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Research consistently shows that teaching is the single most important school-based factor in a student’s academic growth. As such, the topic of effective teaching is at the forefront of CEPR’s research, which includes large national projects, like the National Center for Teacher Effectiveness, and program evaluations, like that of the Boston Teacher Residency. It is CEPR’s goal to have such analyses inform policy decisions and aid in drawing implications for reform.

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While research has generated substantial information regarding the characteristics of effective mathematics teachers and classrooms, scholars have rarely tested multiple aspects of teachers or teaching within a single study. Without testing multiple variables simultaneously, it is difficult to identify specific aspects of mathematics teachers and teaching that may be particularly impactful on student learning, and to understand the degree to which these characteristics are related to one another. This plenary draws on data from a three-year study measuring multiple components of teacher and teaching quality to investigate these issues.

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Teacher Research Engagement

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• Daniel Xerri 3  

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Research engagement on the part of teachers consists of two main activities. Teachers engage with research when they critically read, listen to, and discuss the research published by academics or other teachers. They engage in research when they plan, undertake and reflect upon research projects in their own contexts.

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Atay, D. (2008). Teacher research for professional development. ELT Journal, 62 (2), 139–147.

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Borg, S. (2013). Teacher research in language teaching: A critical analysis . Cambridge University Press.

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Field, J. (1997). Key concepts in ELT: Classroom research. ELT Journal, 51 (2), 192–193.

Gao, X., & Chow, A. W. K. (2012). Primary school English teachers’ research engagement. ELT Journal, 66 (2), 224–232.

Xerri, D., & Pioquinto, C. (Eds.). (2018). Becoming research literate : Supporting teacher research in English language teaching . ETAS.

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University of Malta, Centre for English Language Proficiency, Msida, Malta

Daniel Xerri

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Correspondence to Daniel Xerri .

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European Knowledge Development Institute, Ankara, Türkiye

Hassan Mohebbi

Higher Colleges of Technology (HCT), Dubai Men’s College, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Christine Coombe

The Research Questions

What do teachers understand by ‘research’?

What level of research literacy do teachers possess?

How can teachers improve their level of research literacy?

What specific knowledge, skills, attitudes and beliefs do research literate teachers have?

Why do some teachers engage in research? How?

What impact does teacher research have on student achievement?

What are the obstacles hindering teachers from doing research?

What forms of support do teachers require for them to do research?

What are the attitudes of school leaders toward teacher research?

What are the benefits and challenges of research collaboration between teachers and professional researchers?

Suggested Resources

Borg, S. (2013) . Teacher research in language teaching: A critical analysis . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press .

Based on four studies involving more than 1700 language teaching professionals from around the globe, this book is a seminal work on the subject of teacher research. The book evaluates different conceptualizations of teacher research in order to establish a definition for this activity. It reviews the origins of teacher research, and considers its benefits and critiques. Besides investigating the conceptions of research held by language teaching professionals, the book discusses the two main forms of teacher research engagement: reading and doing research. The book also examines the relationship between research engagement and teaching quality, as well as the influence of the teaching context on one’s research engagement. In addition to its empirical dimension, the book provides an insight into Borg’s thoughts and experiences with respect to how language teacher research projects can be facilitated. The book seeks to indicate how research can be promoted effectively if it is deemed desirable and feasible for teachers to engage in it in their own contexts.

Mackay, J., Birello, M., & Xerri, D. (Eds.). (2018). ELT research in action: Bridging the gap between research and classroom practice . Faversham: IATEFL .

For some teachers, research is an activity that is somewhat alien to their professional concerns. This means that the research produced by academics is not always considered relevant to classroom practice, especially since teachers might not play a similarly active role in generating knowledge. This edited collection is an attempt to illustrate how the gap between research and classroom practice can be bridged. The book’s first section is made up of chapters that engage in reflection and debate on the key issues that unite and divide research and practice. The next section considers how research can inform practice through the relation, testing and application of theory to classroom settings. The book’s final section consists of chapters that explore some of the practical issues and questions that teachers might have and how research can help them to seek useful solutions and answers. The book makes a case for teacher research engagement, whether in the form of engaging with or in research.

Pinter, A., & Mathew, R. (2016) . Children and teachers as co-researchers: A handbook of activities . London: British Council .

Teacher research need not be an isolating activity; collaboration with colleagues and students can make the experience far more enriching. This innovative book consists of a series of activities that teachers in India used in their classrooms in order to involve young children as co-researchers. Through these activities, children were given a say in what they would like to do in class and worked together with their teachers to investigate different dimensions of their learning. Despite the possible lack of research experience of both teachers and learners, the book demonstrates how they can become co-researchers through the acts of questioning, hypothesizing, gathering and analyzing people’s views, and developing an understanding of a classroom event. The 45 activities in the book are organized in six sections: trying out something new; children making choices; teachers handing over control to children; building positive relationships; designing research tools and analyzing empirical data; and feedback and self/peer-assessment. Even though there is a description of how every activity was conducted by real teachers and learners, readers are free to modify an activity to suit the needs of their students and lessons.

Smith, R., & Rebolledo, P. (2018). A handbook for exploratory action research . London: British Council .

This book aims to demonstrate how teachers can engage in research for professional development purposes and to enhance students’ learning experiences. Addressing the needs of primary and secondary school teachers working in relatively difficult circumstances, the book is informed by insights developed in the course of teacher research projects held in Peru, India, Nepal and Chile. Exploratory Action Research is described as an effective means of dealing with difficult circumstances because it allows teachers to improve their understanding of the classroom and to develop suitable forms of teaching that are not dependent on external solutions. The book shows how the exploratory phase of one’s research is as important as the action phase. Featuring real examples provided by teachers working in difficult circumstances, the book invites readers to complete practical tasks that enable them to reflect on their own teaching experiences and to consider the value of researching their professional contexts.

Xerri, D., & Pioquinto, C. (Eds.). (2018). Becoming research literate: Supporting teacher research in English language teaching . Sursee: ETAS .

The aim of this volume is to bring together a wide range of contributions on how teacher research can be supported. The development of research literacy is deemed to play a fundamental role in providing teachers with support. Some of the contributors consider how research literacy does not only involve equipping teachers with the relevant knowledge and skills for them to do research, but it also entails developing their conceptions of research and their attitudes and beliefs with respect to the value that research has for teachers’ professional identity. The book is divided into four parts, each one containing articles and interviews that showcase the views of teachers, academics, teacher educators, and teacher association leaders from around the world. Part 1 discusses some of the key issues of teacher research in language teaching, while Part 2 consists of chapters that review the different forms of support that teachers might require in order to do research. Part 3 considers how research can be embedded into professional practice via activities like action research and narrative inquiry, while Part 4 highlights the thoughts of classroom practitioners on the act of engaging in research.

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Xerri, D. (2021). Teacher Research Engagement. In: Mohebbi, H., Coombe, C. (eds) Research Questions in Language Education and Applied Linguistics. Springer Texts in Education. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-79143-8_133

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What is Teacher Research?

How do we define teacher research.

We define teacher research as systematic investigations of how teaching influences student learning over time in a single classroom or learning community. It is inquiry that is systematic, intentional, contextual, ethical and above all responsive to the learners’ strengths and challenges. We draw from three principal traditions to inform our model of teacher research: (1) action research, (2) the case study approach, and (3) instructional interventions.

