Translational Research Program
About the Program
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Founded in 2008, the Translational Research Program (TRP) at Boston Children's Hospital aims to stimulate and facilitate the development of preclinical and, ultimately, human translational trials seeking to improve the care of children with serious diseases. In order to do this, the TRP provides support for faculty-initiated research projects along with infrastructure to get these project done in a fast and efficient manner.
Focus areas of the TRP include:
- Seed Grants: Up to $100K for a one-year effort to pursue and validate innovative ideas
- Core Grants: $100K for two-year efforts to advance research infrastructure and tools critical to translational research that can be accessed across many research disciplines
- Translational Investigator Service (TIS) Awards: About $600K over five years to support researchers as they conduct translational studies.
- Multidisciplinary Retreats: Up to $3K to foster interactions across the spectrum of research and clinical activities
Meet the TRP
David Williams, MD, Director
Dr. Williams is the Chief of Hematology/Oncology and the Director of the TRP. Prior to joining Children's in December 2007, Dr. Williams was at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center (CCHMC) where he was director of the Division of Experimental Hematology, attending physician in Hematology/Oncology in the Department of Pediatrics, and associate chair for Translational Research. A graduate of Indiana State University and the Indiana University School of Medicine, Dr. Willliams trained in hematology/oncology at Boston Children's Hospital and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. During his fellowship research at the MIT Cancer Center and the Whitehead Institute, he developed techniques for introducing genes into murine and human hematopoietic cells using retroviruses that are still used in research and human gene trials today. Dr. Williams has won numerous prestigious awards for his research, including: the Dameshek Award and the Frank Oski Award of the American Society of Hematology for research in hematology; the Donald Metcalf Award from the International Society for Hematology and Stem Cells for contributions to the field; the E. Mead Johnson Award of the Society for Pediatric Research for research in pediatrics. He was an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute for 16 years and is a member of the National Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine. He has been continuously funded by the National Institutes of Health since 1986. Dr. Williams has multiple patents, several of which have been licensed to pharmaceutical and biotechnology.
Judy Fleming, PhD, Associate Director
Trained as a cell and molecular biologist, Judy did her dissertation work on protein transport in platelets and endothelial cells with Denisa Wagner, PhD at the Center for Blood Research (now known as Immune Disease Institute), and received her PhD from Tufts Medical School. Judy then spent 7 years at Children's with Ellis Neufeld, MD, PhD, investigating the biochemical and genetic defects in the rare Thiamine-Responsive Megaloblastic Anemia syndrome. Leaving Children's in 2004, Judy went on to Merck & Co. at their Boston site, as a Senior Research Biologist in the Cancer Biology and Therapeutics group. In May 2008, Judy returned to Childrens, and joined the TRP as the Associate Director.
Matt Wladkowski, MS, CIP, Regulatory Affairs Coordinator
Matt is currently the Regulatory Affairs Coordinator in the Translational Research Department. One of the main hurdles in Translational Research is the regulatory burden for the Investigators. Matt’s main responsibility is to provide Investigators with expertise and assistance for regulatory affairs issues. Among his duties, Matt acts as an administrative agent of the Principal Investigator in communicating with the FDA, external sponsors/institutions in coordinating studies, including development of annual reports, communications regarding serious adverse events and other required communications and will coordinate these efforts with the PI, study coordinators, Institutional Review Board and Data Safety and Monitoring Board Matt has a Masters Degree in Regulatory Affairs from Northeastern University. He previously worked as a Data Associate at Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group and as Compliance Officer for the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary where he was the administrative head of their IRB and IACUC.
