Accomplishments of Past YCCI Scholars Stand Out

June 11, 2009

YCCI Director Robert Sherwin, M.D., and Raimund Herzog, M.D., his mentee and a 2009 YCCI Scholar, in front of an MRI machine that Herzog is using to study brain energy metabolism in hypoglycemia.

Identifying young investigators with high potential and providing them with guidance and opportunities to lay the groundwork for successful clinical and translational research is one of YCCI’s highest priorities. “Nurturing and training the next generation of clinical and translational researchers is vital not just to YCCI, but to the future of clinical research at Yale,” said YCCI Director Robert Sherwin, M.D., C.N.H. Long Professor of Medicine. “We’ve given top priority to investing in young scientists.”

Under the CTSA, YCCI established the YCCI Scholar program and expanded the KL2 program to train junior faculty members or postdoctoral fellows at the beginning of their careers. Led by educational co-directors Judy Cho, M.D., associate professor of medicine and genetics, and Eugene Shapiro, M.D., professor of pediatrics, investigative medicine and epidemiology, these programs are helping prepare young investigators to become leaders in patient-oriented research. Based on the accomplishments of the Scholars so far, these efforts are already yielding results as past awardees gain recognition for their work.

Since its inception in 2006, the YCCI Scholar program has awarded funding for research and salary support to a diverse group of 39 investigators in departments and schools that span the entire medical campus. As a group, they have received almost $17 million in independent funding and together with K awardees have published 85 papers.

Erik Shapiro's 2006 YCCI Scholar award allowed him to pursue his research using cellular and functional MRI to develop novel strategies to track stem and progenitor cell migration in the brain.

The work of 2006 Scholar Erik Shapiro, Ph.D., assistant professor of diagnostic radiology, is just one example of the program’s success. Shapiro was selected as a Scholar based on his proposal to develop analytical imaging tools for tracking transplanted and endogenous stem and tissue cells in humans. The goal of his research is to accelerate the development of emerging stem cell therapies for conditions such as liver disease, diabetes, and Parkinson’s disease. Shapiro’s 2006 YCCI Scholar award allowed him to pursue his research using cellular and functional MRI to develop novel strategies to more precisely track stem and progenitor cell migration in the brain. He was able to identify MRI methodologies that will enable the translation of rodent based studies to primates and begin work on studying the influence of nano- and micro-particles as sensing agents to detect the number, direction and destination of migrating cells. In 2008, Shapiro received a five-year $1.5 million New Innovator Award from the NIH. He was one of just 31 scientists in 2008 to receive this prestigious award, which is designed to help early-career investigators pursue innovative approaches in transforming biomedical and behavioral science.

Tené Lewis, Ph.D. is another investigator who has put the YCCI scholar award to excellent use. Lewis, assistant professor of epidemiology at the School of Epidemiology and Public Health, is establishing a career as a clinical researcher working at the interface of psychology, epidemiology and cardiology. She became a YCCI Scholar in 2006 based on her proposal to identify psychosocial factors associated with the development of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in African-American women and determine whether these factors are also associated with markers of pre-clinical CVD. In 2008 she received a five-year K01 award to help fund primary data collection for a pilot study in New Haven while at the same time participating in secondary data analyses from the Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation and the Health, Aging and Body Composition cohorts. She has authored or co-authored six manuscripts from these studies and has also been a NIA/NCMHHD Visiting Scholar in Health Disparities at the University of Pittsburgh Center for Aging and Population Health.

KL2 awardee Kristina Crothers, M.D., assistant professor of medicine (pulmonary and critical care) focuses on chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and the interaction of comorbid conditions, particularly HIV infection, on the course of this disease. Her award helped her conduct a cross-sectional study to compare the prevalence and predictors of airway obstruction in HIV-positive compared with HIV-negative patients. She is continuing her research with a 5-year R01 grant for almost $4 million to conduct longitudinal studies of HIV-associated lung infections and their complications.

2007 YCCI Scholar Karen Bearss, Ph.D., associate research scientist at the School of Nursing and the Yale Child Study Center, is focusing her research efforts on assembling a manual that can be used for large-scale testing of the effectiveness of parent-based interventions to improve noncompliant behavior in children with autism. Building upon on-going studies already in place at Yale, Bearss developed a project to develop an exportable parent training manual for preschool-age children with autism and behavioral problems. She is currently completing a pilot study that will be used to support external grant funding for a large-scale randomized trial with the eventual goal of disseminating the results nationally and has applied for a K award to help continue her research. “The YCCI Scholar program is a new avenue to support research at the School of Nursing and a great opportunity for our investigators to collaborate with colleagues from other departments and schools,” said Margaret Grey, Dr.P.H., R.N., dean of the Yale School of Nursing.

Accomplishments of other Scholars in pediatrics, infectious diseases, psychiatry, cardiology, obstetrics/gynecology, endocrinology, diagnostic radiology, pulmonary and critical care, digestive diseases, emergency medicine, gastroenterology/hepatology, internal medicine, epidemiology/public health and biomedical engineering include:

• Zubin Bhagwager, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor of psychiatry, who was awarded a NARSAD Young Investigator Award to investigate the interaction between serotonin and GABA in depressed patients via tryptophan depletion and proton magnetic spectroscopy (MRS).
• Chiang-shan Li, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor of psychiatry, who received an R01 grant for a project that combines fMRI and experimental psychology to examine deficits in cognitive control as a pathogenetic process to cocaine dependence.
• As a result of his research, Lei Chen, M.D., assistant professor of pediatrics (emergency medicine) who was asked by the American College of Emergency Physicians to help draft the new national guidelines on the use of ultrasound in pediatric emergency medicine.
• James McPartland, Ph.D., associate research scientist at the Yale Child Study Center, who has received an R03 award for his work on visual processing in autism spectrum disorder.