Project description:IntroductionHigh impact biomedical research is increasingly conducted by large, transdisciplinary, multisite teams in an increasingly collaborative environment. Thriving in this environment requires robust teamwork skills, which are not acquired automatically in the course of traditional scientific education. Team science skills training does exist, but most is directed at clinical care teams, not research teams, and little is focused on the specific training needs of early-career investigators, whose early team leadership experiences may shape their career trajectories positively or negatively. Our research indicated a need for team science training designed specifically for early-career investigators.MethodsTo address this need, we designed and delivered a 2-day workshop focused on teaching team science skills to early-career investigators. We operationalized team science competencies, sought the advice of team science experts, and performed a needs assessment composed of a survey and a qualitative study. Through these multiple approaches, we identified and grouped training priorities into three broad training areas and developed four robust, hands-on workshop sessions.ResultsAttendees comprised 30 pre- and post-doc fellows (TL1) and early-career faculty (KL2 and K12). We assessed impact with a pre- and post-workshop survey adapted from the Team Skills Scale. Results from the pre- and post-test Wilcoxon signed-rank analysis (n = 25) showed statistically significant improvement in team science skills and confidence. Open-ended responses indicated that the workshop focus was appropriate and well targeted to the trainees' needs.ConclusionsAlthough team science education is still very much in its infancy, these results suggest that training targeted to early-career investigators improves team skills and may foster improved collaboration.
Project description:The heightened activity of compounds containing fluorine, especially in the field of pharmaceuticals, provides major impetus for the development of new fluorination procedures. A scalable, versatile, and safe electrochemical fluorination protocol is conferred. The strategy proceeds through a transient (difluoroiodo)arene, generated by anodic oxidation of an iodoarene mediator. Even the isolation of iodine(iii) difluorides was facile since electrolysis was performed in the absence of other reagents. A broad range of hypervalent iodine mediated reactions were achieved in high yields by coupling the electrolysis step with downstream reactions in flow, surpassing limitations of batch chemistry. (Difluoroiodo)arenes are toxic and suffer from chemical instability, so the uninterrupted generation and immediate use in flow is highly advantageous. High flow rates facilitated productivities of up to 834 mg h-1 with vastly reduced reaction times. Integration into a fully automated machine and in-line quenching was key in reducing the hazards surrounding the use of hydrofluoric acid.
Project description:Career development awards are a successful strategy to facilitate the advancement of physician-scientists trained in obstetrics and gynecology (OBGYN) toward a path of investigative independence. While these funding mechanisms can be effective approaches to developing the career of future OBGYN scientists, optimizing the probability of obtaining these awards requires determining the appropriate career development award for the applicant. There are many details and opportunities that need to be considered when deciding on the appropriate award. Some of the most sought-after awards are those that integrate career development and applied research, such as the K-series awards supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). A quintessential example of an NIH-funded mentor-based career development award to support the scientific training of an OBGYN physician-scientist is the Reproductive Scientist Development Program (RSDP). In this study, we provide data on the academic achievements of past and present RSDP scholars and discuss the structure, impact, and future of the RSDP, a federally funded K12 program dedicated to women's health for OBGYN scientific investigators. As healthcare is changing and physician-scientists comprise a unique and valuable part of the biomedical workforce, programs such as the RSDP are critical to maintaining a well-trained pipeline of OBGYN scientists to maintain and challenge the leading edge of medicine, science, and biology.
Project description:Background: Baylor College of Medicine provides a classroom-based implicit bias workshop to all third-year medical students to increase students' awareness of their unconscious bias and develop strategies for reducing health care disparities. The workshop meets our immediate goals and objectives. However, we are unsure if the benefit would be long-term or diminish over time. Methods: To examine the concept retention from the implicit bias classroom workshop, we administered a self-developed seven-item seven-point Likert-scale survey to our medical students at pre-, post-, and one-year post-workshop attendance. Results: The data set was comprised of survey results from two cohorts of our third and fourth-year medical students from 2018 to 2020 and included 289 completed records at three measurement points. The data included: Student Identifiers, Sex, Race/Ethnicity, Student Enrollment Type, Cohort, and three repeated measures results for each of the seven items, which were documented in wide format. The data may be of interest to those who wish to examine how factors including elapsed time, race, and sex may associate with attitudes and understandings of implicit bias following related training, and those interested in analytical methods on longitudinal research in general.
Project description:In current-blockade impact electrochemistry, insulating particles are detected amperometrically as they impinge upon a micro- or nanoelectrode via a decrease in the faradaic current caused by a redox mediator. A limit of the method is that analytes of a given size yield a broad distribution of response amplitudes due to the inhomogeneities of the mediator flux at the electrode surface. Here, we overcome this limitation by introducing microfabricated ring-shaped electrodes with a width that is significantly smaller than the size of the target particles. We show that the relative step size is somewhat larger and exhibits a narrower distribution than at a conventional ultramicroelectrode of equal diameter.
