<img height="1" width="1" style="display:none" src="https://www.facebook.com/tr?id=799546403794687&amp;ev=PageView&amp;noscript=1">

Director's Corner

CCTSI Director Ronald J. Sokol, MD

minute read

by Ronald J. Sokol, MD | June 23, 2025

Dear CCTSI research community,

 I am happy to announce that our annual academic conference, the CU-CSU Summit, is on the horizon. The topic this year is Chronic Disease Frontiers: Colorado Approach to Causes, Prevention, and Treatment and we hope it will appeal to researchers from multiple disciplines at CU Anschutz, CU Boulder, CU Denver and Colorado State University, and our hospital partners. We will also be featuring a poster session, lunch and snacks.

This daylong academic conference will include presentations on exciting research using innovative methods of surveillance and prevention, along with novel research into the causes and treatments of chronic diseases such as asthma, obesity, blindness, osteoarthritis, and cancer. Moreover, the Summit will emphasize activities, challenges and solutions faced by our institutions and investigators in this evolving environment. We encourage early-stage investigators and trainees to attend this conference, which is always a great networking opportunity and can even be a catalyst for future research collaborations. 

The conference will take place at the very cool CSU Spur campus, which is located in the heart of Denver at 4777 National Western Drive. Registration will be capped. So, register today and submit your abstract for the poster session.

Event for Postdoctoral Researchers
Because we aim to foster a thriving research community, I wanted to make you aware of the upcoming Postdoc Research Day on July 10. It is not too late to register for this full day of talks, posters, vendor fair and networking. The theme “Navigating the Unknowns” is particularly relevant, and will address the uncertainties postdocs often face. Faculty and staff are also welcome to attend. 

Kudos
Congratulations to Janine Higgins, PhD, for receiving the 18th Annual University of Colorado School of Medicine Distinguished Faculty Professionalism Award. We are honored to have Dr. Higgins serve as director of operations and multiple PI for the CCTSI. Her award recognizes faculty members who consistently demonstrate exemplary professionalism and dedication to excellence. Dr. Higgins’ nomination letter says what we already know: “Janine navigates complex challenges with vision, diplomacy, and grace, while never losing sight of the people involved, her unique ability to balance excellence with empathy makes her a trusted leader and an inspiring role model for MDs and PhDs alike.” 

Stephen Daniels, MD, PhD, professor and chair of Pediatrics, was recently honored with the CCTSI Clinical Faculty Scholars Program’s 2025 Allan Prochazka Master Mentoring Award. For nearly two decades, Dr. Daniels has been a driving force in mentoring and sponsoring the research careers of early-career faculty on the Anschutz Medical Campus. Congratulations to you Dr. Daniels and thank you for your dedication and mentorship!

And finally, Don Nease, MD, MPH, director of the CCTSI Community Engagement program, was recently notified that he has been elected to the prestigious Academy of Community Engagement Scholarship. In his notification from the Academy, it states that Dr. Nease’s community engagement scholarship informs university and community partners who implement best practices of scholarly engagement, community engagement, and service and civic engagement. Congratulations to you, Don, on this well-deserved honor. 

Colorado PROFILES Update
We have become aware of a glitch in the Colorado PROFILES website, which has delayed updating the PubMed feed of published articles for each investigator’s home page. The issue is being addressed and should be corrected by the end of June 2025. Please look at your own profile page in July and let us know if the list of publications is up to date. Click here to edit your profile. 

CCTSI Annual Report 
At the Colorado Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute (CCTSI), our charge is to train the research teams of the future, speed the development of new treatments and cures, and improve human health. Key to our success is the involvement of our roughly 5,000 CCTSI members. To highlight some of our collaborative accomplishments, we have developed a CCTSI 2024 annual report. Please know that the report captures only a snapshot of all CCTSI activity. We are grateful to have the opportunity to continue our mission of advancing biomedical research and innovation, and training the next generation of translational science leaders and their teams. 

All the best,
Ron  

Topics: Research, Kudos, CCTSI