Alumni Spotlight

Steven R. Little, PhD, Associate Professor of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering was appointed new Chair of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering effective May 1, 2012.

Dr. Little was also awarded the "2012 Young Investigator Award from the Society For Biomaterials". The Young Investigator Award annually recognizes an individual who has demonstrated outstanding achievements in the field of biomaterials research within 10 years following his terminal degree or formal training.

Dr. Little will receive the award at the Society's 2012 Fall Symposium in New Orleans, October 4-6, 2012.

The Clinical Research Scholars Program (CRSP) is a multidisciplinary career development program that is supported by the Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) through the K12 mechanism. The program prepares scientists from a broad range of disciplines, specialties, and subspecialties for independent careers in clinical or translational research. It brings together the collaborative efforts of the University of Pittsburgh schools of the health sciences (the School of Medicine, the Graduate School of Public Health, the School of Dental Medicine, the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, the School of Nursing, and the School of Pharmacy), the many multidisciplinary research centers at the University, and the extensive clinical entities that comprise the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC).

The CRSP scholars engage in diverse types of multidisciplinary clinical research, including large and small clinical trials, patient-oriented research, epidemiologic studies, health services research, and translational research. Every scholar has the opportunity to pursue educational offerings pertaining to research ethics and regulations, best practices in clinical research, work in multidisciplinary teams, and management and leadership skills. Mentoring is an integral component of the CRSP and is provided by a team of highly experienced, federally funded senior investigators.

News and Information

• To watch a video of the CRSP Informational Session and learn more about the program, click here. To download the slides from the session, click here. (Note: A Microsoft
  Silverlight Plugin is needed to view the video.)
• Yael Schenker, MD, MS, received the Junior Faculty Scholars Award from the Department
  of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.
• Sonya Borrero, MD, MS, successfully led the effort to have the VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System selected as a VA Women's Health Practice–Based Research Network Member Site.
• Research on a mind-powered robotic arm developed by KL2 scholar Wei Wang, MD, PhD, and his colleagues was the focus of two recent articles. To see the WTAE report, click here. To see the article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, click here.
• Congratulations to CRSP scholar Deepika Mohan, MD, for receiving a K23 award to study time-pressured decision making in trauma triage.
• UPMC Cancer Centers recently launched the Cancer LiveWell Survivorship Program at Hillman Cancer Center. The program is directed by CRSP scholar Gijsberta (Josie) van London, MD, MS. For a discussion of the benefits of the program and center, click here.
• As modern research methods have become more specialized and the true complexity of today's most pressing health issues and diseases is revealed, collaborations among scientists trained in different fields have become essential for exploring and tackling these problems. To read more, click here.