Highlights of the 2025 Southeast Regional Clinical and Translational Science Conference

group of leaders
Southeast CTSA leaders (L-R): Andrew C. West, MBA, MHA, Georgia CTSA/Emory; Andrés J. García, PhD, Georgia CTSA/Georgia Tech; W. Robert Taylor, MD, PhD, Georgia CTSA/Emory; Jennifer Croker, PhD, UAB CCTS; Orlando Gutierrez, MD, PhD, UAB CCTS; Sylvie Naar, PhD, UF-FSU CTSA; Bradley G. Phillips, PharmD, Georgia CTSA/UGA; Elizabeth O. Ofili, MD, MPH, Georgia CTSA/Morehouse School of Medicine; Jonathan Murrow, MD, Georgia CTSA/UGA; Kathleen Brady, MD, PhD, MUSC SCTR; Henry M. Blumberg, MD, Georgia CTSA/Emory; and Vasiliki (Vas) Michopoulos, PhD, MSCR, Georgia CTSA/Emory

Over 300 researchers & translational scientists across the Southeast presented the best new health-related preclinical, clinical, implementation, & population-based research. During the keynote presentation by Michael G. Kurilla, MD, PhD, Director, Division of Clinical Innovation, NCATS, he shared CTSA impact on policy, rare diseases, training the next generation of cutting-edge scientists and more including where translational science is headed.

In her keynote address focused on rural communities, Pearl A. McElfish, PhD, MBA, MS, Director, Institute for Community Health Innovation, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, emphasized the importance of innovative approaches and strong community partnerships to drive lasting change in health outcomes. She discussed critical areas of focus including a collaborative network of partnerships, community-prioritized outcomes, meeting individuals where they are, and aligning education, clinical care, research, and community impact in a cohesive mission.

Attendees collaborated from academic institutions including Auburn, Augusta, Emory, Florida State, Georgia State, Georgia Tech, Kennesaw State, MCG, MUSC, Mercer, Morehouse School of Medicine, UAB, UF, UGA, University of Miami, UNC, USC, USF, and U of U; and organizations such as the Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, Gilead, Lurie Children's, Mass General Brigham, MD Anderson, and NCATS.

Throughout the three-day conference, researchers and scientists engaged with each other during Featured Talks, Poster Viewing, Trainee Career Development Panel, and Sessions on Healthy Communities, Artificial Intelligence and Data Science, Neuroscience and Brain Health, Health Services Delivery, Infectious Disease: From Basic Science to Clinical Outcomes, and Development of Therapeutics. Additional Special Interest Sessions included Bringing the Community into Your Research, Getting Started in Dissemination & Implementation Science, and Design Thinking.

Tools and Technology Showcase: Immersive Technologies to Translate Critical Scientific Information - Experiencing Risks and Learning Mitigation in VR, UGA

New this year, a Tools and Technology Showcase provided hands-on demonstrations of the latest innovations including Sensors, NCATS Biomedical Translator, UGA Health Services and Health Quality Dashboard, Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy for PTSD: Demonstration of Implementation at Emory Healthcare Veterans Program, Prolonged Exposure Collective Sensing System: Demonstration of a Patient-Facing App and Clinician Dashboard that Facilitates Engagement and Communication within PTSD Treatment, Immersive Technologies to Translate Critical Scientific Information: Experiencing Risks and Learning Mitigation in VR, Fabla – Mobile App Platform for Enabling Daily Diary and Ecological Momentary Assessment Studies, Vocalis – Digital Interpretation Tool for Patient Communication at the Bedside, Clinical Care Apps: Georgia TB Reference Guide App and TypeU (Diabetes Support for New T1D Patients) App, and National Science Foundation Innovation Corps- I-Corps.

In a post-conference survey, attendees remarked the most valuable aspects of the conference were networking with the Southeast research community, opportunities for meetings with others not at their CTSA/institution, learning about resources available through the CTSA, and the wide range of research fields represented.

Participants provided positive feedback on the connections they made and remarked, “We met IT experts in large language models which can potentially facilitate our program implementation,” and “After my oral presentation, a few researchers approached me inquiring further about our program and how it could fit their needs. We also opened conversations with organizations near us on ways we could better collaborate with one another.”

During the special Networking Banquet and Awards Ceremony, Georgia CTSA recognized team science and presented abstract awards from 150 poster presentations and 28 oral abstract presentations.

2025 Presidents’ Award of Distinction for Team Science: accepted by Joshua Baldwin, PhD, UGA

Team Science Awards

2025 Presidents’ Award of Distinction for Team Science - “University of Georgia, Center for Advanced Computer-Human Ecosystems (CACHE)”

  • Lead PI: Sun Joo (Grace) Ahn, PhD, Professor, Grady College of Journalism & Mass Communication, University of Georgia; Director, Center for Advanced Computer-Human Ecosystems (CACHE)

2025 Team Science Award of Distinction for Early Stage Research Teams: Ran Xiao, PhD, MS, and Sangmi Kim, PhD, MPH, RN, Emory

2025 Team Science Award of Distinction for Early Stage Research Teams - “Project TIDAL (Trauma-Informed Data Science for Abuse Prevention in Lives of Women)”

  • Lead PI(s): Sangmi Kim, Assistant Professor, School of Nursing, Emory University and Ran Xiao, Assistant Professor, School of Nursing; Associated Faculty, Department of Computer Science, Emory University

Abstract Awards

Poster Presentation Winners

  • Basic Research
    • Mohamed Selim, UGA, “Diabetes-Induced Modulation of Gene Expression Weakens Lung Epithelial and Endothelial Barrier Integrity”

Pre-Clinical: Denise Fahey, CPTS, UGA

  • Pre-Clinical
    • Denise Fahey, CPTS, UGA, “The Absence of Placenta-Specific 8 Causes More Severe Ulcerative Colitis in Mice”
  • Clinical
    • Daniel Drane, PhD, MA, MS, Emory, “Emory Multimodal Learning Test: A Gamified Paradigm to Assess Rarely Explored Aspects of Memory in the Setting of Epilepsy Surgery and Beyond”

Dissemination and Implementation: Nikki Llewellyn, PhD, Emory

  • Dissemination and Implementation (tie)
    • Nikki Llewellyn, PhD, Emory, “Authorship and Citation Among Research Supported by NIH CTSA Training Grants”
    • Kristy Anderson, PhD, MSW, FSU, “Material Hardship and Sources of Support for Autistic Adolescents and Their Families”

Public Health: Jingyu Li, BS, Georgia Tech

  • Public Health
    • Jingyu Li, BS, Georgia Tech, “Examining Perinatal Regionalization in Practice. A Network Analysis of Maternal Transport in Georgia”

Outstanding Oral Presentation (tie)

  • Morgan Coleman, PhD, MSCR, Morehouse School of Medicine, "Exposure of HIV-1 to MoMo30 Selects for Mutations in the Env Gene"
  • Meghan Meredith, BS, Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, "Identifying Regions that Are Vulnerable to Obstetric Unit Closures in Georgia Using Mathematical Optimization"