The Center for Clinical and Translational Science (CCTS) strives to build synergistic collaborations across the CTSA consortium, elevating translational science to a new heights. From March 5-7th, 2025, the CCTS joined five other CTSA Hubs to convene in Pine Mountain, Georgia, for the annual Southeast Regional Clinical and Translational Science Conference. This collaborative event brought together faculty, early stage investigators, research professionals, and trainees from across the southeast to share their innovative research, to create purposeful collaborations, and to enjoy a vast array of learning sessions over the three-day event.

Sessions featured artificial intelligence, data science, neuroscience and brain health, health services delivery, and more. Attendees were privileged to hear from this year’s keynote speakers, Dr. Michael Kurilla and Dr. Pearl McElfish. Dr. Kurilla is the Director of the Division of Clinical Innovation for the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) and provided a bird’s-eye view of scientific excellence and innovation. Dr. McElfish is the Director of Community Health Innovation at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and is a renowned expert in Health Behavior and Health Services Research.

The CCTS was well-represented at this year’s conference with involvement in multiple facets throughout the event. Dr. Orlando Gutierrez, CCTS MPI and Senior Associate Dean for Clinical and Translational Research at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, reprised his role as a moderator for this year’s conference. Dr. Molly Wasko, University Professor Associate Dean Department of Management, Information Systems and Quantitative Methods at UAB and NSF I-Corps Program Director, played a pivotal role throughout the conference as one of the panelists for the Trainee Career Development panel and featured speaker for the Design Thinking Workshop.

The “Bringing the Community Into Your Research” special interest session, featured a panel that included Dr. Ronit Elk, Professor and Associate Director of the Southeast Institute for Innovation in Palliative and Supportive Care at UAB and member of the CCTS Community and Scientific Action Board. Dr. Jennifer Croker, Associate Professor of Medicine at UAB and Senior Administrative Director, reprised her role on the meeting planning committee, overseeing all aspects of the event design and implementation. Mr. Tyren Lucas, Program Director in the CCTS Training Academy, contributed to multiple, highly successful poster sessions.

A few highly informative sessions highlighted at the conference were led by Dr. Qasim Hussaini, Assistant Professor of Medicine at UAB (“Medicine at the Intersection of Health Systems, Laws, and Policies”) and Dr. Catherine Jones, Post Doctoral Fellow in Neurology at UAB (“Characterizing Brain Health in Central Alabama”). Poster presentations are a cornerstone activity that brings peak engagement and interaction at scientific conferences. This year, CCTS representatives infused their scientific expertise into the poster presentation sessions with eleven posters from three CCTS Partner Network institutions being presented at the conference. Poster presenters included Christine Charvet, PhD, Alexandra de Sousa, PhD, Brier Rigby Dames, and Laura Robinson, MS, RD from Auburn; Nathaniel Shannon from the University of Alabama; and Darshan Chandrashekar, PhD, and Eric Chen from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB).

The CCTS is thrilled to contribute to the success of such an extraordinary collaborative and learning event and remains committed to strengthening partnerships across the CTSA consortium. Through continued innovation and shared expertise, we are advancing efforts to improve health and enhance community well-being.