On February 2, 2024, more than 130 people attended the Indiana CTSI’s Cores Research Rally in the VanNuys Medical building in Indianapolis. This was the first year that the event was held separately from the CTSI’s Annual Meeting, according to event co-organizer Jill Reiter, PhD.
“It was a great way to meet the core personnel and learn what all of the cores had to offer,” said Reiter, who is director of the CTSI’s Access Technology Program (ATP).
The rally was hosted by the ATP and IU School of Medicine’s Core Services. During the event, 25 CTSI-designated cores showcased their services in the atrium of the VanNuys building. Event attendees had the opportunity to connect with more than 60 core representatives and talk with them about their services.
“We are here to make more people aware of what we do, which is make data more accessible to researchers and help them be successful,” said Faye Smith, director of the Regenstrief Data Services core.
Emma Doud, PhD, who was at the rally representing the Center for Proteome Analysis, said she was pleased with the turnout and encouraged by the number of cores present.
“It’s a great variety,” she said. “People don’t always know what’s available, so it’s nice to get everyone in one place.”
Cores from the Indiana CTSI’s partner institutions were also present at the rally, said Reiter. One thing she said investigators should remember is that they aren’t limited to using cores at their own institution.
Mackenzie McIntosh and Megan Cohen of Purdue’s Histology Research Laboratory said that they hoped their presence at the rally would encourage IU School of Medicine investigators to use their services.
“We are a small core dedicated to quality,” said McIntosh, who runs the lab with Cohen and their director.
A big attraction for the rally was the chance to enter a drawing for one of three $500 credits to the core of the winner’s choice. Rally attendees received an entry ticket for each connection they made with core personnel.
More than 300 tickets were entered into the drawing, according to Reiter, which is a sign that attendees learned a lot about how the cores might help advance their projects.
“We hope that the attendees came away with some new ideas to advance their research and will consider applying for the Core Pilot grants this spring,” Reiter said.
To learn more about the Indiana CTSI’s designated cores, visit the Research Cores and Services page.
