Hundreds of researchers, clinicians, faculty, students, and partners gathered at the University of Colorado Anschutz September 23 for the first Health Sciences Research Day, hosted by the Adult and Child Center for Outcome Research and Delivery Science (ACCORDS).
The event was a collaboration of the CU Anschutz campus and the larger Colorado community focused on the future and possibilities of health sciences research, a wide-reaching research area that aims to improve prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of medical conditions by investigating everything from the disease itself to healthcare systems.
During opening remarks, Adit Ginde, MD, senior associate dean for clinical research for the CU Anschutz School of Medicine, emphasized the importance of community partnerships.
“One thing that’s apparent throughout the room is that health sciences research does not live in one center—it’s happening throughout our departments, schools, hospitals, community organizations, and health systems,” said Ginde. “Our strength is our network, and there are a lot of reasons to be hopeful.”
The centerpiece of the morning was a plenary panel facilitated by Jerica Berge, PhD, MPH, LMFT, CFLE, featuring College of Nursing professor and Daniel and Janet Mordecai Endowed Chair in Rural Health Nursing Amy Barton, PhD, RN, FAAN, ANE; School of Medicine Associate Dean for Centers and Institutes Emmy Betz, MD, MPH; Colorado School of Public Health Dean Cathy Bradley, PhD, MPA; CU Anschutz School of Dentistry professor and chair of the department of community dentistry and population health Bruce Dye, DDS, MPH, Skaggs School of Pharmacy Associate Professor Brett McQueen, PhD; Denver Health Chief Academic Officer Yael Schenker, MD, MAS, FAAHPM; Colorado Child Health Research Institute Clinical Research Director Darcy Thompson, MD, MPH; and School of Medicine visiting associate professor of pulmonary sciences and critical care and Veterans Affairs physician Thomas Valley, MD, MSc.
The panel, spanning expertise from nursing to emergency medicine and public health to dentistry, covered topics such as translating research into practice, artificial intelligence (AI) and digital health opportunities, and health equity. All agreed that certain areas of health sciences research will benefit greatly from growth and expansion. Reflecting on past work is necessary to continue building patient-focused resources and processes for our rapidly changing world, they said.
“We’ve defined addressing health disparities somewhat narrowly, in that you either have a project that addresses them or doesn’t, but we all need to be thinking about it. We need to move forward in embedding health equity into the process across all steps of research,” Thompson said.
While there are exciting changes to look forward to across the research process, there are also institutions and processes that have already made strides to advance research and collaboration.
“The work of the centers and institutes on campus range from topical expertise to methodological expertise, to clinical areas,” said Betz. “They are beautiful incubators bringing together faculty, staff, and students with shared interest in an inherently multidisciplinary way.”
Breakout groups at Health Sciences Research Day covered topics ranging from the ethical use of generative AI in health sciences research to alternative sources of funding beyond the NIH.
Valley, whose research focuses on improving the delivery of routine intensive care, gave a breakout talk on ACCORDS’ newly established Secondary Data Resource Core, for which he serves as director. The mission of the core is to increase investigators’ access to data, share expertise between analysts and methodologists, and strengthen mentorship and collaboration across the research community.
CU Anschutz currently has access to a large national data source available for research, and will soon expand their data repositories even further. The Secondary Data Research Core offers a place to utilize these resources, address clinical questions, and create a next step—whether that’s a refined study, a collaboration, or a better-fitting source.
Another talk covered pilot programs offered by CU Anschutz and other organizations, which provide support and funding to smaller-scale studies and research interests. Programs such as the CCTSI Community Engagement Project and CCTSI Joint Pilot Project help researchers leverage training resources, strategize the growth of their studies, and fund research that may not receive the same attention from national grant programs.
The day wrapped up with awards for best posters and papers, as well as the announcement of a new pilot funding resource guide.
Awards for the best HSR posters were awarded to Yannick Lechedem Ngunyi, MD, Amanda Schutz, PhD, Chelsea Leonard, PhD, and George Burnet, MD. Eden Bernstein, MD, MPH, and Caroline Tietbohl, PhD, MA, were awarded honors for outstanding papers in the early-career faculty category, and Luke Orth, PharmD, BCPPS, for mid/late career faculty.