Forty faculty from the UAB departments of Biomedical Engineering, Surgery and Anesthesiology & Perioperative Medicine met up for a “Match.com-style” mixer in the West Pavilion Conference Center last Wednesday, May 8, to brainstorm potential research collaborations, as part of the new BME/Surgery/Anesthesiology Collaborative Pilot Research Program.
Each of the faculty who attended the mixer were matched up with scientists from outside their own department based on their shared interests and were tasked with using each of the event’s 15-minute sessions to explore potential research projects with a colleague from another department.
Dr. James BIbb
“At this event, we saw thoughtful, and even animated, discussion of new research projects being launched in real time,” said James Bibb, Ph.D., the Department of Surgery’s vice chair of basic science research. “We look forward to following the many new research programs that are launched through this event and others like it in the near future.”
The primary goal of the event, as well as the BME/Surgery/Anesthesiology Collaborative Pilot Research Program as a whole, was to encourage interdepartmental team-based research by providing faculty with the opportunity to develop ideas for new collaborative pilot projects and to submit those ideas for funding.
Dr. Gangijan Qin
“We appreciate the tremendous enthusiasm of these physicians, surgeons and basic research scientists who took advantage of this opportunity to sit down together and discuss real-world problems in the clinic and how to tackle those challenges,” said Gangjian Qin, M.D., FAHA, vice chair for research in the Department of Biomedical Engineering, who also serves as the department’s primary contact for the program.
“Our program is expanding, and we hope these interactions among interdisciplinary investigators will lead to impactful new science and extramural funding.”
While this event was similar to the Department of Surgery and Department of Biomedical Engineering’s 2016 researcher “Speed Dating” event, the “Match.com-style” format of last week’s mixer focused on pairing up scientists with comparable backgrounds and interests ahead of time.
Dr. Michael Froelich
“This is the second time we’ve hosted an event like this,” Qin said. “We like this model and are so glad that the Department of Anesthesiology joined us this time.”
Bibb, who also serves as the Department of Surgery’s primary program contact, explained why these three departments are particularly well-suited for this kind of initiative.
“UAB’s departments of Biomedical Engineering, Surgery and Anesthesiology & Perioperative Medicine all have outstanding research programs in which they are leading in multiple fields,” Bibb said. “Furthermore, these departments’ scientists and physicians are already integrated with one another in their daily work and share many of the same translational goals. That’s why their investigators are such natural fits for developing large, multi-investigator projects.”
Teams who wish to apply for funding through the BME/Surgery/Anesthesiology Collaborative Pilot Research Program must submit a one-page project proposal to their department’s program contact by June 21 to be considered for pilot funding.
“We congratulate all of our research faculty in enthusiastically participating and contributing to our growth and excellence in basic, preclinical and translational biomedical research,” Bibb said.
Program Contacts:
Department of Surgery:
- James Bibb, Ph.D.
- jbibb@uabmc.edu
Department of Biomedical Engineering:
- Gangjian Qin, M.D., FAHA
- gqin@uab.edu
Department of Anesthesiology & Perioperative Medicine: