Dear CCTSI research community,
I like to think that the individuals who lead the CCTSI are some of the nation’s best scientists and researchers. Recently, it seems the regents at the University of Colorado agreed when they bestowed the honor of Distinguished Professor to Donald Y.M. Leung, MD, PhD. Dr. Leung has been the medical director of the CCTSI’s Clinical Translational Research Center (CTRC) at National Jewish Health since 2008. He is also Professor of Pediatrics, CU School of Medicine and the Edelstein Family Chair of Pediatric Allergy-Immunology, National Jewish Health. Kudos to Don! We thank you for your research accomplishments that have impacted clinical treatments for those with atopic dermatitis and allergy, along with your mentorship of the next generation of medical scholars and researchers.
Another outstanding physician researcher who is part of our CCTSI research ecosystem is Melanie Cree, MD, PhD. She and her patient Jenny were featured in the documentary The New York Times Presents: The Weight of the World. The piece highlights Jenny, a patient with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), and Dr. Cree, an expert on adolescent PCOS and weight loss. It premiered on FX and is now available to watch on The New York Times, YouTube, Hulu, and others. The documentary was months in the making, and also one of many interviews Dr. Cree has participated in this year. Dr. Cree conducts much of her research in the CTRC at Children’s Hospital Colorado.
Longtime CCTSI leader Don Nease, MD, leads the CCTSI’s Community Engagement and Health Equity program. He just published a commentary, Practice-Based Research Networks: Asphalt on the Blue Highways of Primary Care Research in the Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine with Jack Westfall, MD, who helped to launch Community Engagement for the CCTSI many years ago. They write, “The idea of using primary care clinicians as catalysts for research was not simply innovative, it was transformative. Today, PBRNs are foundational to community engaged research and implementation science, and play a key role in research seeking to improve health equity in the communities we serve.” The commentary highlights the pivotal role PBRNs, Departments of Family Medicine and the University of Colorado have all played in T3 translation, or translation into real world practice.
As we near the end of 2024, I want to thank you all for being a part of our CCTSI research community. Together we are accelerating the translation of innovative science into improved health and patient care.
Happy Holidays,
Ron