Better Together: Clinical Research Takes Center Stage at BIDMC’s Second Research Retreat
125 investigators’ work was on display throughout the Martin Conference Center at 2023 BIDMC Research Retreat!
Click here for the gallery of photos and click here for the program.
With fall colors competing with still-summer temperatures, more than 500 hundred investigators from BIDMC and Joslin Diabetes Center attended the second BIDMC Research Retreat, held at the Joseph G. Martin Conference Center at Harvard Medical School.
Under the leadership of BILH/BIDMC Chief Academic Officer Gyongyi Szabo, MD, PhD, this year’s retreat focused on clinical research; bringing collaborators together, connecting investigators with research resources, and mentoring the next generation.
“At BIDMC we thrive on the energy and productivity of our scientists and clinicians and in the past four years, I’ve learned about the boundless motivation and drive this institution has for advancing science,” she said. “I share your aspiration to grow and elevate our research portfolio and build on the extraordinary talent of our BIDMC community.”
After thanking Simon Robson, MB, CHB, PhD, and Jennifer Ho, MD, co-chairs of the 2023 Research Retreat Committee, for their tireless efforts to make the day possible, Szabo provided a brief report on InSPIRE, the multi-year strategic plan for research and education at BIDMC. A major highlight: the Translational Research Hubs, which have maximized collaborations among scientists and clinicians and have accelerated the development of new therapies and approaches to care.
“Fueled by our Spark Grants investments, we already see new projects and grant applications taking off,” Szabo said. “The Hubs are breaking down silos and work across departments and disciplines to foster unique collaborations that are becoming industry-leading practices.”
And while the work that goes on in BIDMC’s laboratories may be behind the scenes, it doesn’t go unnoticed, BIDMC President Peter Healy said in his welcoming remarks.
“Our patients come to us because they know we offer them research-driven care and pioneering treatments that increase the chances of experiencing successful outcomes—all of that starts with you,” Healy said.
BILH President, Kevin Tabb, MD, echoed Healy’s sentiments. He said the system-wide implementation of a unified electronic health record platform, called Epic, is one of BILH’s early steps toward streamlining investigators’ ability to recruit participants for clinical trials among the system’s 1.6 million patients in Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire.
“The Epic rollout will support our efforts to provide equitable access to clinical trials across diverse communities, including those communities that have been historically underrepresented in research studies,” he said.
All of Us
In the first of two Keynote addresses, Stacey Gabriel, PhD, Chief Genomics Officer and Senior Director of the Genomics Platform at the Broad Institute provided a brief look back at the evolution in genomics technology since the institute’s founding in 2003.
She noted that large-scale genomic studies that can identify genetic risk factors that predispose certain individuals to disease still overrepresent individuals of European descent. To that end, Gabriel is involved with the All of Us Research Program, a National Institutes of Health (NIH) initiative that aims to sequence the genomes of more than one million Americans, with special attention to reflecting the nation’s rich diversity. The Obama-era effort has nearly half a million Americans enrolled and has identified genetic variants as well as social determinants linked to diseases. Gabriel, who is an All of Us principal investigator, noted that the database is freely available to any investigator who wishes to register.
“I'm most excited about moving some of our genomics tools and findings into the clinic,” she said. “Partnerships with hospitals could not be more important right now, so that’s one of the reasons I'm so happy to be here to meet you all today.”
City on a Hill
In his address, Harvard Medical School Dean George Q. Daley voiced his appreciation for BIDMC’s contributions to the medical school’s mission. Touching on BIDMC’s recent headline-making research—including contributions leading to the development of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine against COVID-19, clinical trials of therapies for patients with COVID-19 infections, studies showing how academic medical centers impact care at nearby community hospitals, and how social factors can impact cardiovascular mortality across demographics—Daley praised BIDMC investigators for bolstering Harvard Medical School’s mission.
“We are absolutely privileged to have you in this community,” he said “We know the importance of your research, your teaching, and your clinical service. When our affiliate institutes shine, both HMS and the entire Boston health care ecosystem shine.”