How is the inquiry for the thesis project developed?

The Teacher Research takes place in two phases: (a) the development of a question or focus that addresses students’ learning needs culminating in a proposal for a study, and (b) the unfolding, implementation, analysis and write-up of the study.

The MA/Credential Teacher Researchers (TRs) begin their inquiry by first studying their students, their learning, and their context in systematic ways. Based on preliminary analyses of the data they have gathered, TRs justify an area of inquiry or question they want to pursue to respond to their students’ needs. Student TRs then explore the literature systematically to identify promising approaches, instructional strategies and procedures for implementation, data collection and analysis. Student TRs are mentored in this process of development in a community of practice composed of a small cohort of their peers and the lead faculty charged with facilitating the inquiry. Student TRs then propose a study to a three-person faculty committee led by the lead faculty mentor.

Once their proposal is approved, student TRs design an instructional cycle of lessons/instructional strategies, collect baseline, process and outcome data, analyze their data and report their findings in a written report. The report or thesis is developed over time through an intensive process of discussion, short writing assignments, and group and individual feedback. As a capstone activity, student TRs present their inquiry at a symposium to faculty and their peers at the end of winter quarter.

What do student TRs investigate?

The design of each study varies according to individual circumstances and contexts. Typical designs include the study of a “new” approach to some aspect of instruction, adaptations of curriculum or strategies documented as effective in at least some settings, integration of effective strategies in new ways with different types of students, or testing out a new idea informed by theories of learning and teaching. The design and approach must be informed by the research literature, tap multiple genres and negotiated within the context the student TRs work. Often the inquiry is conducted in two phases exploring the implementation of an instructional approach in two stages, or comparing a traditional approach to an adaptation with data collection occurring at the beginning and end of each phase.

How do faculty mentor the inquiry?

A lead faculty member, assigned to a cohort of 10-15 students, mentors each student’s inquiry process. Each faculty member works with two other faculty in a committee structure, drawing on the committee’s expertise at key points of the inquiry. Faculty mentor the inquiry process through the integration of “scaffolds” or strategies designed to support students’ inquiry. These supports include (1) a cohort based structure designed to promote collaboration and provide support in a community of practice; (2) the design of the inquiry as a series of steps, presented as tasks to report on through field notes called “writing about research progress” or WARPs; (3) the use of structured feedback throughout the process in a systematic sequence every two weeks, provided by both peers and faculty; (4) the use of models from a variety of genres of the research literature; (5) and the use of structured mini-lessons designed to expand students’ tools of inquiry and explore teaching and learning, focusing especially on critical skills for gathering, analyzing, and representing data.

What are the core features of teacher research in the MA/Credential program at UC Davis?

Teacher research at UC Davis requires students to justify their journey into their question through the exploration of their learners’ needs as established through systematic data collection of the learning environment and exploration of the literature. Teacher research is mentored through a “scaffolded” approach that provides support but pushes student TRs towards independence. Teacher research builds on the rich experiences of the students’ preparation in the first year of the MA/Credential, including a short inquiry conducted during student teaching as well as methods classes taught by experienced teacher educators drawn from the schools and scholars in teacher education and the core disciplines.

Why do educators value teacher research?

We value teacher research in preparing teacher leaders because we believe that teachers must be able to advocate, speak, and take action, on behalf of the students they serve. To take action in informed, ethical, and responsive ways, teachers must be skilled in the tools of instruction and the habits of inquiry essential to understand how to promote student learning. We value teacher research because it is a powerful experience that develops a richer understanding of teaching and learning. The steps of teacher research—asking questions about students’ learning needs, designing an intervention around a set of instructional strategies to address these needs, planning systematic ways to gather and analyze data in order to investigate the effects of the intervention—develop habits of mind that enable teacher leaders to make instructional decisions that further their students’ academic achievement.  

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Teacher researchers pause each morning as they walk into their classrooms and ask, "What will my students teach me today?" To answer that question, they listen to and watch their students engage in authentic work; collect work samples, photographs, and transcripts to document what their students say and do; and use that information to evolve their practice as they celebrate and support the voices and experiences of the children they teach. In this sense, teacher researchers are innovators, curriculum drivers, agents of school change, and directors of their own professional development.

Support and Growth

As a doctoral student, I participated on the Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum Teacher Researcher Team led by Jane Hansen, Professor Emeritus at the University of Virginia and Reading Hall of Fame Member . For years, in preparation for our teacher research team meetings, I selected a piece of student writing that spoke to me. It would be a piece that made me scratch my head and ask, "What can I learn as a writer and teacher of writing from this young author?" or "What do I need to do next to support her growth?" I would capture these contemplations in a one-pager. That one-pager was exactly that, one page, and its content was reflective of my immediate classroom experience. During our small group meetings, every teacher researcher brought her one-pager, shared her contemplations, and elicited response from her team. We met weekly for one and a half hours. We took our work and time together seriously, because we had an internal charge to grow.

Diversity is essential in creating strong and dynamic teacher research teams. Each year our six- to eight-member group spanned across ages, gender, years of experience, grades, and content areas. Difference expanded the vocabulary of the room. As we heard our fellow researchers use new words and frameworks to discuss their experiences, we began to internalize those new ways of thinking, and thus pushed our own understandings of who and how we teach. Coming to know students as individuals and opening spaces for them to grow in their own directions is difficult work. Teachers' voices and contemplations need support. That is what teacher research teams do; they provide a place to lean and space to explore and expand.

The Best Tools

I have three primary tools that I use as a teacher researcher:

• My first tool is my spiral notebook. Here I jot notes while I conference with students, tape in samples of their work, and record insights and observations. Each evening, I reflect on my notes and use them to plan for tomorrow.
• My second tool is my iPhone. Throughout the day, I take pictures and videos of my students' writing samples, projects, and engineering feats. I often interview them as they share their innovative thinking. These visuals sometimes go in my spiral notebook, sometimes in my Evernote app, and often on my blog to parents. I also use them when I share my students' thinking and creations at our research team meetings and when I present at conferences or write about my practice. The visuals serve as an outward product of our classroom's evolution.
• My third and most important tool is my teacher research team. These colleagues focus me and serve as a sounding board and support network for my contemplations in the classroom.

Tapping Into the Power

The initial power of being a teacher researcher illuminates as you live the classroom life beside your students and realize that they have much to teach you. As you start to listen and record their thinking, you are amazed at the work that is happening in your room. Because of your amazement, you begin to more purposely structure your classroom to meet your students' needs. And because of that new structure, your students' learning is intensified, and their talk and work starts to surpass your own expectations. That power of being a teacher researcher is then clarified and intensified as you sit and discuss your observations and insights with your own teacher research team and receive their response.

Today, I am a classroom teacher and the research coach for our Saints Action Research team, part of our school's Center for the Study of Boys . In that role, I lead a team of seven teacher researchers who teach across grade levels and content areas, researching the work that gets done in their classroom, on the field, and in the studio.

This year I challenge you to join (or perhaps start) a teacher research team. Invite the experiences in your classroom, the questions in your head, and the support of your team to become your most powerful professional development. After all, the most effective curriculum is the one that follows the students, and the most successful professional development is the one that grows from the questions in your classroom.

