Former KL2 Scholar Awarded for Dedication to Interdisciplinary Research

Pamela Bhatti, PhD, associate professor of Bioengineering and Digital Signal Processing, Georgia Institute of Technology, and Rafael Bras, ScD, Provost, Georgia Institute of Technology

Pamela Bhatti, PhD, associate professor of Bioengineering and Digital Signal Processing, Georgia Institute of Technology, was recently awarded the Class of 1934 Outstanding Interdisciplinary Activities Award by Georgia Tech Provost Rafael Bras, ScD. Bhatti is an ACTSI-supported investigator and a 2011 KL2 Mentored Clinical and Translational Research Scholar.

The award committee recognized Bhatti’s profound contributions to the field of cochlear-implant research, among other numerous collaborations in this research area. Furthermore, she commands extensive work with fellow researchers in areas such as neurosciences and electrophysiology, as well as work with medical and health professionals, and most outstanding, with entrepreneurs and the CREATE-X program. Her collaborations extended far beyond the reaches of Georgia Tech. She was formally recognized at Georgia Tech’s 2017 Faculty and Staff Honors Luncheon on April 21, 2017.  

The goal of the ACTSI KL2 Scholars Program is to support career development for junior faculty (MD, PhD, or MD/PhD) from a wide variety of disciplines at the ACTSI institutions – Emory University, Morehouse School of Medicine (MSM), and Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) – to become independent, established, and ethical clinical and/or translational research investigators. The ACTSI-supported Emory Master of Science in Clinical Research (MSCR) degree program, from the Laney Graduate School at Emory, provides didactic and mentored clinical and translational research training. The degree is designed for participants who hold a doctorate or equivalent degree (such as physicians and PhD-level scientists) or predoctoral trainees enrolled in a dual degree program (MD/MSCR and PhD/MSCR tracks) and have demonstrated a commitment to a career in clinical investigation.

The ACTSI is a city-wide partnership between Emory, MSM, and Georgia Tech and is one of 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 as one of 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.