Office of Research Affairs

Collaborative Workshops

McGovern Medical School Research Committee has launched a series of interdisciplinary professional development workshops designed to appeal to both clinicians and basic scientists to promote collaborative research interactions across the UTHealth campus. The schedule for FY 2022 and FY 2023 listed below.

 

Biobanking

Biobanks have rapidly evolved with massive storing of human biological material and its associated clinical and genetic data. Advances in data analytics, machine-learning, high-throughput sequencing technologies, electronic medical record, and data-sharing capabilities have revolutionized disease understanding and drug discovery. Developing and utilizing a biobank requires careful planning, quality infrastructure, and consideration of ethical challenges. This collaborative workshop will bring together UTHealth Houston scientists and a special invited guest, Nancy Cox, Ph.D., who are conducting cutting-edge basic science and clinical research using existing biobanks. We will discuss the practicalities of biobank development and ways in which biobanks have been leveraged in large population studies.

April 18, 2023
9:30 a.m. – 12:40 p.m.

Chaired by Tina Findley, M.D., Division of Neonatology, Department of Pediatrics

Speakers:

9:30 a.m. – 9:40 a.m. Tina Findley, M.D.
Division of Neonatology, Department of Pediatrics
McGovern Medical School
“Introduction”
9:40 a.m. – 10:10 a.m. Lori Capozzi and Gabriela Delevati Colpo, Ph.D.
Department of Neurology
McGovern Medical School
“Biobanking: Predicting and Investing in the Future of Science and Medicine”
10:10 a.m. – 10:20 a.m. Discussion
10:20 a.m. – 10:50 a.m. Anthony Flores, M.D., Ph.D.
Division of Infectious Disease, Department of Pediatrics
McGovern Medical School
“Pathogen Surveillance, Precision Epidemiology, and the Control of Infectious Diseases”
10:50 a.m.- 11:00 a.m. Discussion
11:00 a.m.- 11:30 a.m. Craig Hanis, Ph.D.
Department of Epidemiology, Human Genetics and Environmental Sciences
UTHealth School of Public Health
“Four Decades of Biobanking in Starr County, Texas: Opportunities Generated by Being One Step Ahead”
11:30 a.m. – 11:40 a.m. Discussion
11:40 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. Nancy J. Cox, Ph.D.
Division of Genetics, Department of Medicine
Vanderbilt University
“Why and How We Need to Use Genomics to Increase Health Equity”
12:30 p.m. – 12:40 p.m. Discussion and Conclusion

Circadian Rhythms

If you are in the fields of medicine or basic science, the circadian clock is likely an important factor.  This is because an internal 24‐hour timer, or circadian clock, influences processes ranging from the most likely time for heart attacks and headaches to controlling the expression of the majority of mammalian genes.  Since the Nobel Prize was awarded to three circadian researchers in 2017, there has been a growing interest in understanding how the circadian system affects complex and basic physiologic functions.  This collaborative workshop will bring together UTHealth Houston scientists who are conducting cutting-edge basic science and clinical circadian research. We will discuss an overview of circadian rhythms and focus on aspects of sleep, medicine, and metabolism.

October 25, 2022
1:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.

Recorded Workshop

Password:  mPWA4skv

Chaired by Mark Burish, M.D., Ph.D.,  The Vivian L. Smith Department of Neurosurgery

Speakers:

        • Ruckshanda Majid, M.D.
          Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Sleep Medicine
          “Circadian Rhythm Disorders: Application of the science to the bedside”
        • Mark Burish, M.D., Ph.D.
          The Vivian L. Smith Department of Neurosurgery
          “Circadian features of cluster headache and migraine”
        • Seung-Hee Yoo, Ph.D.
          Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
          “Temporal regulation of skeletal muscle physiology and function by a circadian ligase”
        • Kristin Eckel Mahan, Ph.D.
          IMM, Center for Metabolic and Degenerative Diseases
          “The role of the circadian clock in metabolic disease prevention”

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) in Clinical Research

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) are becoming integral in clinical research in modern medicine. Along with advanced technology in data science and the availability of digital health data, AI and ML have helped clinicians identify clinically meaningful disease patterns by determining significant predictors or forecasting clinical outcomes. With the growing interest in AI and ML, this collaborative workshop will bring scientists across UTHealth schools who are conducting cutting-edge clinical research using AI and ML. We will discuss the overview of AI, examples of clinical research, collaboration opportunities, data availability, and algorithm development.

November 10, 2021
9:00 a.m. – Noon
Recorded Workshop
Password:  fUVyBQu5

Chaired by Elmer Bernstam, M.D., UTHealth School of Biomedical Informatics

Speakers

      • Jiajie Zhang, Ph.D.
        UTHealth School of Biomedical Informatics
        “Introduction and Overview of AI”
      • Masayuki Nigo, M.D.
        Division of Infectious Diseases
        Department of Internal Medicine
        McGovern Medical School at UTHealth
        “Clinical problem-solving research project in infectious disease”
      • Elmer Bernstam, M.D., MSE
        UTHealth School of Biomedical Informatics
        Department of Internal Medicine
        McGovern Medical School at UTHealth
        “Data for collaborative AI research”
      • Xiaoqian Jiang, Ph.D.
        Center for Secure Artificial Intelligence for Healthcare
        UTHealth School of Biomedical Informatics and
      • Sean Savitz, M.D.
        Department of Neurology
        McGovern Medical School at UTHealth
        “Collaborative research and algorithm development in stroke research”
      • Assaf Gottlieb, Ph.D.
        Center for Precision Health
        UTHealth School of Biomedical Informatics
        “Machine learning approaches to advance precision medicine”

Innovations in Medicine

The 21st century has produced great excitement and expectations in regenerative medicine. The last decade, in particular, has witnessed key biomedical advances that are opening the door to new treatment and prevention approaches that are being transformed by innovative therapies that encompass gene therapy, somatic cell therapy, tissue-engineered and combination products. With the growing emphasis on personalized medicine, these emerging therapies hold great potential for their ability to sense and respond to the biology of an individual patient. This workshop will provide an overview of the translational resources available at UTHealth to develop and bring such innovative advanced therapies from bench to bedside and discuss examples of recent collaborative efforts that have led to successful clinical applications of innovative advanced therapies and are paving the way for the next generation of regenerative therapies.

June 22, 2021
2:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Via WebEx:
Chaired by Fabio Triolo, Ph.D., Department of Pediatric Surgery

Speakers  

        • Fabio Triolo, D.d.R., M.Phil., Ph.D.
          Department of Pediatric Surgery
          McGovern Medical School at UTHealth
          “Bench to Bedside Translation of Advanced Therapies (Cell, Gene, and Tissue-based Therapies)”
        • Brian R. Davis, Ph.D.
          Brown Foundation Institute of Molecular Medicine
          Center for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine McGovern Medical School at UTHealth
          “Gene Editing for Immune and Lung-Cell Therapies”
        • Jason Thonhoff, M.D., Ph.D.
          Department of Neurology
          Neurological Institute
          Houston Methodist Hospital
          “Slowing Down ALS with Regulatory T Cells”
        • Ali Mohamed, Ph.D.
          Immatics Biotechnologies GmbH
          “Adoptive T Cell Transfer: Imagining the Next Generation of Cancer lmmunotherapies”
        • Saverio La Francesca, M.D.
          Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery
          Stanford University
          “Esophageal Tissue Engineering: From Bench to Bedside”
        • Kate Brown, Ph.D.
          Generate Life Sciences
          “Future State of Newborn Stem Cell Banking”