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America’s public school teachers are far less racially and ethnically diverse than their students

Elementary and secondary public school teachers in the United States are considerably less racially and ethnically diverse as a group than their students – and while the share of Black, Hispanic and Asian American teachers has increased in recent decades, it has not kept pace with the rapid growth in the racial and ethnic diversity of their students, according to data from the  National Center for Education Statistics  (NCES).

About eight-in-ten U.S. public school teachers (79%) identified as non-Hispanic White during the 2017-18 school year, the most recent year for which NCES has published demographic data about them. Fewer than one-in-ten teachers were either Black (7%), Hispanic (9%) or Asian American (2%). And fewer than 2% of teachers were either American Indian or Alaska Native, Pacific Islander, or of two or more races.

By comparison, 47% of all public elementary and secondary school students in the U.S. were White in 2018-19, according to the most recent data available. In that period, around a quarter of public school students were Hispanic (27%), 15% were Black and 5% were Asian. Those shares have increased over time as newer generations of young people entered the classroom. About 1% or fewer were Pacific Islander or identified as American Indian or Alaska Native, while 4% were of two or more races.

To assess the racial and ethnic differences in U.S. public elementary and secondary school teachers and the students they teach, this analysis uses federal data to study these two groups’ makeup and how they have changed over time.

The analysis draws on more than three decades of survey and demographic data from the National Center for Education Statistics  (NCES), including the National Teacher and Principal Survey (formerly called the Schools and Staffing Survey), the Public Elementary/Secondary School Universe Survey and the Education Demographic and Geographic Estimates (EDGE).

The analysis uses the most recent data available for U.S. teachers (the 2017-18 school year) and for students (the 2018-19 school year). Data was unavailable for some states due to low response rates or unmet data collection standards.

White, Black, Asian American, Pacific Islander and American Indian or Alaska Natives in this analysis are those who report being one race and are not Hispanic. Hispanics are of any race. Due to methodological changes, earlier NCES data does not include a category for two or more races, and Asian Americans are grouped with Pacific Islanders.

Not only do White teachers sharply outnumber educators of other races and ethnicities, but they also tend to work in different school environments, the NCES data shows:

• In schools where students come from households with lower incomes, greater shares of teachers are Black or Hispanic than at schools where students are wealthier. One measure of this is the share of students who qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, often used as a proxy measure  for students in lower-income households. In schools where more than 75% of students qualify for the program, 17% of teachers are Hispanic, 14% are Black and 63% are White. At schools where 25% or fewer students qualify, 4% of teachers are Hispanic, 2% are Black and nine-in-ten are White.
• Hispanic, Black and Asian teachers also make up larger shares of the teaching force in city schools (14%, 12% and 3%, respectively) than in rural ones, where 4% are Hispanic or Black and fewer than 1% are Asian American. White teachers, on the other hand, make up 69% of urban school teachers and 90% of rural ones, reflecting the broader  racial and ethnic makeup of America’s communities .
• At schools with bigger percentages of racial or ethnic minority students, larger shares of teachers were Hispanic, Black or Asian American while the reverse was true for schools with more White students. In schools where at least 90% of students were minorities, the share of teachers who were Hispanic was 28%, while 20% of teachers were Black, 5% were Asian and 43% were White. Across schools where at least 90% of students were White, nearly all teachers (97%) also were White. This is similar to the experience for students: Many students go to schools where at least half of their peers are of the same race or ethnicity .

Changes over time

The share of White teachers has decreased about 8 percentage points since the 1987-88 school year (the earliest period with comparable data), when about 87% of teachers were White. Both the number and share of Hispanic and Asian teachers grew during that time span. While the number of Black teachers also has increased since the late ’80s, they have declined as a share of teachers overall.

In the last 30 years, Hispanic teachers have overtaken Black educators as the second-largest racial or ethnic group among U.S. public school teachers. In 1987-88, there were almost three times as many Black public school teachers (191,000) as Hispanic ones (69,000). Since then, the number of Hispanic teachers increased nearly fivefold to 331,000, while the number of Black teachers increased by 25%, to 239,000.

The share of Asian public school teachers has also grown steadily. Between 1987-88 and 2017-18, the number of Asian teachers more than tripled, from 21,000 to 75,000. This happened during a time span (2000 to 2019) when Asian and Hispanic populations in the U.S. were the  fastest-growing racial or ethnic groups . 

Meanwhile, the pattern in racial and ethnic diversity among school principals is similar to that of teachers. In 2017-18, around eight-in-ten principals (78%) were White, compared with 11% who were Black, 9% who were Hispanic and 1% who were Asian American. This represents an increase since 1987-88, when Black, Hispanic and Asian or Pacific Islander principals accounted for 9%, 3% and less than 1% of principals, respectively.

During the same time span, growth in racial and ethnic diversity was much faster among U.S. students than among both teachers and principals. During the 1987-88 school year, 71% of American elementary and secondary school students were White, 14% were Black, 11% were Hispanic and 3% were Asian or Pacific Islander (the two categories were grouped together that year). By the 2018-19 school year, White children made up fewer than half of students (47%). Hispanic students accounted for the second-largest share at 27%, while 15% were Black, 5% were Asian American and 4% identified as multiracial. 

It’s worth pointing out that U.S. public school teachers look different from students not just in terms of race and ethnicity, but also in terms of gender. The most recent data shows that roughly three-quarters of all elementary and secondary school teachers were women, while students are nearly evenly split between boys and girls.

Geographic differences

The racial and ethnic makeup of teachers varies somewhat by state, but there is no state where teachers are less likely to be White than their students, according to separate NCES data for the 2017-18 school year (again, the only recent year where data for both groups was available).

Nationally, state public school teachers are on average 27 percentage points more likely to be White than their students. In Nevada, 77% of public school teachers are White but only one-third of public school students are – a 45-point difference and the widest gap of any state. In all, White teachers make up 79% of the nation’s public school teachers and they account for that share or greater of educators in 37 states. (There is no 2017-18 NCES data available for Maryland or the District of Columbia.)

The only state where White teachers are not the largest racial or ethnic group is Hawaii, where Asian teachers are 42% of the teaching force. White teachers account for about a quarter, and Native Hawaiians or Pacific Islanders comprise 10%.

In New Mexico, 36% of teachers are Hispanic – the largest share in any state. And the largest share of Black teachers is in Georgia, where a quarter of the teaching force is Black.

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Katherine Schaeffer is a research analyst at Pew Research Center

Key facts about Asian Americans living in poverty

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Teacher education students awarded inaugural innovation research fellowship

Allison Beasley, Dr. Don Thompson, Moises Campos-Crespo and Carter Spring at the College of Education and Human Development's Award Ceremony.

Dr. Mauro Andre and Carter Spring.

Moises Campos-Crespo and Dr. Luchara Wallace.

Allison Beasley was surprised with the fellowship by Dr. Don Thompson during the College of Education and Human Development's Award Ceremony.

KALAMAZOO, Mich.—Western Michigan University's College of Education and Human Development (CEHD) has selected three students to participate in a new fellowship. The Dr. Donald E. Thompson Innovation Research Fellowship  identifies students from teacher education programs who show promise as creative thinkers and innovative practitioners. Allison Beasley , Moises Campos-Crespo and Carter Spring , will receive  a full year of tuition  as they work on developing innovative ideas capable of positively  impacting K-12 education through research that challenges the current practices of teaching and learning.

