Hartsell presents translational research at national conference

Emily Hartsell received the Blue Ribbon Award

for her poster at the TS24 conference.

Emily Hartsell, a rising third-year medical student, has devoted the past year to full-time research as the recipient of a highly competitive training award from the Center for Clinical and Translational Science (CCTS). She recently presented the findings from her research at the Association for Clinical and Translational Science (ACTS) Translational Science 24 (TS24) conference in Las Vegas. 

The ACTS selected her poster, “Transcriptomic Analysis Reveals Warburg-Like Phenotype in Influenza Infected Lung Cells,” for the Blue Ribbon Award. The poster summarized her research, which used RNA sequencing to improve understanding of the underlying mechanisms of disease and potential therapeutic targets in the setting of critical illness.

Funded by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences of the National Institutes of Health, the TL1 training award supported Hartsell’s participation in the CCTS’s Predoctoral Clinical/Translational Research Program. The 12-month program is a mentored research experience that allows trainees to develop projects focused on reducing health disparities and/or diseases that disproportionately affect the Deep South. In addition, TL1 scholars complete the program’s core curriculum, gain experience writing a manuscript, and present their research at a national conference.

The TS24 conference focuses on translational science, “which is essentially making sure scientific innovations are actually reaching communities and helping improve patient outcomes,” Hartsell said. The most valuable aspects of the conference, she noted, were networking with fellow TL1 scholars, speed mentoring, and meeting translational scientists from across the country. 

“During speed mentoring, I was matched with four experts in the fields of genetics, bioinformatics, and drug discovery and spent an hour rotating through interviews with each mentor,” she said. “Through this experience, I gained valuable career guidance and scientific feedback while expanding my support network on a national scale.”

Justin T. Roberts, Ph.D.

A native of Huntsville, Hartsell spent the year between her second and third years of medical school working in the lab of her research mentor, Raymond Langley, Ph.D., assistant professor of pharmacology. She credits Justin T. Roberts, Ph.D., a postdoctoral fellow in the department, as being instrumental in the project’s success. The team used the revolutionary Oxford Nanopore Technologies long-read sequencer, which is available on site in the Department of Pharmacology, to generate the RNA sequencing data for the project. 

During her research year, Hartsell also completed the Spanish for Healthcare Professionals graduate certificate that will enable her to connect with an underserved patient population. 

Hartsell is the first M.D. student from the Whiddon College of Medicine to be selected for CCTS’s Predoctoral Clinical/Translational Research Program, as two Ph.D. candidates in the Basic Medical Sciences Graduate Program previously received TL1 training awards. 

Established in 2008, the Center for Clinical and Translational Science has been at the forefront of innovative research aimed at reducing the burden of cardiometabolic, vascular, and cancer-related diseases that disproportionately affect our region. The CCTS Partner Network comprises 11 academic research institutions across Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana. 

Members of the lab group attend a tailgate before a South Alabama football game.