UAMS Translational Research Institute

06/02/2026

Join us next week!

Help shape the future of community research!

The community is invited to a Town Hall Meeting from 9-10 a.m. June 9 at the El Dorado–Union County Chamber of Commerce (111 W. Main St., El Dorado).

Featuring speaker Ping-Ching Hsu, Ph.D., an associate professor of environmental health sciences at UAMS, attendees will discuss the role of research in primary care and the importance of rural community representation in studies.

Incentives are available for participants, and breakfast will be provided.

For more information, contact Julie Joyce at [email protected].

06/01/2026

Write your way through summer!

The Translational Research Institute (TRI) Summer Writing Challenge is back.

Join for friendly competition and inspiration to write/submit your manuscripts! The challenge runs June 1 through Aug. 31, with qualifying manuscripts being published or submitted for publication during this time.

Any UAMS, Arkansas Children's Hospital or Research Institute, or Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System faculty or staff member who has received a TRI award, utilized a service or resource, or been partially or fully supported since Jan. 1, 2020, is eligible to participate in the challenge.

Public recognition and prizes for the greatest number of submissions will be announced in September.

See all the details and submit: https://redcapconnectt1.uams.edu/redcap/surveys/?s=TCMRYFRLRRKXCT34

05/29/2026

Learn more about brain development in young children with pediatric leukemia and sickle cell disease at the June 9 TRInnovations in Translational Science Seminar.

Ellen van der Plas, Ph.D., associate professor of pediatric hematology/oncology, will present "Cognitive Neuroscience of Neurodevelopmental Risk and Resilience in Pediatric Hematology and Oncology" from 1-2 p.m. June 9.

Van der Plas is interested in the developing brain, which is our most dynamic organ. The brain changes throughout our lifetime, but some of the most drastic post-natal changes occur in early childhood. Her research is focused on the impact of chronic illness on the developing brain, such as childhood cancer or sickle cell disease.

Register for the TRInnovations in Translational Science Seminar Series, a monthly session the second Tuesday of each month from 1-2 p.m. that showcases compelling examples of best practices in translational science, particularly those that reflect faculty, trainee, or pilot study-based innovations aimed at advancing research for rural populations.

https://redcapconnectt1.uams.edu/redcap/surveys/?s=LHREPYX8NAP3DM9D

(Attendees only need to register once to be included in the series.)

05/29/2026

Congratulations to TRI's 2026 Team Science Voucher Program awardees!

"Radiosensitizer Interactions with Spatially Fractionated Radiation Therapy," Robert J. Griffin, Ph.D., professor of radiation oncology, and Amit K. Tiwari, Ph.D., DABT, professor of pharmaceutical sciences and associate dean of research, College of Pharmacy

"The HASE App Initiative: Building Digitally Accessible Hearing Solutions," Lipika Sarangi, Ph.D., assistant professor of audiology

The Team Science Voucher Program is designed to support early-stage, cross-disciplinary collaborations and to expand the translational potential of existing research programs. The overall aim of this program is to increase the quantity, quality, and effectiveness of cross-disciplinary research at UAMS.

Learn more: https://tri.uams.edu/funding-opportunities/team-science-voucher-funding-program/

05/28/2026

Congratulations to TRI's 2026 K12 Mentored Research Career Development Scholar Awards Program awardees!

"Metabolomic Profile of Extremely Preterm Neonates with a Hemodynamically-Significant Patent Ductus Arteriosus," Sarah E. Diamond, M.D., assistant professor of pediatrics, neonatology

"Immuno-virotherapy for Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC)," Mulu Tesfay, Ph.D., assistant professor of pathology

"Pain Neuroscience Education for Patients with Spinal Cord Stimulators," Leah Tobey-Moore, PT, DPT, MBA, assistant professor of psychiatry

The K12 Scholars Program provides promising young clinical and translational investigators with the training, mentoring, and protected time to develop an independent research project. The overall goal of the TRI K12 Mentored Research Career Development Scholars Program is to increase the number and quality of independently funded clinical research investigators and translational scientists.