"In 2020, my wife and I decided that we wanted to begin to do some things with education colleges across the country and Western was first,"  says  Dr. Don Thompson , dean emeritus of the CEHD.  "We wanted to make sure that we gave a gift to Western t hat supported students, and we also did that with nine other institutions around the country. But this one is the most important to us. "

Through the fellowship, students will be creating original research focused on creative concepts and innovative approaches to using technology in teaching and learning. Student's research will be supervised by a faculty member during the fellowship and will also serve as their mentors.

"My wife and I are so thankful to be able to give this gift and look forward to great things from all of the  fellows," says Thompson.

To learn more about the fellowship, visit CEHD's scholarship webpage .

About the fellows

Moises Campos-Crespo, holding check, was surprised with the fellowship during a Future Teachers of Color meeting.

• Moises Campos-Crespo is a special education student and member of TRIO Future Educator Success Program and Western's College Assistant Migrant Program. He also serves as the vice president of Future Teachers of Color. This RSO brings together future educators of color at WMU with a focus on various topics related to career preparation, academic success, mentorship, community service outreach and networking skills. Campos-Crespo will be mentored by Dr. Luchara Wallace , associate dean of the CEHD. 
• Carter Spring is a physical and health education and teacher education student and volunteer with RINGS Ministry in Battle Creek, Michigan. RINGS is a faith-based non-profit that provides free transportation to low-income families, especially single mothers, in the community by restoring and gifting cars. Prior to WMU, he was a member of the Kellogg Community College's cross country team that competed at the National Junior College Athletic Association Division III National Championship. Spring will be mentored by Dr. Mauro Andre , an assistant professor in the Department of Human Performance and Health Education.  

For more WMU news, arts and events , visit  WMU News  online.

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UM Leads With Fisheries Education and Research

• 17 April 2024

By Emily Senkosky and Elizabeth Harrison UM News Service

MISSOULA – Whether it’s strapping into wetsuits to snorkel for data or bringing the lab streamside to sample fish, the University of Montana’s Fisheries Techniques class goes beyond classroom curriculum to get students hooked on the real-world applications of fisheries conservation and management.

Led by Andrew Whiteley, an associate professor of fisheries and conservation genomics in the W.A. Franke College of Forestry and Conservation , the class provides second-year students with opportunities to dive into the science of fisheries, literally. With fieldwork that includes snorkeling in the Blackfoot River Basin and Gold Creek, students can immerse themselves in learning while making meaningful contributions to the conservation of Montana’s aquatic ecosystems.

Whiteley’s vision is to empower students to address pressing issues facing fish in Montana and the wider Western region. Going beyond conventional learning, the class equips them with the skills and knowledge needed to tackle real-world challenges being seen in fisheries.

“At the heart of our class is the idea of applied management and conservation,” Whiteley said. “We discuss the big fisheries issues in the state, such as fragmentation of river and stream habitat and the influence of non-native fishes. We then learn about techniques and concepts fisheries biologists and researchers are using to inform data-driven solutions.”

Fisheries conservation and management is a high priority for a state where a staggering 1 million anglers travel to fish in its rivers and streams. The Fisheries Techniques class is just one of the ways the University is leading the charge in innovative research and education in fisheries management in the Western United States.

UM has been on the forefront of fisheries genetics research since the early 1970s, when Fred Allendorf, UM Regents Professor Emeritus of Biology, along with Robb Leary, a former UM biology professor, established one of the nation's inaugural fish genetics laboratories.

Recognizing the potential of this burgeoning field, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks partnered with Allendorf and Leary on a statewide genetic survey of Montana’s native trout populations. This collaboration has resulted in the creation of one of the world’s most comprehensive databases on native trout.

Whitelely arrived at UM a few decades later, obtaining his Ph.D. in organismal biology and ecology in 2005. After a few years in the field, he fulfilled his dream of returning to UM in 2016.

Whiteley’s own research works on habitat fragmentation and the dynamics between native and non-native fish populations in dammed river systems.  In 2017, he secured $800,000 from the National Science Foundation to conduct a five-year study on small populations of trout and whether genetic rescue – strategic relocation of fish to restore small and isolated populations – works as a tool for conservation. This award was a CAREER grant from NSF, the most prestigious award offered to junior faculty and is limited to only a handful of assistant professors each year.

Whiteley said he feels privileged to continue the legacy left by Allendorf and Leary as principal investigator of the Montana Conservation Genomics Lab. Ryan Kovach, the State of Montana fisheries geneticist, is housed at the UM lab, which continues to play a pivotal role in most decisions made by Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks in the realm of fisheries management.

“That’s somewhat unusual,” Whiteley said. “You can find states where it’s incorporated, but there are a ton of states where it’s not used nearly to the same extent. We are towards the top. I credit that to the longstanding relationship and trust-building Fred and Robb built with FWP.”

In both the field and the classroom, Whiteley’s students are actively involved in research aimed at informing the management of trout species by the state. They are at the forefront of addressing critical questions in conservation genomics, evolutionary biology and ecology – all geared towards maintaining healthy fish populations in Montana.

Collaborating closely with MFWP’s state fish geneticist and research scientists, Whiteley’s team furnishes genetic and genomics data, analyses and decision support pertaining to various species, including westslope cutthroat trout, Yellowstone cutthroat trout, bull trout, Arctic grayling and more.

“Our collaboration with MFWP and other agencies is instrumental in informing fisheries’ management decisions," Whiteley said. “We analyze thousands of samples annually, and the partnership underscores our commitment to preserving Montana's native fish and their habitats.”

The students’ contributions extend beyond Montana, providing valuable data and research to entities such as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish, and Colorado Parks and Wildlife.

Undergraduate student Max Posey, now a senior majoring in the terrestrial track of wildlife biology, took the Fisheries Techniques class in fall of 2021. He describes a fieldtrip where he witnessed electrofishing – a nonlethal method of gathering fish data – for the first time.

The process involves a small crew of three or four students who hike to a stream with a backpack that can produce small and controllable electrical output. Wading into the stream, the students then direct electrical probes to temporarily stun fish so they can net them and collect data from each fish. Through this practical application, students can accurately collect demographic information on the fish such as species and size range, which ultimately provides estimates of populations in a stream.

“The two most essential things I got from the class were that this type of work is enjoyable and applicable,” Posey said. “It’s as hands-on as it gets, and you’re able to gather a lot of really important data in the process.”

For Posey, the journey from the classroom to the stream was enough to get him officially committed to fisheries management. He worked for Nevada’s Department of Wildlife the following summer and believes he was chosen for the position because of the Fisheries Techniques class. He now plans to become a fisheries biologist and hopes to continue working with Whiteley in UM’s graduate school.

Classes led by Whiteley are meant to expose students to fun field work that helps them understand the key challenges now impacting Montana's aquatic ecosystems. His hope is to prepare students like Posey for future careers in biology while also instilling a deep sense of stewardship for Montana's natural resources.

Passion stirred up by the class is already having ripple effects, as one student expressed following a snorkeling field trip:

“This is exactly what I thought I would do when I came to Montana.”

Contact : Elizabeth Harrison, director of communications, W.A. Franke College of Forestry & Conservation, 917-656-9773,  [email protected] .

