HERSHEY, Pa. -- Six Penn State researchers have been selected to receive support through the Penn State Clinical and Translational Science Institute’s KL2 Scholar Program.
Over the next two years, each scholar will conduct a research project related to clinical and translational science, participate in seminars and courses, and receive mentoring from a team of interdisciplinary researchers.
The KL2 scholars will undertake six separate research projects:
-- Dr. Judie Howrylak, assistant professor of medicine, will generate new information about genetic and genomic risk factors for severe acute respiratory distress syndrome.
-- Dr. Rayford June, assistant professor of medicine, will investigate rheumatoid arthritis immune tolerance from “bedside to bench” in patients who have experienced a spontaneous drug-free remission.
-- Patricia Miranda, assistant professor of health policy and administration and demography, seeks to generate new knowledge on the association between access to safety net providers and disparities in cancer treatment and survivorship among immigrants in Pennsylvania.
-- Matthew Muller, assistant professor of medicine, will use magnetic resonance imaging to identify changes in leg circulation in patients with peripheral arterial disease during exercise to provide a reason for impaired coronary blood flow.
-- Kristina Neely, assistant professor of kinesiology and neuroscience, aims to identify reliable physiologic signs that characterize motor control deficits in adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Motor impairments are reported in as many as 50 percent of ADHD patients, although no study to date has examined the issue in adults.
-- Ming Wang, assistant professor of public health sciences, will utilize an acute kidney injury consortium to explore the association between potential biomarkers and clinical outcomes after an episode of acute kidney injury.
Drs. Gordon Jensen and Diane Thiboutot, directors of the KL2 program, are pleased to welcome the second cohort of KL2 scholars, who were appointed Jan. 1.
“We are excited to have this opportunity to provide CTSI support for the research and training of these promising junior faculty members who were selected from among 25 outstanding applicants,” Thiboutot said. “Our scholars’ projects reflect the diversity of translational research pursued by teams of investigators on both our Hershey and University Park campuses.”
The key objective of the Clinical and Translational Research Training KL2 Program is to provide a supportive interdisciplinary environment in which scholars with diverse research interests and backgrounds can network with other health researchers from multiple disciplines and acquire the skills and experience needed to become successful, independent clinical and translational scientists.
The National Institutes of Health’s National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences provides support for this program through Penn State’s CTSI. Additional institutional funding comes from the Office of the Vice Dean for Research and Graduate Studies at Penn State College of Medicine.