At the heart of great research is good feedback and collaboration. But there is not always a forum for researchers to be able to share their work in progress. Basic scientists have lab meetings that allow for discussion of new ideas and presentation of data to a group of like-minded scientists. Clinical scientists tend to work more in isolation.
That scenario changed in January when Dr. Hannah Wunsch decided to carve out time for researchers who are more focused on clinical and translational topics to meet. The new meeting is called CTRL, short for Clinical and Translational Research Lab.
"This meeting creates a space for clinical and translational researchers to get feedback from a diverse group of scientists and clinicians on a specific project,” said Dr. Wunsch, who is the vice chair for research and director of outcomes research in the Department of Anesthesiology.
Since January 2025, this meeting has been attracting researchers and trainees in the department twice a month to share their work. The meetings are informal as they share lunch (pizza provided) and are very helpful to the scientist presenting as they gain assistance with refinement of new project and grant ideas and share preliminary results of studies for feedback. The number of participants in the program is growing as more scientists are carving out time to gain critical feedback on their own research in progress, and support members of the department by providing their own expertise on work presented by others. Topics discussed have ranged from assessment of EEGs on critically ill patients to vital signs of neonatal and pediatric patients, and include diverse methodologies, such as complex predictive modeling and qualitative interviews.
“I believe strongly in crowd-sourcing expertise and fostering community within the scientific world,” said Dr. Wunsch. “Every research project is strengthened by input from a diverse range of individuals, often with expertise in other domains. It’s been great to see the department embrace this opportunity to come together to learn from and support each other.”