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UGA breaks ground on new medical education and research building

The groundbreaking was a "transformational moment at the University of Georgia"

The University of Georgia broke ground Friday on a new medical education and research building that will significantly expand teaching and research capabilities at the university’s future School of Medicine .

Located on UGA’s Health Sciences campus, preliminary plans for the building include medical simulation suites, standardized patient rooms, clinical skills labs, a gross anatomy lab, and a medical library. The building will also feature student support spaces like conference rooms, study spaces, lounges, and faculty and staff offices dedicated to student support.

In total, the proposed building will measure approximately 92,000 square feet. Roughly 67,000 square feet of the building will be dedicated to medical education while the remaining 25,000 square feet will house biomedical research laboratories.

Gov. Brian Kemp speaks at the groundbreaking ceremony for the Medical School Building on the Health Sciences Campus. (Andrew Davis Tucker/UGA)

The new building will complement existing facilities and provide the UGA School of Medicine with capacity to expand from 60 students per class to 120 in the future.

“Today is an exciting and transformational moment at the University of Georgia,” said UGA President Jere W. Morehead. “As a land-grant university and Georgia’s flagship research institution, the University of Georgia is uniquely positioned to address the health care needs of our state through world-class medical education, research and community outreach.”

Following the recommendation of Governor Brian Kemp, the Georgia General Assembly passed a fiscal year 2024 amended budget that includes $50 million in funding for a new University of Georgia School of Medicine facility.

President Jere W. Morehead speaks along with USG Chancellor Sonny Perdue and Gov. Brian Kemp at the groundbreaking ceremony for the Medical School Building on the Health Sciences Campus. (Andrew Davis Tucker/UGA)

The $50 million in state funding will be matched by private contributions to fund the $100 million medical education and research building.

The University System of Georgia Board of Regents authorized the University of Georgia to establish a new independent School of Medicine in Athens in February.

In March, Dr. Shelley Nuss was named founding dean of the UGA School of Medicine. She previously served as an associate professor of internal medicine and psychiatry in the Augusta University/University of Georgia Medical Partnership. In 2016, she was named campus dean of the Medical Partnership, which has been educating physicians in Athens since 2010.

“The fact is, Georgia needs more doctors, and we need them now,” said Nuss. “The new UGA School of Medicine will increase the number of medical students in the state, translating to more practicing physicians to help address Georgia’s greatest health care challenges.”

The creation of the UGA School of Medicine marks the natural evolution of the longest-serving medical partnership in the United States. Similar programs founded around the same time have already transitioned to independent medical schools.

USG Chancellor Sonny Perdue speaks from the podium along with Gov. Brian Kemp at the groundbreaking ceremony for the Medical School Building on the Health Sciences Campus. (Andrew Davis Tucker/UGA)

UGA will continue to work closely with the Medical College of Georgia to ensure a smooth transition for current medical students as UGA seeks accreditation from the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME).

The development of a new public school of medicine at UGA promises to help address a significant shortage of medical professionals. Georgia’s growing population tops approximately 11 million residents, straining the state’s existing medical infrastructure.

Now the nation’s eighth largest state, Georgia is forecasted to experience further population growth in the coming years, and nearly one-third of the state’s physicians are nearing retirement.

“Georgia is growing,” said Sonny Perdue, chancellor of the University System of Georgia. “We may only be only eighth today, but in just a few short years Georgia could be the fifth largest state. And that means we are going to need more health care, and people are going to get it here and across the state.”

Founding Dean of the School of Medicine Shelley Nuss, middle, is surrounded by medical students at the groundbreaking ceremony for the Medical School Building. (Andrew Davis Tucker/UGA)

Georgia currently ranks No. 40 among U.S. states for the number of active patient care physicians per capita, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), while it ranks No. 41 for the number of primary care physicians and No. 44 for the number of general surgeons per capita. The shortage of medical providers is particularly acute in rural and underserved areas, where access is even more limited.

UGA faculty are already engaged in human health research, and the establishment of a school of medicine will bolster their efforts.

“Our flagship institution, the University of Georgia, is tasked with the vital mission of educating and preparing the next generation of leaders,” said Gov. Brian Kemp. “To that end, one of our top priorities is building a strong health care workforce pipeline. This UGA facility will be an essential part of those efforts.”

Alongside funding from state government, strong private support will fortify efforts to create a School of Medicine at UGA. Donors have demonstrated robust support for UGA initiatives in recent years. In fiscal year 2023, UGA raised over $240 million in gifts and pledges from alumni, friends and foundation and industry partners. The university’s three-year rolling fundraising average is now a record $235 million per year, with annual contributions exceeding $200 million for the past six consecutive years.

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UCR getting ready to launch a new kind of research center

Researchers will receive stable funding and support to pursue ambitious projects

UC Riverside aims to offer researchers a chance to collaborate and pursue ambitious projects with centralized funding and administrative support through the first Campus Interdisciplinary Research Center.

Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Elizabeth Watkins and Rodolfo Torres, vice chancellor for Research and Economic Development, announced the creation of the new center in February, inviting applications with a May 1 deadline.

Torres said the center will be unlike any other on campus in terms of its structure, scope, funding, reporting, oversight, and review. It’s long been a goal at UCR to create a center with this type of structure, which will include administrative support from the Office of Research and Economic Development, or RED, and new funding from the central campus budget.

The hope is center participants will be able to use that support to pursue more ambitious research that will gain national and international recognition and to seek multi-million funding grants, Torres said.

“It’s a way to enhance what we represent and continue to attract great faculty and students,” he said. “It will be a jewel in our crown of creativity.”

The creation of a center with this type of infrastructure builds on one of the initiatives in the campus strategic plan, UCR 2030, which Watkins led. The third strategic goal calls for expanding the visibility of UCR locally, nationally, and globally.

“The newly created CIRC will excel in interdisciplinary research and scholarly work,” Watkins said in a February announcement. “It will capitalize on the demonstrated success of existing research teams, further creating and incentivizing synergy among faculty, students, and staff across campus. The goal is to attract new individuals and additional external resources to UCR, aiming to achieve even greater national and international recognition.”

To qualify for the Campus Interdisciplinary Research Center designation, proposals must involve multiple faculty members from at least three different colleges or schools; show a record of excellence in interdisciplinary collaborations; demonstrate an external funding record, and have the potential to apply for large federal grants.

Researchers must also have a long-term sustainable plan, as the center will receive a five-year funding commitment and may be renewed for additional five-year periods.

Another important piece will be the center’s director, who is expected to have a visible role, championing the research. The new funds will cover half of the director’s salary, freeing up their ability to concentrate on administrative duties, Torres said.

Any research area will be considered, although Torres said he expects proposals to capitalize on areas where UCR is already strong.

RED will start evaluating the applications after the May 1 deadline. An announcement of the selected proposal is expected in June so that it will be funded with the new fiscal year on July 1.

Only one project will be selected as the inaugural center, but Torres said he expects additional centers will be supported as exciting new proposals are brought forward.

Watkins and Torres have been holding engagement meetings with faculty members about the proposal over the last few months and have a received a positive response, Torres said.

“People honestly think this is overdue,” he said. “They’re happy seeing it coming now. There’s a lot of excitement.”