Project description:IntroductionOncology nurses are key in caring for older adults with cancer, but few have received specialized training in gerontology. To address this, a geriatric oncology curriculum was developed for oncology nurses.Materials & methodsThe Geriatric Oncology Workshop (GrOW) was developed and delivered to oncology nurses (n = 387) from 2016 to 2019. Workshops were evaluated using: 1) Assessment of preparedness, comfort, and skills; 2) Knowledge gained; 3) Participant evaluations of workshop (4-point Likert-type scale); 4) Faculty evaluations (10-point Likert-type scale); and 5) Follow-up assessment of goals. Descriptive statistics (frequencies, proportions, medians, means) were used to describe participants and results. Paired t-test was used to evaluate participants' knowledge gain, and linear mixed modeling was used to evaluate longitudinal changes in preparedness, comfort, and skill levels.ResultsOverall, 387 oncology nurses participated in GrOW. Participant-rated workshop evaluation means were 3.7 to 3.9. Overall, nurses had statistically significant increases in pre- to post- questionnaire scores of 18.8% (p < 0.001) in workshop 1, 26.8% (p < 0.001) in workshop 2, 24.9% (p < 0.001) in workshop 3, and 18.6% (p < 0.001) in workshop 4, with an overall mean of 22.4% (p < 0.001) knowledge gained for all four workshops. Nurses reported an increase in skill, comfort, and preparedness at 18 months for workshop 1, 2, and 3 and in skill and comfort at 12 months for workshop 4 (p < 0.01). Faculty evaluation scores ranged from 9.3 to 10.0.DiscussionA geriatric oncology curriculum designed for oncology nurses can improve levels of evidence-based knowledge and provide more skill, comfort, and preparedness in caring for this population.
Project description:To address the need for clinical investigators in oncology, American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) and American Society for Clinical Oncology (ASCO) established the Methods in Clinical Cancer Research Workshop (MCCRW). The workshop's objectives were to: (i) provide training in the methods, design, and conduct of clinical trials; (ii) ensure that clinical trials met federal and international ethical guidelines; (iii) evaluate the effectiveness of the workshop; and (iv) create networking opportunities for young investigators with mentoring senior faculty. Educational methods included: (i) didactic lectures, (ii) Small Group Discussion Sessions, (iii) Protocol Development Groups, and (iv) one-on-one mentoring. Learning focused on the development of an Institutional Review Board (IRB)-ready protocol, which was submitted on the last day of the workshop. Evaluation methods included: (i) pre- and postworkshop tests, (ii) students' workshop evaluations, (iii) faculty's ratings of protocol development, (iv) students' productivity in clinical research after the workshop, and (v) an independent assessment of the workshop. From 1996 to 2014, 1,932 students from diverse backgrounds attended the workshop. There was a significant improvement in the students' level of knowledge from the pre- to the postworkshop exams (P < 0.001). Across the classes, student evaluations were very favorable. At the end of the workshop, faculty rated 92% to 100% of the students' protocols as ready for IRB submission. Intermediate and long-term follow-ups indicated that more than 92% of students were actively involved in patient-related research, and 66% had implemented five or more protocols. This NCI-sponsored MCCRW has had a major impact on the training of clinicians in their ability to design and implement clinical trials in cancer research.
Project description:The list of ADCs in the clinic continues to grow, bolstered by the success of first two marketed ADCs: ADCETRIS® and Kadcyla®. Currently, there are 40 ADCs in various phases of clinical development. However, only 34 of these have published their structures. Of the 34 disclosed structures, 24 of them use a linkage to the thiol of cysteines on the monoclonal antibody. The remaining 10 candidates utilize chemistry to surface lysines of the antibody. Due to the inherent heterogeneity of conjugation to the multiple lysines or cysteines found in mAbs, significant research efforts are now being directed toward the production of discrete, homogeneous ADC products, via site-specific conjugation. These site-specific conjugations may involve genetic engineering of the mAb to introduce discrete, available cysteines or non-natural amino acids with an orthogonally-reactive functional group handle such as an aldehyde, ketone, azido, or alkynyl tag. These site-specific approaches not only increase the homogeneity of ADCs but also enable novel bio-orthogonal chemistries that utilize reactive moieties other than thiol or amine. This broadens the diversity of linkers that can be utilized which will lead to better linker design in future generations of ADCs.
Project description:Dotarem and Magnevist, two clinically available magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast agents, were assessed in a high school science classroom with respect to which is the better contrast agent. Magnevist, the more efficacious contrast agent, has negative side effects because its gadolinium center can escape from its ligand. However, Dotarem, though a less efficacious contrast agent, is a safer drug choice. After the experiment, students are confronted with the FDA warning on Magnevist, which enabled a discussion of drug efficacy versus safety. We describe a laboratory experiment in which NMR spin lattice relaxation rate measurements are used to quantify the relaxivities of the active ingredients of Dotarem and Magnevist. The spin lattice relaxation rate gives the average amount of time it takes the excited nucleus to relax back to the original state. Students learn by constructing molar relaxivity curves based on inversion recovery data sets that Magnevist is more relaxive than Dotarem. This experiment is suitable for any analytical chemistry laboratory with access to NMR.
Project description:Soil contamination by heavy metals constitutes an important environmental problem, whereas field applicability of existing remediation technologies has encountered numerous obstacles, such as long operation time, high chemical cost, large energy consumption, secondary pollution, and soil degradation. Here we report the design and demonstration of a remediation method based on a concept of asymmetrical alternating current electrochemistry that achieves high degrees of contaminant removal for different heavy metals (copper, lead, cadmium) at different initial concentrations (from 100 to 10,000 ppm), all reaching corresponding regulation levels for residential scenario after rational treatment time (from 30 min to 6 h). No excessive nutrient loss in treated soil is observed and no secondary toxic product is produced. Long-term experiment and plant assay show the high sustainability of the method and its feasibility for agricultural use.