Clinical and Translational Science Institute
Advancing today’s discoveries to improve health for all.

Research Support Series: NIH Topics of the Day, Dealing with Change

Lora Black, Spark Award Recipient

Lora Black, PhD, MPH, an Assistant Professor in Psychiatry and Behavioral Science is conducting research about treatments for chronic pain by using psychosocial correlates and psychological treatments. The stud is called the Pain Rehabilitation and Education: Values and Actions that improve Life (PRE:VAIL) Study.

“The purpose of this study is to examine illness-related characteristics of individuals with chronic pain and their response to participation in an outpatient interdisciplinary pain rehabilitation clinic,” says Black. “The overall goal of this project is to expand our understanding of illness-related characteristics of individuals with a variety of chronic pain conditions and guide our understanding of how to effectively provide specialized care for chronic pain.”

Black plans to use their Spark Award to enable their research team to utilize the Honest Broker Operation committee. “This study involves the extraction of medical data from the electronic medical record. This committee will be used to extract portions of this data to better understand how these treatments can be used for chronic pain.”

Congratulations to Lora Black on receiving a Spark Award and using it to make an impact on how colorectal cancer is treated. If you are interested in applying for a Spark Award, applications are being accepted on a rolling basis until May 15, 2025, or until funds are exhausted. For more information, visit go.osu.edu/spark2025.

Julie Johnson, PharmD, is the Director and Principal Investigator at The Ohio State University Clinical and Translational Science Institute. 

Launch to K

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Launch to K

The goal of this program is to assist promising biomedical scientists to launch their academic career by writing a K series NIH career development award proposal.

The individual components of a K-series career development award will be written and discussed in a step-by-step detailed process. The heart of the workshop will be peer-to-peer reviews of biweekly writing assignments of grant components. Experienced NIH funded investigators will assist in guiding the group and illustrating the various component of a K award from a grant reviewer's point of view, with assistance from recent successful K awardees.

Application Deadline: April 28, 2025, 11:59 AM

Workshop Schedule: Every 2 weeks on Tuesdays from 2 to 4:30 PM from May 13 to September 23. Participants are expected to attend at least 80% of the sessions.

Contact: john.christman@osumc.edu

Access the Schedule
Apply for Launch to K

K Grant Writing Workshop Application Due

Request a Letter of Support

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Letter of Support

A letter of support from the Ohio State CTSI can significantly strengthen your grant application by demonstrating institutional commitment, highlighting collaboration and detailing resources and support available for the project. For certain grants, letters of support are a required component of the application to demonstrate institutional commitment and feasibility of the proposed research.

How to Request a Letter of Support

  1. Download and Complete the Template: Use the template provided to draft your letter of support. Fill in all the necessary details and tailor it to your project. Use the CTSI Facilities and Resources boilerplate to customize your letter with the appropriate offerings.  Please include:
    1. The name of the proposal and the name of the PI
    2. The name and contact information for the person who should receive the completed letter
    3. Your deadline (The CTSI requests a minimum of fifteen (15) business days in advance)
    4. A copy of your project’s Specific Aims
  2. Submit Your Request: Email the completed template to ctsi-info@osumc.edu. Please ensure that you submit your request at least fifteen (15) business days in advance of your deadline.
  3. Review: Be sure to include any additional information or documents that may support your request. The CTSI will review your draft and provide the final letter on official letterhead within fifteen business days of your request.
Letter of Support Template

Who can use this offering?

Ohio State and Nationwide Children’s researchers, faculty and research staff.

Cite and Submit

Please remember to cite the CTSA grant and submit your publications. Submit your publications to PubMed Central (PMC) for compliance with the NIH Public Access Policy. Ensure that you are following Author Affiliation Guidelines.

Cite the Grant, Access the NIH Public Access Policy and Author Affiliated Guidelines

Winn Career Development Award (Winn CDA) Accepting Applications

The Winn Awards program is designed to improve participation in clinical trials to drive better health outcomes in all communities to save more lives. The applications are open for one of their signature programs: the Winn Career Development Award (Winn CDA). 

Winn CDA is a two year program designed to support the career development of early-stage investigator physicians who have a demonstrated commitment to transforming and expanding access to the clinical research landscape. They will become community-oriented clinical trialists who will drive improved health outcomes through their research and mentoring.

This award is open to early-career physician researchers who are committed to improving patient participation in clinical trials and transforming the clinical trials.

Applications will be accepted through Monday, May 12, 2025.