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Driving Innovations in Biostatistics with Denise Scholtens, PhD

“I'm continually surprised by new data types. I think that we will see the emergence of a whole new kind of technology that we probably can't even envision five years from now…When I think about where the field has come over the past 20 years, it's just phenomenal.”  —  Denise Scholtens, PhD  

• Director, Northwestern University Data Analysis and Coordinating Center (NUDACC)  
• Chief of Biostatistics in the Department of Preventive Medicine  
• Professor of Preventive Medicine in the Division of Biostatistics and of Neurological Surgery  
• Member of Northwestern University Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute (NUCATS)  
• Member of the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center  

Episode Notes 

Since arriving at Feinberg in 2004, Scholtens has played a central role in the dramatic expansion of biostatistics at the medical school. Now the Director of NUDACC, Scholtens brings her expertise and leadership to large-scale, multicenter studies that can lead to clinical and public health practice decision-making.    

• After discovering her love of statistics as a high school math teacher, Scholtens studied bioinformatics in a PhD program before arriving at Feinberg in 2004.  
• Feinberg’s commitment to biostatistics has grown substantially in recent decades. Scholtens was only one of five biostatisticians when she arrived. Now she is part of a division with almost 50 people.  
• She says being a good biostatistician requires curiosity about other people’s work, knowing what questions to ask and tenacity to understand subtitles of so much data.   
• At NUDACC, Scholtens and her colleagues specialize in large-scale, multicenter prospective studies and clinical trials that lead to clinical or public health practice decision-making. They operate at the executive level and oversee all aspects of the study design.  
• Currently, Scholtens is involved with the launch of a large study, along with The Ohio State University, that received a $14 million grant to look at the effectiveness of aspirin in the prevention of hypertensive disorders in pregnancy.  
• Scholtens first started her work in data coordinating through the Hyperglycemia Adverse Pregnancy Outcome (HAPO) study, which looked at 25,000 pregnant individuals. This led to a continued interest in fetal and maternal health.   
• When it comes to supportive working environments, Scholtens celebrates the culture at Feinberg, and especially her division in biostatistics, for being collaborative as well as genuinely supportive of each other’s projects. She attributes this to strong leadership which established a culture with these guiding principles.   

Additional Reading  

• Read more about the ASPIRIN trial and other projects taking place at NUDACC   
• Discover a study linking mothers’ obesity-related genes to babies’ birth weight, which Scholtens worked in through the HAPO study   
• Browse all of Scholtens recent publications 

Recorded on February 21, 2024.

Continuing Medical Education Credit

Physicians who listen to this podcast may claim continuing medical education credit after listening to an episode of this program..

Target Audience

Academic/Research, Multiple specialties

Learning Objectives

At the conclusion of this activity, participants will be able to:

• Identify the research interests and initiatives of Feinberg faculty.
• Discuss new updates in clinical and translational research.

Accreditation Statement

The Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

Credit Designation Statement

The Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine designates this Enduring Material for a maximum of 0.50  AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™.  Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

American Board of Surgery Continuous Certification Program

Successful completion of this CME activity enables the learner to earn credit toward the CME requirement(s) of the American Board of Surgery’s Continuous Certification program. It is the CME activity provider's responsibility to submit learner completion information to ACCME for the purpose of granting ABS credit.

All the relevant financial relationships for these individuals have been mitigated.

Disclosure Statement

Denise Scholtens, PhD, has nothing to disclose.  Course director, Robert Rosa, MD, has nothing to disclose. Planning committee member, Erin Spain, has nothing to disclose.  FSM’s CME Leadership, Review Committee, and Staff have no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies to disclose.

Read the Full Transcript

[00:00:00] Erin Spain, MS: This is Breakthroughs, a podcast from Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. I'm Erin Spain, host of the show. Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine is home to a team of premier faculty and staff biostatisticians, who are the driving force of data analytic innovation and excellence here. Today, we are talking with Dr. Denise Scholtens, a leader in biostatistics at Northwestern, about the growing importance of the field, and how she leverages her skills to collaborate on several projects in Maternal and Fetal Health. She is the Director of the Northwestern University Data Analysis and Coordinating Center, NUDACC, and Chief of Biostatistics in the Department of Preventive Medicine, as well as Professor of Preventive Medicine and Neurological Surgery. Welcome to the show.  

[00:01:02] Denise Scholtens, PhD: Thank you so much.  

[00:01:02] Erin Spain, MS: So you have said in the past that you were drawn to this field of biostatistics because you're interested in both math and medicine, but not interested in becoming a clinician. Tell me about your path into the field and to Northwestern.  

[00:01:17] Denise Scholtens, PhD: You're right. I have always been interested in both math and medicine. I knew I did not want to be involved in clinical care. Originally, fresh out of college, I was a math major and I taught high school math for a couple of years. I really enjoyed that, loved the kids, loved the teaching parts of things. Interestingly enough, my department chair at the time assigned me to teach probability and statistics to high school seniors. I had never taken a statistics course before, so I was about a week ahead of them in our classes and found that I just really enjoyed the discipline. So as much as I loved teaching, I did decide to go ahead and invest in this particular new area that I had found and I really enjoyed. So I wanted to figure out how I could engage in the field of statistics. Decided to see, you know, exactly how studying statistics could be applied to medicine. At the time, Google was brand new. So I literally typed in the two words math and medicine to see what would come up. And the discipline of biostatistics is what Google generated. And so here I am, I applied to grad school and it's been a great fit for me.  

[00:02:23] Erin Spain, MS: Oh, that's fantastic. So you went on to get a PhD, and then you came to Northwestern in 2004. And so tell me a little bit about the field then and how it's changed so dramatically since.  

[00:02:36] Denise Scholtens, PhD: So yes, I started here at Northwestern in 2004, just a few months after I had defended my thesis. At the time there was really an emerging field of study called bioinformatics. So I wrote my thesis in the space of genomics data analysis with what at the time was a brand new technology, microarrays. This was the first way we could measure gene transcription at a high throughput level. So I did my thesis work in that space. I studied at an institution with a lot of strengths and very classical statistics. So things that we think of in biostatistics like clinical trial design, observational study analysis, things like that. So I had really classic biostatistics training and then complimented that with sort of these emerging methods with these high dimensional data types. So I came to Northwestern here and I sort of felt like I lived in two worlds. I had sort of classic biostat clinical trials, which were certainly, you know, happening here. And, that work was thriving here at Northwestern, but I had this kind of new skillset, and I just didn't quite know how to bring the two together. That was obviously a long time ago, 20 years ago. Now we think of personalized medicine and genomic indicators for treatment and, you know, there's a whole variety of omics data variations on the theme that are closely integrated with clinical and population level health research. So there's no longer any confusion for me about how those two things come together. You know, they're two disciplines that very nicely complement each other. But yeah, I think that does speak to how the field has changed, you know, these sort of classic biostatistics methods are really nicely blended with a lot of high dimensional data types. And it's been fun to be a part of that.  

[00:04:17] Erin Spain, MS: There were only a handful of folks like you at Northwestern at the time. Tell me about now and the demand for folks with your skill set.  

