Oral presentations on 20th Anniversary RCMI Program Spring Symposium

The official celebration of the 20th Anniversary of the RCMI Program was initiated at the Annual RCMI Spring Symposium entitled Biomedical, Clinical and Behavioral Researchers Accelerating Discovery and Translation of Research to Patients. The Symposium was held in Houston, Texas on April 6-9, 2005. The event was organized by Dr. Barbara Hayes, Director of the RCMI Program at Texas Southern University.

Dr. Emma Fernández-Repollet and host Dr. Barbara Hayes at the Poster Session

On April 6, the RCMI Program Directors conducted their annual meeting with the participation of NCRR staff Dr. Sidney McNairy, Dr. Sheila McClure, Dr. William Angus, Dr. Charles Hollingsworth and Dr. Krishan Arora. Program Directors of the RCMI, CCHD and CRECD programs attended the meeting. Dr. McNairy provided updates on NCRR and the Division of Research Infrastructure, while Dr. McClure gave an Overview of the RCMI Program. Both Dr McNairy and Dr. McClure thanked Dr. Barbara Hayes and her staff for hosting the Symposium. The meeting also included a special session on the CRECD program organized by Dr. Arora, which included presentations from CRECD directors Steven M. Wolff, M.D. from Meharry Medical College and Rosanne C. Harrigan, Ed.D. from the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Dr. McNairy’s, Dr. McClure’s and Dr. Arora’s presentations are available at RCMI 20th Anniversary Oral Presentations. The meeting concluded with a Report on the RCMI Translational Research Network by Keith Norris, M.D. and James Perkins, Ph.D.

Dr. Sheila McClure addresses the Program Directors at the Symposium

During the Program Directors meeting, Dr. Sheila McClure recognized with a plaque the outstanding efforts of the RCMI Program at Morgan State University in the organization of the 2004 RCMI International Symposium. The plaque was received by Dr. Juarine Stewart, Director of the RCMI Program at Morgan State University. A special plaque was also presented to Dr. Barbara Hayes for the organization of the 20th Anniversary RCMI Spring Symposium. The Program Directors also conducted a closed business session on April 7th.

Partial views of the participants at the Symposium

The Scientific Program started on April 7th with welcome remarks from Dr. Sidney McNairy, Dr. Priscilla D. Slade, President of Texas Southern University, and Bobby L.Wilson, Provost of Texas Southern University. The scientific program included keynote addresses and plenary lectures by prominent researchers on topics such as health disparities, genetic variation and human disease, obesity, hypertension, translational research networks, as well as nanotechnology advances in biology and medicine.

Dr. Sidney McNairy, Dr. Carmen Zorrila and Dr. Y Yamamura

The RCMI Program at the University of Puerto Rico Medical Sciences Campus was represented by Dr. Emma Fernández-Repollet, RCMI Program Director, Dr. José G. Conde, RCMI Associate Program Director, and Dr. Julio Benabe, Director of the Clinical Research Infrastructure Initiative. Dr. Carmen Zorrilla, Director of the Comprehensive Center in Health Disparities Program and Dr, Estela Estape, Director of the Clinical Research Education and Career Development Program also attended the seminar. Other participants from the Medical Sciences Campus included Ms. Brenda Nieves and Mr. Anibal Vega, from the Center in Information Research Architecture. Ms. Nieves, Mr. Vega and Dr. Conde made oral presentations in the section RCMI Translational Research Network as well as a poster presentation. The oral session was moderated by Dr. Keith Norris and Dr. Robert Dottin. Oral presentations for this session are available in PDF format at RCMI Translational Research Network section oral presentations.

Mr. Anibal Vega, Dr. Robert Dottin, Dr. Barbara Hayes, Dr. Emma Fernandez-Repollet,
Dr. José G. Conde, Ms. Brenda Nieves and Dr. Keith Norris gathered after the oral session.

Special congratulations and our sincere appreciation to Dr. Barbara Hayes and her staff at Southern Texas, for their hospitality and the opportunity to participate in an outstanding scientific program.