UW ICTR hosted a first-ever research symposium for TL1 trainees across the Midwest, held on September 29-30 at the Health Sciences Learning Center. TL1 trainees are PhD and postdoc scholars working on research with direct translational relevance to human health. These traineeships are funded through Clinical & Translational Science Awards (CTSA) to ICTR from the NIH National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences.
The focus of the Midwest TL1 Research Summit 2022 was Science Communication, with keynotes from Holly Walter Kerby from Storyform Science and Mandy Morrow from the UW Design Lab. Trainees shared their data through lightning talks and posters. Breakout sessions on Day 2 allowed participants to apply those new concepts in storytelling and infographics to their research presentations. Lauren Trepanier, ICTR Co-Director of the TL1 Training Program, comments,
This event was a lot of fun to attend and hear all the exciting trainee research going on. I can attest from my own graduate student’s Three Minute Thesis, which she assembled after the Summit, that the science communication training was outstanding!
Altogether, ICTR hosted 31 trainees from seven midwest institutions. TL1 directors also met to discuss shared training initiatives in science communication moving forward. The next Midwest TL1 Research Summit will be held at the Medical College of Milwaukee in fall 2023.