Equity in Precision Medicine
The afternoon’s keynote speaker, BIDMC’s own Martin Pollak, MD, discussed how he and BIDMC colleague David Freidman, MD, in 2010, that increase the risk of developing kidney disease in people who carry them. These two gene variants are carried by 12 percent of Americans with recent African ancestry, and Black individuals are about four times more likely to develop kidney disease than white individuals. Now, based on this work, an investigational molecule has been shown to improve kidney function in people with one form of chronic kidney disease in a small phase 2 clinical trial.
Pollak explained that the variants that increase the risk of kidney disease may have had some selective advantages for people living in parts of Africa 5,000 to 10,000 years ago. “That was well after the big ‘out-of-Africa" event that populated the planet, so you don’t see these variants at all in Europe or Asia,” he said. While the mechanism is still not completely clear, Pollak noted the variants appear to expand immune protection against a subspecies of the trypanosome parasite that causes sleeping sickness.
Colleague to Colleague
Attendees were eager to hear from BIDMC’s newest faculty. Tamar Sofer, PhD, Director of Bioinformatics at the Cardiovascular Institute, discussed her use of untargeted metabolomics to construct biomarkers in epidemiological studies. Subhash Kulkarni, PhD, assistant professor of medicine, gave an overview of his 13-year-long effort to understand the aging and attendant loss of function of the enteric nervous system.
Michael Roehrl, MD, PhD, MBA, Chair of the Department of Biology, discussed using proteomics to understand why cancers that appear similar can have vastly different outcomes. Brandon Westover, MD, PhD, Fisher Landau Professor of Neurology, talked about using artificial intelligence and machine learning to better understand how to treat patients with seizures.
Stiff Competition
In a much-anticipated highlight of the day, three BIDMC investigators squared off, presenting their proposed research projects to a panel of experienced translational scientists and “venture mentors.” In the second annual Pitch IT! Competition, hosted by Tod Woolf, PhD, Executive Director of the Technology Ventures Office, Antoine Karnoub, PhD, Prashanth Thevkar-Nagesh, PhD, and Fang Xie, PhD, each had six minutes to make their case to the judges; Angelika Fretzen, PhD, MBA, Technology Translation Director and CEO of the Wyss Institute; Robert Linke, MBA, CEO of Osmol Therapeutics and a BIDMC Venture Mentor; Mark Namchuk, PhD, Executive Director of Therapeutics Translation at Harvard Medical School; and Mark A. Tepper, PhD, President and CEO of Eumentis Therapeutics, Inc, and a BIDMC Venture Mentor. The judges—as well as the audience who partook in an online poll—selected Karnoub’s project using RNA immunotherapeutics to target tumor-initiating stem cells as this year’s winning pitch.
One major goal of this year’s Research Retreat was to raise awareness about the many new resources available to BIDMC investigators. Clifford Saper, MD, PhD, and Jeffrey Saffitz, MD, PhD, presented the Early-Stage Career Investigator Awards to:
Maria Mavrikaki, PhD,
Eleni Panagioti, PhD,
Lan Luo, MD, MS,
Mrigya Babuta, PhD,
Alvin Das, MD.
Laura Aguilar-Franco, MD, Yanquin Huang, PhD, and Pourya Naderi Yegenah, PhD, presented the poster session awards to the 19 primary investigators whose work was selected from the 125 posters that were displayed throughout the Martin Conference Center all day. The awardees were:
Urmila Japtap, Anthony Verkerke and Chrispher Auger, of the Metabolic Hub,
Leah Moses, Chun Li, Betul Ibis, of the Cancer Institute,
Radhika Joshi, Skarleth Cardenas Romero, Larissa Engert and John Dempsy, of the Neuroscience Hub,
Mrigya Babuta, Marti Ortega-Ribera, and Guiseppe Pettinato, of the Pathogens Hub,
Joris Eeuwen, Yi Jin Hseih, and Simone Redaelli, non-hub designated.
For a full listing of the Awards, include poster and project names, please click here.