[00:04:26] Denise Scholtens, PhD: When I came to Northwestern, I was one of a very small handful of biostatistics faculty. There were five of us. We were not even called a division of biostatistics. We were just here as the Department of Preventive Medicine. And a lot of the work we did was really very tightly integrated with the epidemiologists here in our department and we still do a lot of that for sure. There was also some work going on with the Cancer Center here at Northwestern. But yeah, a pretty small group of us, who has sort of a selected set of collaborations. You know, I contrast that now to our current division of biostatistics where we are over 20s, pushing 25, depending on exactly how you want to count. Hoping to bring a couple of new faculty on board this calendar year. We have a staff of about 25 statistical analysts. And database managers and programmers. So you know, when I came there were five faculty members and I think two master's level staff. We are now pushing, you know, pushing 50 people in our division here so it's a really thriving group.  

[00:05:26] Erin Spain, MS: in your opinion, what makes a good biostatistician? Do you have to have a little bit of a tough skin to be in this field?  

Denise Scholtens, PhD: I do think it's a unique person who wants to be a biostatistician. There are a variety of traits that can lead to success in this space. First of all, I think it's helpful to be wildly curious about somebody else's work. To be an excellent collaborative biostatistician, you have to be able to learn the language of another discipline. So some other clinical specialty or public health application. Another trait that makes a biostatistician successful is to be able to ask the right questions about data that will be collected or already have been collected. So understanding the subtleties there, the study design components that lead to why we have the data that we have. You know, a lot of our data, you could think of it in a simple flat file, right? Like a Microsoft Excel file with rows and columns. That certainly happens a lot, but there are a lot of incredibly innovative data types out there: wearables technology, imaging data, all kinds of high dimensional data. So I think a tenacity to understand all of the subtleties of those data and to be able to ask the right questions. And then I think for a biostatistician at a medical school like ours, being able to blend those two things, so understanding what the data are and what you have to work with and what you're heading toward, but then also facilitating the translation of those analytic findings for the audience that really wants to understand them. So for the clinicians, for the patients, for participants and the population that the findings would apply to.   

Erin Spain, MS: It must feel good, though, in those situations where you are able to help uncover something to improve a study or a trial.  

[00:07:07] Denise Scholtens, PhD: It really does. This is a job that's easy to get out of bed for in the morning. There's a lot of really good things that happen here. It's exciting to know that the work we do could impact clinical practice, could impact public health practice. I think in any job, you know, you can sometimes get bogged down by the amount of work or the difficulty of the work or the back and forth with team members. There's just sort of all of the day to day grind, but to be able to take a step back and remember the actual people who are affected by our own little niche in this world. It's an incredibly helpful and motivating practice that I often keep to remember exactly why I'm doing what I'm doing and who I'm doing it for.  

[00:07:50] Erin Spain, MS: Well, and another important part of your work is that you are a leader. You are leading the center, NUDACC, that you mentioned, Northwestern University Data Analysis and Coordinating Center. Now, this has been open for about five years. Tell me about the center and why it's so crucial to the future of the field.  

[00:08:08] Denise Scholtens, PhD: We specialize at NUDACC in large scale, multicenter prospective studies. So these are the clinical trials or the observational studies that often, most conclusively, lead to clinical or public health practice decision making. We focus specifically on multicenter work. Because it requires a lot of central coordination and we've specifically built up our NUDACC capacity to handle these multi center investigations where we have a centralized database, we have centralized and streamlined data quality assurance pipelines. We can help with central team leadership and organization for large scale networks. So we have specifically focused on those areas. There's a whole lot of project management and regulatory expertise that we have to complement our data analytics strengths as well. I think my favorite part of participating in these studies is we get involved at the very beginning. We are involved in executive level planning of these studies. We oversee all components of study design. We are intimately involved in the development of the data capture systems. And in the QA of it. We do all of this work on the front end so that we get all of the fun at the end with the statistics and can analyze data that we know are scientifically sound, are well collected, and can lead to, you know, really helpful scientific conclusions.  

[00:09:33] Erin Spain, MS: Tell me about that synergy between the clinicians and the other investigators that you're working with on these projects.  

[00:09:41] Denise Scholtens, PhD: It is always exciting, often entertaining. Huge range of scientific opinion and expertise and points of view, all of which are very valid and very well informed. All of the discussion that could go into designing and launching a study, it's just phenomenally interesting and trying to navigate all of that and help bring teams to consensus in terms of what is scientifically most relevant, what's going to be most impactful, what is possible given the logistical strengths. Taking all of these well informed, valid, scientific points of view and being a part of the team that helps integrate them all toward a cohesive study design and a well executed study. That's a unique part of the challenge that we face here at NUDACC, but an incredibly rewarding one. It's also such an honor and a gift to be able to work with such a uniformly gifted set of individuals. Just the clinical researchers who devote themselves to these kinds of studies are incredibly generous, incredibly thoughtful and have such care for their patients and the individuals that they serve, that to be able to sit with them and think about the next steps for a great study is a really unique privilege.  

[00:10:51] Erin Spain, MS: How unique is a center like this at a medical school?  

[00:10:55] Denise Scholtens, PhD: It's fairly unique to have a center like this at a medical school. Most of the premier medical research institutions do have some level of data coordinating center capacity. We're certainly working toward trying to be one of the nation's best, absolutely, and build up our capacity for doing so. I'm actually currently a part of a group of data coordinating centers where it's sort of a grassroots effort right now to organize ourselves and come up with, you know, some unified statements around the gaps that we see in our work, the challenges that we face strategizing together to improve our own work and to potentially contribute to each other's work. I think maybe the early beginnings of a new professional organization for data coordinating centers. We have a meeting coming up of about, I think it's 12 to 15 different institutions, academic research institutions, specifically medical schools that have centers like ours to try to talk through our common pain points and also celebrate our common victories.  

[00:11:51] Erin Spain, MS: I want to shift gears a little bit to talk about some of your research collaborations, many of which focus on maternal and fetal health and pregnancy. You're now involved with a study with folks at the Ohio State University that received a 14 million grant looking at the effectiveness of aspirin in the prevention of hypertensive disorders in pregnancy. Tell me about this work.  

[00:12:14] Denise Scholtens, PhD: Yes, this is called the aspirin study. I suppose not a very creative name, but a very appropriate one. What we'll be doing in this study is looking at two different doses of aspirin for trying to prevent maternal hypertensive disorders of pregnancy in women who are considered at high risk for these disorders. This is a huge study. Our goal is to enroll 10,742 participants. This will take place at 11 different centers across the nation. And yes, we at NUDACC will serve as the data coordinating center here, and we are partnering with the Ohio State University who will house the clinical coordinating center. So this study is designed to look at two different doses to see which is more effective at preventing hypertensive disorders of pregnancy. So that would include gestational hypertension and preeclampsia. What's really unique about this study and the reason that it is so large is that it is specifically funded to look at what's called a heterogeneity of treatment effect. What that is is a difference in the effectiveness of aspirin in preventing maternal hypertensive disorders, according to different subgroups of women. We'll specifically have sufficient statistical power to test for differences in treatment effectiveness. And we have some high priority subgroups that we'll be looking at. One is a self-identified race. There's been a noted disparity in maternal hypertensive disorders, for individuals who self identify according to different races. And so we will be powered to see if aspirin has comparable effectiveness and hopefully even better effectiveness for the groups who really need it, to bring those rates closer to equity which is, you know, certainly something we would very strongly desire to see. We'll also be able to look at subgroups of women according to obesity, according to maternal age at pregnancy, according to the start time of aspirin when aspirin use is initiated during pregnancy. So that's why the trial is so huge. For a statistician, the statisticians out there who might be listening, this is powered on a statistical interaction term, which doesn't happen very often. So it's exciting that the trial is funded in that way.  