Apply Now
More Information

Julie Johnson, PharmD, is the Director and Principal Investigator at The Ohio State University Clinical and Translational Science Institute. 

Claire (Jungyoun) Han, Spark Award Recipient

Claire (Jungyoun) Han, PhD, DNP, ARNP, an Assistant Professor from the College of Nursing and an affiliate of the Center for Healthy Aging, Self-Management and Complex Care is designing and developing artificial intelligence (AI) – based chemotoxicity prediction models for patients that have colorectal cancer at The James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute Gastrointestinal Cancer Center.

“We are in the process of developing these AI/ML-based chemotoxicity prediction models, and the next step is to integrate the model into the EHR-based Clinical Decision Support System (CDSS) in real time,” says Han. “This integration will help identify high-risk groups vulnerable to chemotoxicity, which can lead to treatment noncompliance, cancer recurrence, death, adverse events, emergency room visits, hospitalizations, symptom distress and impaired quality of life. This is the first study of its kind in the colorectal cancer population.”

Han plans to use their Spark Award to support the develop and design of a rapid prototype for a preliminary AI-Based chemotoxicity prediction model integrated into a clinical decision support system (AID-CHEMO) as a cloud-based prototype. “With this support, the Spark Award will enable me to generate a preliminary prototype of the potential AID-CHEMO dashboard, laying the foundation for a larger-scale research and future implementation plans.”

Congratulations to Claire (Jungyoun) Han on receiving a Spark Award and using it to make an impact on how colorectal cancer is treated. If you are interested in applying for a Spark Award, applications are being accepted on a rolling basis until April 15, 2025, or until funds are exhausted. For more information, visit go.osu.edu/spark2025.

Julie Johnson, PharmD, is the Director and Principal Investigator at The Ohio State University Clinical and Translational Science Institute. 

Katie Shahwan, Spark Award Recipient

Katie Shahwan, MD, FAAD, an Associate Professor in the Division of Dermatologic Surgery, with co-investigators Andrea Tan, MD and David R. Carr, MD, MPH, is focusing her research on cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (CSCC), which is the second most common type of skin cancer. “While most CSCCs are low-risk and curable with surgical removal, a small subset is high risk and cause poor outcomes including metastasis and death,” says Shahwan.

This project was developed to detect perineural invasion (PNI), a high-risk feature that upstages tumors and has been independently associated with poor disease outcomes, so it is critical to accurately ad reliably detect PNI when it is present. In using Mohs surgery, a layer-by-layer removal of tissue and careful examination of cells under a microscope, this research team is testing to see how reliably Mohs surgeons can detect PNI on Mohs micrographic surgery slides.

“We plan to have a group of Mohs surgeons from across the United States evaluate a set of CSCC slides and record PNI, including whether it is present, the size and the number and depth of the involved nerves. We will then use kappa statistics to evaluate the intra-rater and inter-rater reliability. 

Shahwan plans to use her Spark Award funding for statistical analysis for the project. “We are very grateful for the opportunity and look forward to sharing our findings.”

Congratulations to Katie Shahwan on receiving a Spark Award and using it to reliably detect PNI and change the course of how CSCC is treated. If you are interested in applying for a Spark Award, applications are being accepted on a rolling basis until April 15, 2025, or until funds are exhausted. For more information, visit go.osu.edu/spark2025.

Julie Johnson, PharmD, is the Director and Principal Investigator at The Ohio State University Clinical and Translational Science Institute. 

CTSI 2025 FDA Symposium

CTSI 2025 FDA Symposium

Faculty, staff and students in Heminger Hall Lobby

CTSI 2025 FDA Symposium

Adapting to Change: Innovations in FDA-Regulated Clinical Trials

Co-Sponsored by The Ohio State University College of Nursing and Nationwide Children’s Hospital

Symposium Details

Friday, May 9, 2025, 9 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Jane E. Heminger Hall, 1577 Neil Avenue, Columbus, Ohio 43210

The symposium will feature a series of insightful sessions aimed at exploring FDA-regulated research guidelines, discussing the evolving drug and device development regulatory processes and applying quality improvement approaches to enhance inspection readiness in clinical trials. Attendees will gain valuable insights into the latest innovations in FDA-regulated clinical trials, enhance their understanding of regulatory processes and hear from industry experts. A lunch will be provided.

The FDA Conference is open to graduate students, faculty and staff engaged in research or utilizing FDA resources, with no associated registration fees.

Register Now

Agenda

FDA Symposium Speaker Biosketches

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