Examining the Role of the Patient/Provider Relationship
Christopher Janson, MD
Primary mentor: Cornelius Lam
Additional mentor: Gunda Georg
Project title: High-Throughput Discovery with Unique Alzheimer's Cellular Model
Sakeen Kashem, BA
Primary mentor: Daniel Kaplan
Additional mentor: Maria Hordinksy
Project title: Langerhans cell function in controlling fungal immunity and commensalism
Carlos Perez Kerkvliet
MSTP Student, Microbiology, Immunology and Cancer Biology PhD Program
Primary mentor: Carol Lange, PhD, Department of Medicine, Medical School
Translational mentors: Doug Yee, MD, Department of Medicine, Medical School and Andrew Nelson, MD, PhD, Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, Medical School
Project title: Unraveling GR-driven regulation of cancer phenotypes in breast cancer
Sarah Kim, PharmD
Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology PhD Program
Mentors: Jeanine Jarnes, Mahmoud Al-Kofahi, Chester Whitley
Optimizing the Dose of Gene Therapy to Improve Clinical Efficacy
David Knorr, BS
Primary mentor: Michael Verneris
Additional mentor: Todd DeFor
Project title: Evaluation of the CD4+ T cell response against influenza following hematopoietic cell transplantation
Liliane Mukaremera, PhD
Primary mentor: Kirsten Nielsen
Additional mentor: David Boulware
Project title: Alteration of the innate immune response by different Cryptococcus neoformans morphologies in HIV and healthy individuals
Jessica Musselman, MS
Primary mentor: Julie Ross
Additional mentor: Jenny Poynter
Project title: Methylation of the BMP/TGFβ pathway and correlation with survival in childhood germ cell tumors
Emily Pisetsky, PhD
Primary mentor: Scott Crow
Additional mentor: Jim Hodges
Project title: Negative Affect and Substance Use as Momentary Mechanisms of Suicidality in Eating Disorders
Alexa Pragman, MD, PhD (current CTSI KL2 scholar)
Primary mentor: Chris Wendt
Additional mentors: Richard Isaacson and Cavan Reilly
Project title: Comparison of the Oral and Lung Microbiota in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
Sasha Prisco, MD
Cardiology Medical Fellow, Medical school
Mentors: Kurt Prins, Thenappan Thenappan
Mechanisms of right ventricular dysfunction in pulmonary arterial hypertension
Justin Ryder, PhD
Primary mentor: Aaron S. Kelly
Additional mentor: Kyle Rudser
Project title: Longitudinal assessment of novel biomarkers for predicting cardiovascular disease in youth
Brent Sorenson, MS
Primary mentor: Rajaram Gopalakrishnan
Additional mentor: Mark Herzberg
Project title: Tumor-targeted reduction of hyopxia-inducible factor in oral carcinoma by calprotectin
Anja Srienc
Primary mentor: Eric Newman
Additional mentor: Matthew Hunt
Project title: Cortical Spreading Depression as a Biomarker of Brain Injury During Neurosurgery
Alena Svatkova, MD
Primary mentor: Igor Nestrasil
Additional mentor: Kyle Rudser
Project title: Revealing the Core of White Matter Alteration and Cognitive Deficits in Mucopolysaccharidosis Type 2
Brian Sweis
MSTP Student, Neuroscience PhD Program
Primary mentors: Mark Thomas, PhD and A. David Redish, PhD, Department of Neuroscience in the College of Biological Sciences (primary co-mentors)
Translational mentor: Kelvin Lim, MD, and Sheila Specker, MD, Department of Psychiatry, Medical School
Project title: Translational approach to resolve neurobiologically distinct decision-making dysfunctions in addiction
Elizabeth Thompson, MS
Primary mentor: Eric A. Hendrickson
Additional mentor: Jakub Tolar
Project title: Gene therapy for Fanconi anemia using Cas9/CRISPR-mediated gene targeting
Diana Wallin, BS
Primary mentor: Michael K. Georgieff
Additional Mentor: Gregory Vercellotti
Project title: The effect of recombinant human erythropoietin (RhEpo) therapy on the hippocampus of anemic neonatal mice
Tonya Ward, PhD
Additional mentor: Cheryl A. Gale
Project title: Infant Fungal Microbiome and Allergic Disease Development
Alexa Weingarden, BA
Primary mentor: Alexander Khoruts
Additional mentor: Michael Sadowsky
Project title: Bacterial Bile Acid Metabolism in Fecal Transplantation Treatment of Clostridium difficile Infection
Andrea Wolf, BS
Primary mentor: Greg Beilman
Additional mentor: Raj Suryanarayanan
Project title: Formulation Optimization of a Low-Volume Resuscitation Fluid for Hemorrhagic Shock
Zhou Ye, PhD
School of Dentistry
Primary mentor: Conrado Aparicio, PhD, MSc Eng, Department of Restorative Sciences, School of Dentistry
Translational mentor: Hooi Pin Chew, PhD, Department of Restorative Sciences, School of Dentistry
Project title: Development of an Antibiofilm Resorbable Membrane for Treating Peri-Implantitis