Inquiry, Innovation and Inspiration at the 2023 Annual Meeting of the Indiana CTSI

On September 22, 2023, investigators, faculty, staff and community members gathered in Indianapolis for the Indiana CTSI’s Annual Meeting. It was a record year for registration numbers, with more than 500 people registering to attend in-person or virtually.

This year’s theme, “Translational Neuroscience: Transforming Health through Innovative Research,” gave participants the opportunity to engage with a wide-ranging array of cutting-edge neuroscientific research.

We are so grateful to our speakers, poster presenters, and our in-person and virtual attendees. Together, you all made the 2023 Annual Meeting an outstanding and memorable event. If you attended, either in-person or virtually, we hope that you found the day fulfilling and inspiring.

Video recordings of each presentation are available.

Meeting Highlights

• 2023 Watanabe awardee Huda Y. Zoghbi, MD, of Baylor College of Medicine, delivered the keynote address, “Pathogenesis Studies of Neurodegenerative Diseases.” During her address, she shared compelling, surprising, and encouraging findings and insights from throughout her career investigating a wide variety of neurological disorders.

• Our first multi-speaker session, “Neuroscience – Novel Approaches and Contributions to Translational Science Across the Indiana CTSI,” featured four compelling interdisciplinary presentations. Nancy Michael, PhD, of the University of Notre Dame, spoke about how researchers can translate their neuroscientific research into collective impact. Keisuke Kawate, PhD, of Indiana University Bloomington, shared research on using functional and cellular biomarkers to inspect brain health. Maria Dadarlat, PhD, of Purdue University, spoke about developing novel behavioral tasks to assess neurophysiological damage following mild traumatic brain injury. Shaun Grannis, MD, MS, of Regenstrief Institute, discussed how large language models and artificial intelligence can be used in health care and research.

• In the afternoon, we held a second multi-speaker session titled “Neurodegenerative Diseases – Expertise and Innovation in Translational Research.” Brielle Stark, PhD, of Indiana University Bloomington, presented on variances of lexical access across different types of cognitive impairment. Dustin Hammers, PhD, of Indiana University School of Medicine, shared research updates from the Longitudinal Early-Onset Alzheimer’s Disease Study (LEADS). Jeffrey Dage, PhD, of Indiana University School of Medicine, spoke about how biofluid biomarkers can aid in the diagnosis and treatment of Alzheimer’s. Finally, Alan Palkowitz, PhD, of Indiana University School of Medicine and President and CEO, Indiana Biosciences Research Institute, shared how researchers are expanding and developing new treatments for Alzheimer’s Disease.

• During our closing plenary address, “Inclusivity and Intersectionality in Dementia Research,” Peggye Dilworth-Anderson, PhD, of the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, spoke about the urgency and importance of meaningfully addressing health disparities in dementia research in order to better serve those who are most impacted by it.

• Throughout the day, 44 posters were on display showcasing a vast scope of research from investigators at all career stages from across the state. The Indiana CTSI was proud and honored to recognize the following presenters with a Kroenke Poster Award for Outstanding Achievement in Scientific Poster Presentation and Translational Impact.
  • K12 Scholar: Nicholas Harrison, MD, MSc
    Indiana University School of Medicine, Emergency Medicine
    “Central Apnea Severity is Related to Changes in Natriuretic Peptide Levels During Decongestive Treatment of Acute Decompensated Heart Failure”
  • TL1 Predoctoral Student: Oliva Bednarski
    Indiana University School of Medicine, Microbiology & Immunology
    “Stool microbiome in Ugandan children is associated with differential malaria outcomes”
  • TL1 Predoctoral Student: Claudia Benito Austin
    Purdue University, Biomedical Engineering
    “3D printed guided bone regeneration (GBR) graft optimized through finite element analysis (FEA)”
  • Investigator: Paige Logan, MS
    Indiana University School of Medicine, Neurology
    “Associations of plasma GFAP, NfL, and p-tau231 with early-onset Alzheimer’s Disease pathology”
  • Investigator: Jonah Wirt, BS
    Indiana University Bloomington, Psychological & Brain Sciences
    “Cannabinoid Receptor Type II Agonist LY2828360 Reverses Two Distinct Forms of Neuropathic Pain Without Producing Reward”
  • Investigator: Matthew Sisk, PhD
    University of Notre Dame, Lucy Family Institute for Data & Society
    “Validation of a citizen screening kit for environmental lead (Pb)”

Abstracts for each poster, including these winners, can be viewed in the speaker bio and abstract booklet.

Also available is the Indiana CTSI Designated Core Services e-book, updated and published for the annual meeting.

The next Indiana CTSI Annual Meeting will be held on September 20, 2024. In the meantime, please subscribe to the Indiana CTSI news and connect with us on social media (Twitter and LinkedIn) for news and updates.

Thank-you to our outstanding team

The Indiana CTSI would also like to take a moment to extend a very sincere thank-you to our volunteers who helped to make the day a success. Additionally, thank you to Michelle Shwery, our departing Chief Operations Officer, for her tremendous contributions to this event and the Indiana CTSI as a whole.