Research!Louisville highlights included renowned genomics expert John D. Carpten

The 27th annual Research!Louisville (R!L) symposium, sponsored by the University of Louisville and School of Medicine, the Office of the Executive Vice President for Research and Innovation, as well as Norton Healthcare, took place Sept. 19-23. The symposium offers opportunities for research scholars to improve essential presentation skills, gain experience, meet scholarship requirements for faculty ranking and promotion, build peer networks and receive feedback from research scientists in a wide range of disciplines.

This year, R!L presented 325 abstracts to a panel of more than 125 judges. Among the scientific poster competition participants represented were master's degree and doctoral engineering students, NCI R25 undergraduate students, cancer and health disparity Summer Bridge Program students, Brown Cancer Center high school scholars, dental students, master's degree and doctoral basic science students, medical students, distinction tract medical students, case reports, postdoctoral scholars, research associates, research staff, pharmDs, master's degree and doctoral public health students, nursing students, medical residents, clinical fellows and faculty.

“UofL is true a research engine,” said Kevin Gardner, executive vice president for research and innovation. “This event is a unique opportunity to engage with UofL students, faculty and staff and showcase the full breadth of their work to produce groundbreaking discoveries and new innovations that save and improve lives.”

A full list of award winners and a slide presentation of the winners, including the names of their mentor(s), as well as photos/recording of the closing ceremony are available on the R!L webpage.

The closing ceremony included a keynote address by John D. Carpten, a renowned expert in translational genomics whose research spans multiple disciplines. Carpten is a pioneer in cancer disparities and is highly regarded for his superb leadership in the African American Hereditary Prostate Cancer Study Network. He serves as professor and chair of translational genomics, director of the Institute of Translational Genomics, Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California. Carpten’s lecture, “Closing the Gaps in Cancer Health Equity,” has inspired substantial scientific inquiry.

R!L’s symposium featured seminars, presentations and lectures on a variety of subjects, including nursing research, environmental health sciences, core facilities, anti-racism research, faculty development and more. Highlights included presentations by research scholars who received funding by the Jewish Heritage Fund for Excellence, the Center for Integrative Environmental Health Sciences’ series of presentations, Research Integrity’s lecture by Jean Shin of the Scientific Workforce Diversity Office at the National Institutes of Health, a documentary film “Healing in the Valley” and the Kentucky Science Center’s half-day program for seventh to twelfth-grade students with a focus on biomedical sciences. The full schedule of events is on the R!L webpage.