Learn more: https://tri.uams.edu/funding-opportunities/career-development-scholars-program/

05/28/2026

Congratulations to TRI's 2026 Health Sciences Innovation and Entrepreneurship (HSIE) Training Program awardees!

Brandon Hogland, Ph.D. candidate
SunYoung Kim, M.D., Department of Surgery
Daniel Mann, Ph.D., Department of Biomedical Informatics

HSIE helps the next generation of health scientists transform their discoveries into benefits for healthcare. The program is a partnership between TRI and the Entrepreneurship Graduate Program in the Sam M. Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville. The program's goal is to broaden a scholar’s vision of using entrepreneurship principles and team science to accelerate biomedical discoveries into improved health outcomes in academic settings and enhance readiness for industry, government, and other nonacademic jobs.

Learn more: https://tri.uams.edu/training/funded-training-opportunities/tl1-training-program/

05/27/2026

Congratulations to TRI's 2026 Clinical and Translational Science Pilot Program (CTSP2) awardees!

"Bench-to-Bedside Validation of MAPK Activity Sensors to Predict Checkpoint," Tamer Kaoud, B.Pharm, Ph.D., assistant professor of pharmaceutical sciences

"Leveraging Informatics and Statistics to Assess Saturation Inaccuracy in Oximetry in Neonates (LIASSION)," Megha Sharma, M.D., associate professor of pediatrics, neonatology

"Assessing the Feasibility of Training Local Providers to Perform Pediatric Appendix Ultrasound in Rural Emergency Departments," Lindsey L. Wolf, M.D., assistant professor of pediatric surgery

CTSP2 seeks proposals that employ translational approaches to address the health challenges and geographic constraints creating obstacles to positive outcomes for all Arkansans.

Learn more about the CTSP2 at a Zoom Q&A session at 3:30 p.m. June 10.

Register: https://redcapconnectt1.uams.edu/redcap/surveys/?s=APT48P4CFC3NJC4W

05/26/2026

Two weeks from today!

Help shape the future of community research!

The community is invited to a Town Hall Meeting from 9-10 a.m. June 9 at the El Dorado–Union County Chamber of Commerce (111 W. Main St., El Dorado).

Featuring speaker Ping-Ching Hsu, Ph.D., an associate professor of environmental health sciences at UAMS, attendees will discuss the role of research in primary care and the importance of rural community representation in studies.

Incentives are available for participants, and breakfast will be provided.

For more information, contact Julie Joyce at [email protected].

05/26/2026

Join us today (May 26) at noon! Talk title has been updated to "How Industry Designs Clinical Trials and Why We Should Care."

Register: https://redcapconnectt1.uams.edu/redcap/surveys/?s=LHREPYX8NAP3DM9D

What's the role of industry in clinical trials?

The May Clinical Trials Learning Collaborative Seminar from TRI covers that very topic and more, with a presentation from Ludy C. Shih, M.D., MMSc, an associate professor of neurology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School.

Join this session to explore how industry designs and conducts clinical trials and where your work might intersect. Shih will walk through the key scientific questions at each phase of therapeutics development, from early-stage research through regulatory milestones. She’ll also introduce the key players on the scientific side of the industry and help you identify where your areas of inquiry align.

https://redcapconnectt1.uams.edu/redcap/surveys/?s=LHREPYX8NAP3DM9D

05/22/2026

Discover ARLife!

TRI has a new data resource and a supported funding opportunity, ARLife Small Grants Program!

Learn about ARLife and the type of projects it supports, as well as the funding opportunity for investigators to submit applications to utilize ARLife and staff support on projects, at one of two webinars:
Noon on June 8
4 p.m. on June 16

Join one of the webinars to review example projects, program goals, project support, and expectations.

Interested in using a new data resource to address questions seeking to identify solutions to health challenges in Arkansas? ARLife could be for you.

Register for a webinar:
https://redcapconnectt1.uams.edu/redcap/surveys/?s=XHTNFHCYDFNNKPKY

Learn more about the program:
https://tri.uams.edu/funding-opportunities/arlife-small-grants-program/