Please join us in congratulating four UW investigators who were recently recognized at Translational Science, the annual meeting of the Association for Clinical and Translational Science (ACTS) meeting held April 20-22, 2022, in Chicago, Illinois. Allan Brasier, ICTR Executive Director and SMPH Senior Associate Dean for Clinical and Translational Research, comments,
We were privileged to nominate an outstanding group of candidates from UW-ICTR this year. These ACTS 2022 Translational Awardees have been leaders in the development and adoption of evidence-based therapeutics into health benefits for patients and continue to be innovators in the process of translational science. We are pleased that they have flourished in the superb environment for clinical and translational research at UW.
This year’s national awardees include:
William Busse, MD, Emeritus Professor, UW Department of Medicine
ACTS Edward H. Ahrens, Jr. Distinguished Investigator Award
Dr. Busse’s 40-year NIH-funded career resulted has had a sustained impact on the knowledge, understanding, and prevention of asthma. His contributions include developing a human model for virus-provoked asthma; leading the NIH Inner City Asthma Grant, a $70 million endeavor to determine the causes of greater prevalence and severity of asthma among inner-city children; and evaluating the effects of the anti-lgE monoclonal antibody, omalizumab, on a large population of treatment-resistant, high-risk, inner-city children. Dr. Busse has also been a sought-after and highly regarded mentor, while maintaining a robust clinical practice, serving on the editorial boards of major journals, and leading the UW Department of Medicine as Chair for four years. **Video**
Angela Byars-Winston, PhD, Professor, UW Department of Medicine
ACTS Clinical and Translational Research Distinguished Educator Award: Mentorship Innovation.
Byars-Winston has had an immense impact on mentorship in clinical and translational research and STEMM and has achieved international stature as an educator, mentor, and leader. Her work on cultural influences in mentorship has advanced generations of clinical and translational researchers and the quality and inclusivity of clinical translational science overall. She is also Director of Research & Evaluation with the UW Center for Women’s Health Research, faculty lead in the Center for the Improvement of Mentored Experiences in Research, and Associate Director of the UW Collaborative Center for Health Equity. **Video**
Jane Mahoney, MD, Professor, UW Department of Medicine
ACTS Distinguished Investigator: Translation from Proof of Concept to Widespread Clinical Practice Award.
Throughout her career, Dr. Mahoney has made influential and sustained research contributions that advanced dissemination and implementation science nationally and internationally. Her work has resulted in sustained impact in improving human health and reducing falls among the elderly. Dr. Mahoney conducted pioneering dissemination research for Stepping On, a group-based, multifactorial falls intervention program, and Pisando Fuerte, a cultural and linguistic adaptation for Hispanic older adults. She also directs the Community-Academic Aging Research Network (CAARN), is the Associate Director for Translation for the UW-Madison Prevention Research Center, and directs the ICTR Dissemination and Implementation Launchpad. **Video**
Susan Passmore, PhD, Assistant Director, UW Collaborative Center for Health Equity
ACTS Award for Contributing to the Diversity and Inclusiveness of the Translational Workforce.
Passmore has been a leader at UW in the development of evidence-informed training to build trust and enhance underrepresented groups’ participation in clinical and translational research. In addition to her work building community-engaged research capacity, she provides significant workforce development support for minority investigators engaged in health disparities/health equity research. She also helped form a new ICTR Workforce Diversity Group and leads the UW School of Medicine & Public Health Anti‐Racism planning group. **Video**
Elizabeth Burnside, ICTR Deputy Executive director and SMPH Associate Dean for Team Science and Interdisciplinary Research, adds,
ICTR, UW translational researchers, and the ACTS community are fortunate to be able to draw on the expertise and pioneering work of this year’s UW ACTS awardees. Each has made unique contributions to translational science, and they embody important ICTR values including extraordinary mentorship and inclusivity across the translational spectrum.