In late September, members of UW-Madison’s TL1 Program (both pre- and postdoctoral scholars) traveled to Milwaukee for the second annual Midwest TL1 Research Summit. The first event of its kind took place last September in Madison and was led by ICTR’s Dr. Lauren Trepanier.
The 2023 Milwaukee event, held Sept. 25-26 at the Renaissance Milwaukee West Hotel, was a collaboration between ICTR’s TL1 Program and those of neighboring institutions, including the Medical College of Wisconsin, the Mayo Clinic, Northwestern University, Indiana University, the University of Minnesota, the University of Kansas Medical Center, Washington University in St. Louis and the University of Michigan. The Medical College of Wisconsin took the lead in organizing the successful event, which had a theme of Team Science.
The summit provided a prime opportunity for TL1 trainees to network with others at the same career stage, as well as take advantage of panel discussions, workshops, lightning talks and poster sessions.
Said Dr. Peggy Hatfield, ICTR’s Director of Workforce Development, “Given that it is a bit more difficult for our trainees to attend the national conference (the NCATS, or National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences conference), this regional summit is a fantastic opportunity for our trainees to interact with other trainees focused on translational science.”
Three members of UW-Madison TL1 leadership participated: co-directors Dr. Michelle Chui and Dr. Vivek Prabhakaran and Program Manager Lauren Hahn. Five trainees also attended: postdoc Dr. Helen Long and predocs Suhjung Janet Lee, Hoang Bui, Dr. Jason Chladek and Rachel Minne. Of these, four trainees presented posters (Long, Lee, Bui, and Minne) and three presented lightning talks (Long, Lee, and Bui). Topics were:
- Helen Long, PhD, CCC-SLP: “Examining the association between early speech and language milestones attainment and clinical profiles of children with neurodevelopment” (Lightning Session + Poster)
- Suhjung Janet Lee: “POIESIS (Psychedelic Outcomes: Interaction of Environment and Self-Identity) – importance of naturalistic elements and religion/spirituality in art and the psychedelic dosing space” (Lightning Session + Poster)
- Hoang Bui: “Dissecting the Heterogeneity of Adipocyte Progenitors in White and Brown Depots” (Lightning Session + Poster)
- Rachel Minne: “Novel MET Antibody with Promising Theragnostic Potential” (Poster)
Said Hahn, “We are grateful to the Medical College of Wisconsin Leadership for making the second annual summit a success. I look forward to future collaborations to keep the momentum going.”
ICTR Central Administration support made Madison attendees’ participation possible through funding for transportation in a fleet van, registration, lodging and other essential expenses.
As a career development program, the NIH-funded TL1 Post-Doctoral Trainee Program provides a firm foundational pathway for bridging previous doctoral training and future independent careers in translational and clinical sciences. The program supports research along the entire translational research spectrum.
The TL1 Pre-Doctoral Training Program trains students in the health professions and engineering in the scientific foundations of clinical and translational research.
For more information about the TL1 Programs, visit ICTR’s Career Development webpage or contact Lauren Hahn at lkhahn@wisc.edu.