Duke's first Clinical Science Day Provides Forum for Learning, Exchanging Ideas
Published 1 year ago
Faculty, residents and students who attended Duke University School of Medicine's inaugural Clinical Science Day 2012 enjoyed a rare opportunity to receive continuing medical education credit while learning about the vast array of clinical research going on across the medical campus. They also saw, firsthand, the potential such a forum presents for future interdisciplinary collaborations.
"This was about creating synergism across departments and across investigators," explained Theodore Pappas, M.D., Vice Dean for Medical Affairs, and co-moderator of the March 3 event. "We hope people can learn from one another, then get together at a future date and possibly develop projects that would not have been created otherwise."
In her opening remarks, Dean Nancy C. Andrews, M.D., Ph.D., said Clinical Science Day has the potential to become an annual event. "We need opportunities like this, which invite us to come out of our labs and clinics to discover what is going on around us across this diverse, academic medical center. The collaborations that have resulted from a similar forum, Basic Science Day, are proof that these events serve an important purpose."
Department chairs, vice chairs of research, and professors representing each of the School's 13 clinical departments offered synopses of their work in progress, as well as recent achievements. For example, Daniel Benjamin, Jr., M.D., Ph.D., a professor of pediatrics, provided a snapshot of his involvement with the NIH-funded Pediatric Trials Network. G. Chad Hughes, M.D., associate professor of surgery, highlighted the contemporary results for proximal aortic replacement in North America, while Amy P. Murtha, M.D., Vice Chair for Research in the Department of Obstetrics/Gynecology, reported on the current understanding of premature rupture of membranes. Many of the presentations were followed by short, engaging question-and-answer sessions.
"I liked the dialogue," said Mark Stacy, M.D., Vice Chair for Clinical Research, who co-moderated the event with Pappas. "I liked that we talked about research and accomplishments. So often we don't talk about accomplishments; we talk about process. My job is to make the process work better but it's fun to see the validation of the work we do day in and out."
Residents and fellows were invited to compete in a poster contest, which participants, like psychiatry resident Thadeus Koontz, M.D., described as a beneficial experience. "I received excellent suggestions for new applications of our deep sequencing and pathogen detection bioinformatic pipeline. I was also approached by a gentleman interested in collaborating with us on bioinformatics which we have a desperate need for."
Pappas and Stacy were joined by Robert Harrington, M.D., Director of the Duke Clinical Research Institute and Mark Dewhirst, D.V.M., Ph.D., Associate Dean for Faculty Mentoring, to judge the posters on Friday evening. The winner of the best poster was Shahid Nimjee, M.D., a neurosurgery resident, whose poster was titled, "Rapidly Regulating Platelet Activity In Vivo with an Antidote Controlled Platelet Inhibitor." Poster runners up were medicine residents Callie Coombs, M.D. and Ann Marie Navar-Boggan, M.D.
Shannon O'Connor, a third year M.D./Ph.D. student, said she enjoyed viewing the posters, as well as the chance to be re-exposed to the clinical side of medicine. "I appreciated hearing people exchange ideas between departments, and learn about new ways people can help each other."
Koontz agreed. "The cross pollination of ideas was wonderful, but I truly appreciate that those of us passionate about research are able to share our passion more broadly, and be recognized by the Duke community. To me, this culture of curiosity and continuous improvement of the clinical sciences is what sets Duke apart."
"This was about creating synergism across departments and across investigators," explained Theodore Pappas, M.D., Vice Dean for Medical Affairs, and co-moderator of the March 3 event. "We hope people can learn from one another, then get together at a future date and possibly develop projects that would not have been created otherwise."
In her opening remarks, Dean Nancy C. Andrews, M.D., Ph.D., said Clinical Science Day has the potential to become an annual event. "We need opportunities like this, which invite us to come out of our labs and clinics to discover what is going on around us across this diverse, academic medical center. The collaborations that have resulted from a similar forum, Basic Science Day, are proof that these events serve an important purpose."
Department chairs, vice chairs of research, and professors representing each of the School's 13 clinical departments offered synopses of their work in progress, as well as recent achievements. For example, Daniel Benjamin, Jr., M.D., Ph.D., a professor of pediatrics, provided a snapshot of his involvement with the NIH-funded Pediatric Trials Network. G. Chad Hughes, M.D., associate professor of surgery, highlighted the contemporary results for proximal aortic replacement in North America, while Amy P. Murtha, M.D., Vice Chair for Research in the Department of Obstetrics/Gynecology, reported on the current understanding of premature rupture of membranes. Many of the presentations were followed by short, engaging question-and-answer sessions.
"I liked the dialogue," said Mark Stacy, M.D., Vice Chair for Clinical Research, who co-moderated the event with Pappas. "I liked that we talked about research and accomplishments. So often we don't talk about accomplishments; we talk about process. My job is to make the process work better but it's fun to see the validation of the work we do day in and out."
Residents and fellows were invited to compete in a poster contest, which participants, like psychiatry resident Thadeus Koontz, M.D., described as a beneficial experience. "I received excellent suggestions for new applications of our deep sequencing and pathogen detection bioinformatic pipeline. I was also approached by a gentleman interested in collaborating with us on bioinformatics which we have a desperate need for."
Pappas and Stacy were joined by Robert Harrington, M.D., Director of the Duke Clinical Research Institute and Mark Dewhirst, D.V.M., Ph.D., Associate Dean for Faculty Mentoring, to judge the posters on Friday evening. The winner of the best poster was Shahid Nimjee, M.D., a neurosurgery resident, whose poster was titled, "Rapidly Regulating Platelet Activity In Vivo with an Antidote Controlled Platelet Inhibitor." Poster runners up were medicine residents Callie Coombs, M.D. and Ann Marie Navar-Boggan, M.D.
Shannon O'Connor, a third year M.D./Ph.D. student, said she enjoyed viewing the posters, as well as the chance to be re-exposed to the clinical side of medicine. "I appreciated hearing people exchange ideas between departments, and learn about new ways people can help each other."
Koontz agreed. "The cross pollination of ideas was wonderful, but I truly appreciate that those of us passionate about research are able to share our passion more broadly, and be recognized by the Duke community. To me, this culture of curiosity and continuous improvement of the clinical sciences is what sets Duke apart."
