Communication and collaboration were major themes of the inaugural Research Enterprise Forum sponsored jointly by Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) and Vanderbilt University School of Medicine (VUSM) Feb. 3 in Light Hall.
Nearly 100 staff and faculty members attended the event, which was hosted and featured talks by Gordon Bernard, M.D., Robert Dittus, M.D., MPH, Lawrence Marnett, Ph.D., and Jennifer Pietenpol, Ph.D.
Pietenpol and Bernard are Executive Vice Presidents for Research in the Medical Center. Dittus is Executive Vice President for Public Health and Health Care, and Marnett is Dean of Basic Sciences in the School of Medicine.
Scientific collaborations across campus continue to bring international attention to medical school faculty and research groups in the medical center, Marnett said.
Highlighted were the Vanderbilt Institute for Clinical and Translational Research (VICTR), which administers VUMC’s Clinical and Translational Research Award, and the Vanderbilt Institute for Medicine and Public Health (IMPH), which encompasses 17 centers and programs across campus.
An external Biomedical Sciences Advisory Board, comprised of distinguished scientists across the country, informs Vanderbilt’s strategic approach to advancing research in drug discovery, personalized medicine and all areas related to understanding and improving human health.
Opportunities for support for School of Medicine investigators range from Trans-Institutional Programs and the Academic Pathways postdoctoral program to the Stanley Cohen Innovation Fund, named for Vanderbilt’s Nobel laureate.
This year the Office of Research began sending out weekly updates with announcements and funding opportunities to center directors and department chairs. To sign up for the weekly e-mail update, visit https://medschool.vanderbilt.edu/oor.
Research Enterprise Forums will be held three times a year. In future forums, faculty and staff will have the opportunity to pose questions or identify topics prior to the meeting for discussion at the forum and are encouraged to do so.
For more information, contact Megan Smallwood at megan.smallwood@vanderbilt.edu or 615-875-7529 in the Office of Research.
