Advancing Research Productivity and Success

A summary of 2022 activity

Did you know?

The CCTSI built and manages the Colorado PROFILES website, a search engine for biomedical research expertise and networking at University of Colorado campuses. It provides tools to help investigators and students find experts, potential collaborators or mentors. Go to the full Profiles website for additional information.

In 2022, PROFILES had 339,121 pageviews and nearly 200,000 sessions

External Advisory Committee Meeting

2022 Annual Spring and Winter Pediatric Research Poster Sessions

The Pediatric Research Poster Sessions were in person for the first time in two years. They took place in the Children's Hospital Colorado Conference Center.

Spring
70 posters from 25 departments and centers
143 attendees

Winter
48 posters from 19 departments and centers
113 attendees

Results from the evaluation center report were highly favorable:

Enhanced knowledge of pediatric research and networking opportunities

Participants reported the poster session enhanced their knowledge of pediatric research and provided them with networking opportunities. All groups had average ratings of 4 or greater (on a 5-point scale); judges rated items higher than either attendees or presenters (Exhibit 2).

New Home for Clinical Research

In April of 2022, the CCTSI Administrative Core and the adult Clinical Translational Research Center moved to their new home in the Anschutz Health Sciences Building (AHSB).

Clinical Translational Research Centers (CTRC)

Essential resources for Anschutz Medical Campus

During 2022

Pilot Grant Update

Each year, the CCTSI awards nearly $3 million in pilot grants and training awards. Since our launch in 2008, 479 projects have been funded, spanning the spectrum of basic science to clinical trials and community-based research. In 2022, CCTSI awarded grants to 43 different pilot projects. Investigators from Colorado State University, CU Boulder, CU Anschutz, CU Denver, Children's Hospital Colorado, Denver Health and UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital were all awardees

Impressive ROI

For every $1 invested in the CCTSI Pilot Grants, there is a return on investment of nearly $15 in follow-up funding.

CU - CSU Summit

The Tenth Annual CCTSI CU-CSU Summit was held in person at the new Donald M. Elliman Conference Center. The theme was Research in Health Equity and Social Determinants. The conference fostered collaboration and partnership among researchers from across all CCTSI partnering institutions.

See presentations from all presenters. An in-person poster session was also a part of the conference.

Afterwards, the Evaluation Core of the CCTSI administered a survey of all participants. The results demonstrated that satisfaction with networking and collaboration in all three areas has returned to pre-pandemic levels, as depicted in Figure 2 below.

Social Media

The CCTSI's Twitter channel effectively increased the visibility of our institute, with numerous partners referencing us in their tweets. In 2022, the CCTSI was mentioned 613 times.

Our LinkedIn posts saw a rise in impressions throughout 2022. Posts on the grand opening of our new home generated more than 4,400 impressions in April alone.

Tweets by CCTSI

Science Communication

The CCTSI developed and launched Communicating Your Science to the Public--a short course to train researchers of all levels to share crucial information about their work while building trust in science. During 2022, 90 research professionals took the short course, including early-career scientists, senior faculty and professional research assistants. The course involves professional journalists and communications staff from across the university and hospital systems to serve as small-group facilitators. Evaluation results have been positive; the course fills up as soon as new dates are announced.

How to Speak to Journalists

CCTSI News Stories

Throughout the year, the CCTSI features original stories about the important research happening across the institution. During the year, CCTSI stories appear in Found in Translation, the CU Anschutz Today and CU Connections newsletters. In 2022, these 19 stories helped drive people to the CCTSI newsroom, which received more than 7,700 pageviews.

• The Colorado Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute has been focusing on recruiting diverse participants in clinical research - the OARS program is key to this effort.
• CU Anschutz and Children’s Hospital Colorado are leading a national pandemic response project. The PREMISE EV-D68 pilot study speaks to the depth and breadth of expertise and resources at the CU Anschutz Medical Campus, CCTSI and Children’s Hospital Colorado.
• Researchers at CHCO shed light on the role inflammation plays in lung disease occurring in children with primary ciliary dyskinesia, a rare genetic disease similar to cystic fibrosis.
• Melissa Haendel, PhD, Anita Walden, MS, and Tell Bennett, MD, serve in leadership roles in the CCTSI. All three were part of the team that created a machine-learning algorithm to identify potential long COVID in patients before they receive a diagnosis.

National COVID Footprint

The CCTSI continues to play a leadership role in 3 important national research projects related to COVID-19

• Researching COVID to Enhance Recovery (RECOVER), a comprehensive nationwide study that explores the long-term effects of COVID-19
• Community Engagement Alliance against COVID-19 Disparities (CEAL)
• mAb Colorado, a statewide project to provide COVID-positive Coloradans with monoclonal antibodies treatment (mAbs), reach underrepresented groups hardest hit by COVID and study the best way to reach populations at the greatest risk of hospitalization

Through CO-CEAL, Donald Nease, MD, researchers and community partners have been working across Colorado to provide accurate, science-based information on COVID-19 treatments and vaccines. Using a process called "Boot Camp Translation," communities translate complex medical guidelines into locally relevant health messages. They also choose topics and methods to convey these messages, resulting in visually exciting and engaging products like a kids' coloring book, "Superhero's Guidebook", in both English and Spanish.

The RECOVER Study

Kristine Erlandson, MD, leads the Colorado arm of the national RECOVER study, which aims to enroll about 360 participants at 2 Colorado sites (CU Anschutz and Denver Health). Researchers will follow participants for up to 4 years. The goal is to rapidly improve our understanding of and ability to predict, treat and prevent PASC (post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2), including Long COVID

mAb Colorado

In 2022, the leaders of mAb Colorado, Adit Ginde, MD and Bethany Kwan, PhD, MSPH, published 4 studies using real world evidence and 3 studies featuring dissemination and implementation science.

REDCap: Supporting the Entire Research Community

In 2022 6,156 active users worked on 8,223 active projects in REDCap which is managed by the CCTSI.