Researchers Gather to Share Healthcare Innovations Worth Spreading atOhio State’s First-Ever “BRUTx” Event

Newswise — Columbus, OH. Hundreds of staff, faculty and students gathered recently at The Ohio State University to hear a handful of scientists discuss everything from life-saving apps to the cure for diabetes to how a village in Ethiopia is changing the world’s approach to public health issues.

Styled after the popular TEDx events, where presenters share their stories in a short and engaging format, “BRUTx : Innovation, Implementation and Impact in Translational Science” featured eleven speakers representing six different colleges at Ohio State and Nationwide Children’s Hospital.

The BRUTx 2015 event was developed and hosted by Ohio State’s Center for Clinical and Translational Science (CCTS) to showcase the ways that innovative thinking can help translational researchers achieve their “bench to bedside” goals.

“We selected the speakers based on their passion and curiosity for their work,” said Rebecca Jackson, MD, Director of the CCTS. “We hope that these thought-provoking and interactive ideas to improve human health provide a look at translational science through a new lens, and inspire other researchers to seek non-traditional collaborations and new solutions.”

BRUTx 2015 Speakers and Topics (click on researcher’s name to see their video presentations)

• Jennifer Rodis, PharmD, College of Pharmacy: “What patients and doctors don’t know about pharmacists.” Challenging current public and clinical team perceptions of the role pharmacists play in patient care could help improve outcomes.
• Jerry Mysiw, MD, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Wexner Medical Center (WMC): "Innovating patient care.” Insights into the human aspect of innovation were discovered during the course of developing the Neurobridge – a limb prosthetic driven by the first-ever brain machine interface to help paralyzed people move again.
• Jeffrey Walline, PhD, College of Optometry: “The end of myopia.” Two simple and readily available solutions could potentially prevent people from developing nearsightedness, an issue that impacts up to 2.3 billion people globally.
• Seuli Bose-Brill, MD, Division of Internal Medicine, WMC: “Research is a social sport.” The primary care/academic based infrastructure at WMC is simplifying the clinical research process for investigators across a spectrum of specialties.
• Eileen Faulds, NP, Division of Endocrine, Metabolism and Diabetes, WMC. “What insulin pump users fear.” An app could help train millions of insulin pump users for what to do when their pump fails – information that is currently not part of regular diabetes patient education.
• Randi Foraker, PhD, College of Public Health. "Visualizing health informatics.” SPHERE, an app that pulls real time data from the EHR lets patients visualize their personal cardiac health data. A one-year pilot test showed that the app helped patients improve their weight and diabetes status.
• Colleen Spees, PhD, School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences. “Hope grows for cancer survivors” The story behind the creation of the Garden of Hope, an urban oasis where cancer survivors learn how to pick and prepare meals using fresh and nutrient-filled produce. Research is showing that the approach could change lives.
• Lara McKenzie, PhD, Nationwide Children’s Hospital. “Childhood injuries: there's an app for that.” Millions of kids go to the ER each year due to avoidable injuries. A new app makes safety easy for parents and caregivers while using the latest evidence-based practices.
• Willa Hsueh, MD, Division of Endocrine, Metabolism and Diabetes, WMC. “Ohio State and the cure for diabetes.” Stem cell research and new medications in development at Ohio State may help reverse the global diabetes epidemic.
• Wondwassen Gebreyes, DVM, PhD, College of Veterinary Medicine. “One health: one world” A multi-disciplinary and mutually-beneficial partnership between Ohio State, and Ethiopian academic, research and regulatory institutes could serve as a template for fighting public health issues all over the world.
• Michelle Fennessy, PhD, College of of Nursing. “Workflow patterns and patient health” In order to advance health and patient care, design and the impact of workflow engineering must be factored into clinical environments.

Innovation and collaborationIn addition to the speakers in the main hall, attendees were able to participate in a “speed mingle” networking event to help them identify new research partners. Meeting participants also had a chance to speak one on one with several CCTS “Innovation Grant” recipients about interim results from ongoing research. Studies supported by the Innovation Grants include the development of hi-tech drug and gene therapy delivery systems, bandages that zap bacteria and targeted therapies for kidney failure, psoriasis and cystic fibrosis.

“BRUTx is another example of how we collaborate with CCTS members across all colleges at Ohio State to find novel ways to train and sustain the careers of the next generation of clinical and translational scientists, foster innovative partnership and create new resources to share with the translational science community,” said Philip R. O. Payne, PhD, Chair of the BRUTx 2015 Planning Committee and associate director of data sciences at the CCTS.

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The Ohio State University Center for Clinical and Translational Science (CCTS) is funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) program (UL1TR001070, KL2TR001068, TL1TR001069) The CTSA program is led by the NIH’s National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS). The content of this release is solely the responsibility of the CCTS and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH.