MONTHLY PROGESS REPORT May 2015 COLLABORATIONS/GRANTS/CONTRACTS: Dr Amanda Staiano was awarded a grant from the American Heart Association called GATEWAY: Gaming Technology to Encourage Healthy Weight and Activity in Youth This was the direct result of a pilot study conducted at Pennington Biomedical from a state appropriation for pediatric obesity last year The Louisiana Clinical and Translational Science (LA CaTS) Center, a statewide initiative funded by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), recently awarded the LOUISIANA CLINICAL & T R A N S L AT I O N A L S C I E N C E C E N T E R prestigious Roadmap Scholar distinction to three early career Louisiana scientists and the Meritorious Scholar distinction to a post-doctoral scientist Dr Amanda Staiano of Pennington Biomedical was one of the Roadmap Scholar award recipients This award, which offers mentorship, tuition and salary support, also continues to enhance efforts to translate scientific discoveries to the people of Louisiana Pennington Biomedical awarded two translational science project awards through the Louisiana Clinical and Translational Science (LA CaTS) Center in support of LSU’s Louisiana Biomedical Research Network (LBRN) - Dr Tom Klei, PI The LA CaTS Center will offer support to LBRN Investigators from Louisiana Tech University and LSU Health Sciences Center Shreveport These awards will support the investigators’ ability to extend their research findings into translational and clinical studies LSU’s Louisiana Biomedical Research Network COMMUNITY OUTREACH/EDUCATION/LECTURES: Dr Leanne Redman participated in the Louisiana Center for Health Equity’s conference hosted by Senator Sharon Broome on May 13th The theme of the conference was “Healthy Women Make Healthy Communities.” Pennington Biomedical participated in the Wellness Day at the state capitol on May 5th On May 13th Dr Dave Winwood was an invited speaker on the plenary panel at the spring meeting of the Licensing Executives Society in La Jolla, CA on the subject: “Innovation vs Legislation: How Legal Changes Are Affecting Technology Companies.” Dr Peter Katzmarzyk delivered the 2015 Paffenbarger Memorial Lecture at the Annual Meeting of the American College of Sports Medicine in San Diego on May 27th Dr Redman was interviewed on 107.3 radio about the Mom2Baby pilot study Funded by the NORC (Nutrition Obesity Research Center), this collaborative project with the School of Public Health at LSUHSC-NO, is attempting to understand the impact of the maternal diet in late pregnancy, in particular intake of omega and fatty acids on the quality of breast milk The group hopes this pilot work will lead to a larger NIH trial between the two LSU campuses OTHER DEVELOPMENTS: Dr Tiffany Stewart was a recipient of the Louisiana Legislative Women's Caucus’ 2015 Women of Excellence Award She won in the category of “health & medicine” and received the award at a luncheon on May 26th Hardy Hang, an LSU student in Dr Jackie Stephens’ laboratory at Pennington Biomedical, was selected as a recipient of an Honors College Outstanding Thesis Award for his work entitled “Studies to Elucidate the Location and function of STAT5A/pyruvate dehydrogenase complex in adipocytes.” Pennington Biomedical hosted the Louisiana Department of Economic Development for the Second Annual Emerging Growth Sector and Talent Development Exchange on May 7th The LA CaTS Center External Advisory Committee met at Pennington Biomedical on May to review the overall status of the program and provide guidance for the upcoming renewal application Pennington Biomedical provided an honorary degree through the LSU Health Science Center – New Orleans to Dr C Ronald Kahn on May 14th Dr Kahn is Senior Investigator, Head of the Section on Integrative Physiology and Metabolism at Joslin Diabetes Center and the Mary K Iacocca Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School On behalf of AUTM, Dr Dave Winwood was appointed as one of four directors on the board of the Alliance of Technology Transfer Professionals (ATTP), the international body for professionals engaged in technology transfer, along with colleagues from the UK, Australia and Europe Pennington Biomedical organized a meeting of Institutional Development Award (IDeA) Program Infrastructure for Clinical and Translational Research (IDeA-CRT) principal investigators in New Orleans May 21-22 They discussed areas of interactions including education/mentoring, biomedical informatics, sharing resources and expertise, and reviewers for pilot grants On May 8th Pennington Biomedical hosted the Baton Rouge Area Chamber’s Economic Development Leadership Group and provided presentations on the center’s research and its economic impact on the area Representatives from LSU, LSU AgCenter, LSU Administration, LSUA, LSUE, LSUS and the LSU Law Center met on the Pennington Biomedical campus on May 11th and 12th to attend a Workday Demonstration of their HCM and Finance modules Workday will replace the legacy mainframe systems currently in use The implementation of these modules is underway Both projects are nearing the end of the architect phase with a planned ‘go live’ date of July 1, 2016 6400 Perkins Road // Baton Rouge, LA 70808 // 225.763.2500 // www,pbrc.edu LSU’s Pennington Biomedical Research Center is at the forefront of medical discovery as it relates to understanding the triggers of obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer and dementia It is a campus of Louisiana State University and conducts basic, clinical and population research The research enterprise at Pennington Biomedical includes approximately 80 faculty and more than 25 post-doctoral fellows who comprise a network of 44 laboratories supported by lab technicians, nurses, dietitians, and support personnel, and 13 highly specialized core service facilities Pennington Biomedical’s more than 500 employees perform research activities in state-of-the-art facilities on the 222-acre campus located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana For more research news, follow us on social media: @penningtonbiomedical @pbrcnews @penningtonbiomed