THE UPSTATE DISCOVERY CHALLENGE
GLOBAL HEALTH AND INFECTIOUS DISEASE Working group members include: Stephen Thomas (chair), Katie Anderson, Elizabeth Asiago- Reddy, Joseph Domochowski, Tim Endy, Margaret Formica, Chirs Morley, Harry Taylor A concise narrative describing current strengths and capabilities; Current strengths include a relatively small number of faculty with experience conducting global health research initiatives in both the US and abroad. Relationships with partners in overseas locations exist at different levels of maturity and productivity. Faculty and students appear to have a great interest in the concept of global health. The refugee population in Central New York provides a unique opportunity to bridge global health issues abroad with domestic stakeholders. The infectious diseases group has had success in the global health research space, but all agree global health extends beyond ID and there is great potential in these other areas. A draft strategy to engage, mentor and build collaborations with early career faculty, fellows, residents and students; The most important message from this discussion was that without modifying or replacing compensation plans that disincentivize physicians from pursuing scholarly activities, there is no mechanism to protect time and allow the pursuit of meaningful research opportunities. There were very good ideas about holding summits or symposia to bring together successful faculty and potential collaborators. A systematic inclusion of potential researchers on projects of established researchers was also discussed. Finally, targeting the hiring of physician-scientists with a robust vetting process was proposed. A list of technical capabilities, both through personnel expertise and specialized instrumentation; Summary: A genomics core, bioinformatics, histopathology, imaging, biocontainment facilities, and a strategy around the execution of clinical research (support services and infrastructure) and developing a population health program were all discussed. A draft strategy to engage, mentor and build collaborations with clinician scientists in your area in order to increase Upstate’s translational research portfolio; The takeaway from this discussion is that there are not enough opportunities for clinical and basic science faculty to engage. Clinicians are underrepresented on in-house grant review committees. There are also no inhouse funding calls for translational projects. Creating venues for idea exchange and learning what each side is doing would helpful.
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