[00:14:27] Erin Spain, MS: Tell me a little bit more about this and how your specific skills are going to be utilized in this study.  

[00:14:32] Denise Scholtens, PhD: Well, there are three biostatistics faculty here at Northwestern involved in this. So we're definitely dividing and conquering. Right now, we're planning this study and starting to stand it up. So we're developing our statistical analysis plans. We're developing the database. We are developing our randomization modules. So this is the piece of the study where participants are randomized to which dose of aspirin they're going to receive. Because of all of the subgroups that we're planning to study, we need to make especially sure that the assignments of which dose of aspirin are balanced within and across all of those subgroups. So we're going to be using some adaptive randomization techniques to ensure that that balance is there. So there's some fun statistical and computer programming innovation that will be applied to accomplish those things. So right now, there are usually two phases of a study that are really busy for us. That's starting to study up and that's where we are. And so yes, it is very busy for us right now. And then at the end, you know, in five years or so, once recruitment is over, then we analyze all the data,  

[00:15:36] Erin Spain, MS: Are there any guidelines out there right now about the use of aspirin in pregnancy. What do you hope that this could accomplish?  

 Prescribing aspirin use for the prevention of hypertension during pregnancy is not uncommon at all. That is actually fairly routinely done, but that it's not outcomes based in terms of which dosage is most effective. So 81 milligrams versus 162 milligrams. That's what we will be evaluating. And my understanding is that clinicians prescribe whatever they think is better, and I'm sure those opinions are very well informed but there is very little outcome based evidence for this in this particular population that we'll be studying. So that would be the goal here, would be to hopefully very conclusively say, depending on the rates of the hypertensive disorders that we see in our study, which of the two doses of aspirin is more effective. Importantly, we will also be tracking any side effects of taking aspirin. And so that's also very much often a part of the evaluation of You know, taking a, taking a drug, right, is how safe is it? So we'll be tracking that very closely as well. Another unique part of this study is that we will be looking at factors that help explain aspirin adherence. So we are going to recommend that participants take their dose of aspirin daily. We don't necessarily expect that's always going to happen, so we are going to measure how much of their prescribed dose they are actually taking and then look at, you know, factors that contribute to that. So be they, you know, social determinants of health or a variety of other things that we'll investigate to try to understand aspirin adherence, and then also model the way in which that adherence could have affected outcomes.  

Erin Spain, MS: This is not the first study that you've worked on involving maternal and fetal health. Tell me about your interest in this particular area, this particular field, and some of the other work that you've done.  

[00:17:31] Denise Scholtens, PhD: So I actually first got my start in data coordinating work through the HAPO study. HAPO stands for Hyperglycemia Adverse Pregnancy Outcome. That study was started here at Northwestern before I arrived. Actually recruitment to the study occurred between 2000 and 2006. Northwestern served as the central coordinating center for that study. It was an international study of 25,000 pregnant individuals who were recruited and then outcomes were evaluated both in moms and newborns. When I was about mid career here, all the babies that were born as a part of HAPO were early teenagers. And so we conducted a follow up study on the HAPO cohort. So that's really when I got involved. It was my first introduction to being a part of a coordinating center. As I got into it, though, I saw the beauty of digging into all of these details for a huge study like this and then saw these incredible resources that were accumulated through the conduct of such a large study. So the data from the study itself is, was of course, a huge resource. But then also we have all of these different samples that sit in a biorepository, right? So like usually blood sample collection is a big part of a study like this. So all these really fun ancillary studies could spin off of the HAPO study. So we did some genomics work. We did some metabolomics work. We've integrated the two and what's called integrated omics. So, you know, my work in this space really started in the HAPO study. And I have tremendously enjoyed integrating these high dimensional data types that have come from these really rich data resources that have all, you know, resulted because of this huge multicenter longitudinal study. So I kind of accidentally fell into the space of maternal and fetal health, to be honest. But I just became phenomenally interested in it and it's been a great place.  

[00:19:24] Erin Spain, MS: Would you say that this is also a population that hasn't always been studied very much in biomedical science?  

[00:19:32] Denise Scholtens, PhD: I think that that is true, for sure. There are some unique vulnerabilities, right, for a pregnant individual and for the fetus, right, and in that situation. You know, the vast majority of what we do is really only pertaining to the pregnant participant but, you know, there are certainly fetal outcomes, newborn outcomes. And so, I think conducting research in this particular population is a unique opportunity and there are components of it that need to be treated with special care given sort of this unique phase of human development and this unique phase of life.  

[00:20:03] Erin Spain, MS: So, as data generation just really continues to explode, and technology is advancing so fast, faster than ever, where do you see this field evolving, the field of biostatistics, where do you see it going in the next five to ten years?  

[00:20:19] Denise Scholtens, PhD: That's a great question. I think all I can really tell you is that I'm continually surprised by new data types. I think that we will see an emergence of a whole new kind of technology that we probably can't even envision five years from now. And I think that the fun part about being a biostatistician is seeing what's happening and then trying to wrap your mind around the possibilities and the actual nature of the data that are collected. You know, I think back to 2004 and this whole high throughput space just felt so big. You know, we could look at gene transcription across the genome using one technology. And we could only look at one dimension of it. Right now it just seems so basic. When I think about where the field has come over the past 20 years, it's just phenomenal. I think we're seeing a similar emergence of the scale and the type of data in the imaging space and in the wearable space, with EHR data, just. You know, all these different technologies for capturing, capturing things that we just never even conceived of before. I do hope that we continue to emphasize making meaningful and translatable conclusions from these data. So actionable conclusions that can impact the way that we care for others around us. I do hope that remains a guiding principle in all that we do.  

[00:21:39] Erin Spain, MS: Why is Northwestern Medicine and Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine such a supportive environment to pursue this type of work?  

[00:21:47] Denise Scholtens, PhD: That's a wonderful question and one, honestly, that faculty candidates often ask me. When we bring faculty candidates in to visit here at Northwestern, they immediately pick up on the fact that we are a collaborative group of individuals who are for each other. Who want to see each other succeed, who are happy to share the things that we know and support each other's work, and support each other's research, and help strategize around the things that we want to accomplish. There is a strong culture here, at least in my department and in my division that I've really loved that continues to persist around really genuinely collaborating and genuinely sharing lessons learned and genuinely supporting each other as we move toward common goals. We've had some really strong, generous leadership who has helped us to get there and has helped create a culture where those are the guiding principles. In my leadership role is certainly something that I strive to maintain. Really hope that's true. I'm sure I don't do it perfectly but that's absolutely something I want to see accomplished here in the division and in NUDACC for sure.  

[00:22:50] Erin Spain, MS: Well, thank you so much for coming on the show and telling us about your path here to Northwestern and all of the exciting work that we can look forward to in the coming years.  

[00:22:59] Denise Scholtens, PhD: Thank you so much for having me. I've really enjoyed this.  

[00:23:01] Erin Spain, MS: You can listen to shows from the Northwestern Medicine Podcast Network to hear more about the latest developments in medical research, health care, and medical education. Leaders from across specialties speak to topics ranging from basic science to global health to simulation education. Learn more at feinberg. northwestern.edu/podcasts.