Georgia CTSA Leadership Awards


Left: Carolyn Meltzer, Right: Tabia Akintobi

Carolyn Meltzer, 2018 Outstanding Researcher

Carolyn Meltzer, MD, director of Georgia CTSA Innovation Catalyst program, was named 2018 Outstanding Researcher. Every year, the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA®) selects one person who has made significant contributions to radiologic research. In 2018, Dr. Meltzer is honored as the pioneer who fundamentally changed the future of the radiology field.  Congratulations!

The Georgia Clinical & Translational Science Alliance (Georgia CTSA) provides resources for start-up research projects through the Innovation Catalyst program. Innovation Catalyst offers funding for start-up research projects, better access to analytical tools, and education and training to clinical and translational investigators. Georgia CTSA provides the infrastructure and programmatic foundation to rapidly identify and invest in promising technologies and enhance collaborative opportunities among translational investigators and industry partners. A goal of Georgia CTSA is to catalyze development, validation, and commercialization of translational technologies.

Tabia Akintobi, The Dr. Tom Bruce Award of Honor

Tabia Henry Akintobi, PhD, MPH, director of Georgia CTSA Community Engagement program, was awarded a 2018 Dr. Tom Bruce Award of Honor through the Community-based Public Health (CBPH) Caucus of the American Public Health Association. The award is bestowed at the American Public Health Association’s Annual Meeting and Exposition. Dr. Henry Akintobi received the award recognizing her leadership in collaboration with the Community-Campus Partnerships for Health, and the University of Michigan to advance equitable partnerships in the writing and dissemination of community engaged research. The Dr. Tom Bruce Award is presented annually to individuals who exemplify leadership in community-based Public Health.

Georgia CTSA’s Community Engagement is a core component of a collaborative effort between Emory University, Morehouse School of Medicine (MSM), Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), and University of Georgia (UGA). The program improves the way biomedical research is conducted and disseminated throughout Georgia and across the country. It works to unite existing academic-community research partnerships, facilitate community input into university research, and to increase health research in community settings that is both responsive and relevant to the health needs of the community.

The Georgia CTSA is an inter-institutional magnet that concentrates basic, translational, and clinical research investigators, community clinicians, professional societies, and industry collaborators in dynamic clinical and translational research projects. Emory engaged three of its close academic partners – MSM, Georgia Tech, and UGA – to form the Georgia CTSA. This partnership, a strategic multi-institutional alliance, offers compelling, unique, and synergistic advantages to research and patients statewide.

Georgia CTSA is one of nearly 60 in a national consortium striving to improve the way biomedical research is conducted across the country. The consortium, funded through the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) and the National Institutes of Health’s Clinical and Translational Science Awards, shares a common vision to translate laboratory discoveries into treatments for patients, engage communities in clinical research efforts, and train the next generation of clinical investigators.