The UNMC College of Medicine held a basic science retreat in the first week of June, featuring a panel discussion on human-adjacent model systems in the wake of a new National Institutes of Health policy.
Kate Hyde, PhD, professor of biochemistry and molecular biology and one of the events’ organizers, said the NIH now is prioritizing funding for human-based research over projects involving only animal models, and the panel discussion was designed to help basic science faculty adapt their research to meet NIH’s new policy.
“The retreat organizing committee discussed this theme and brainstormed different ideas for panelists,” Dr. Hyde said. “Our goal with the panel was to showcase some of the human adjacent models currently being used at UNMC that can be easily adapted into new research projects.”
The event was first held last year and hosted by Rebekah Gundry, PhD, and the UNMC Department of Cellular and Integrative Physiology. This year’s event was hosted by the UNMC Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology – hosting duties rotate between the college’s five basic science departments.
Hosting department chair Surinder Batra, PhD, said he was delighted with this year’s attendance, approximately 200 people.
“Our objective is to increase collaborations,” Dr. Batra said. To that end, he added, the event will invite basic scientists from the college’s clinical department’s going forward.
Dr. Hyde said she hoped the retreat inspired researchers to think about their projects in different ways and to identify novel approaches or techniques that can be used to address new questions in their research.
“It is easy to keep doing things the same way you always have, but some of the most exciting innovations can come when one sub-field borrows a technique or approach from another,” she said.
The retreat also featured a trainee poster session.
“What impressed me most about the poster session was the enthusiasm of our trainees. I saw a lot of great discussions occurring among faculty and trainees from different departments.”
Dr. Hyde was pleased with the number of researchers and projects featured at the retreat.
“Seminars and lectures are great for in-depth discussions of a single topic, but the goal of this retreat was to inspire new projects and collaborations, which is best accomplished by providing a broad overview of the research being done in each basic science department.
“I hope the attendees came away with a sense of the incredible breadth of research being done in the UNMC College of Medicine, as well as some ideas for new collaborations.”
UNMC College of Medicine Dean Bradley Britigan, MD, said he was pleased to see the effort that had gone into this year’s event.
“The topic was timely, and the panel discussion useful for our scientists,” Dr. Britigan said. “It is exciting to see the college’s outstanding research, and our enthusiasm for collaboration, on display. I look forward to seeing this event continue to build on the success of its first two years.”