Engine of Innovation (Think Tank)

Director:  David D. McPherson, MD
Co-Director:  Robert C. Bast, Jr, MD
Contact person: Maureen Goode, PhD, ELS  Maureen.Goode@uth.tmc.edu 713-500-7924

The CCTS Think Tank is a group of creative and productive local clinical, basic, and translational investigators.  They provide guidance for CCTS investigators and for the CCTS in general through the following programs:

• Hypothesis-generating conferences.  Hypothesis-generating conferences are brain-storming meetings for new investigators.  In each meeting, members of the Think Tank, CCTS component staff, and other experienced advisors meet with a new investigator and his or her mentors to discuss the investigator’s research and career-development plans. The goal is to assure that the new investigator hones his or her research ideas into a workable hypothesis and plan for efficiently and rapidly generating useful translational or clinical findings.   The advice offered can include ways to refocus a too-broad research plan, ideas about finding external funding, suggestions on local and national collaborators and identifying subjects for studies, and information on the investigator’s specific field of research.  The team always encourages maximal use of CCTS resources. 
• Biannual Think Tank meetings.  The entire Think Tank meets twice a year with CCTS investigators (such as the CCTS TL1 trainees, KL2 scholars, and other CCTS trainees) to share information and establish new collaborations. 
• “De-siloization” focus groups.  At the first Think Tank meeting, the group established focus groups to address important biological and medical issues that cross the boundaries of specific diseases and specific institutions or schools in the CCTS.  The groups are:
       o Inflammation
       o Musculoskeletal diseases
       o Stem-cell research
       o Epidemiology and public health
       o Metabolic diseases
       o Neuroscience
       o Vascular issues

Each group includes researchers from the CCTS’s three component institutions who specialize in different but related research areas or diseases.  The participants’ combined efforts will synergize research in these areas by addressing the biology and mechanisms that underlie broad pathological processes rather than specific disease states.  Each focus group will identify cross-cutting issues their groups need to address and determine how the CCTS can facilitate research on those topics. 

For more information on the Think Tank or to schedule a hypothesis-generating conference, please contact Maureen Goode, PhD, ELS Maureen.Goode@uth.tmc.edu 713-500-7924

Think Tank Members

Name	Title	Department/Institution
Robert C. Bast, Jr., MD	Vice President, Translational Research	UT MD Anderson
Michael Blackburn, PhD	Dean, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences	UTHealth Medical School
Sean Blackwell, MD	Professor & Chair, OB/GYN	UTHealth Medical School
Eric Boerwinkle, PhD	Professor & Director, Division of Epidemiology	UTHealth School of Public Health
L. Maximillian Buja, MD	Professor, Pathology & Laboratory Medicine	UTHealth Medical School
John H. Byrne, PhD	Professor & Chair, Neurobiology & Anatomy	UTHealth Medical School
Cheryl M. Chanaud, PhD	Executive Director, Clinical Innovation and Research	Memorial Hermann Hospital System
Cynthia Chappell, PhD	Professor, Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences	UTHealth School of Public Health
Stephen Daiger, PhD	Professor, Environmental & Genetic Sciences	UTHealth School of Public Health
Benoit de Crombrugghe, MD	Professor, Molecular Genetics	UT MD Anderson
Herbert L. Dupont, MD	Professor of Infectious Diseases and Director, Center for Infectious Diseases	UTHealth School of Public Health
Carmel Dyer, MD	Professor, Internal Medicine, Geriatrics	UTHealth Medical School
Lex Frieden, MA, LLD	Professor of Health Informatics	UTHealth School of Biomedical Informatics
Sandra K. Hanneman, PhD, RN, FAAN	Professor & Associate Dean for Research	UTHealth School of Nursing
Waun Ki Hong, MD	Professor, Thoracic/Head & Neck Medical Oncology	UT MD Anderson
Samuel Kaplan, PhD	Professor & Chair, Microbiology and Molecular Genetics	UTHealth Medical School
Daniel Karp, MD	CCTS Multiple PI, Professor, Thoracic/Head & Neck Medical Oncology	UT MD Anderson
Rodney Kellems, PhD	Professor & Chair, Biochemistry & Molecular Biology	UTHealth Medical School
Dong Kim, MD	Professor & Chair, Neurosurgery	UTHealth Medical School
Richard Kulmacz, PhD	Professor, Internal Medicine, Hematology	UTHealth Medical School
Kevin Lally, MD	Professor & Chair, Pediatric Surgery	UTHealth Medical School
Cheng Chi Lee, PhD	Professor, Biochemistry & Molecular Biology	UTHealth Medical School
David Loose, PhD	Associate Professor and Director, Integrative Biology & Pharmacology	UTHealth Medical School
Yahuan Lou, PhD	Professor, Diagnostic Sciences	UTHealth School of Dentistry
Joseph B. McCormick, MD	Professor & Regional Dean	UTHealth School of Public Health Brownsville Regional Campus
David McPherson, MD	CCTS Executive Director, Professor and Chair, Internal Medicine	UTHealth Medical School
Dianna M. Milewicz, MD, PhD	Professor & Director, Division of Medical Genetics	UTHealth Medical School
Isaac D. Montoya, PhD	Clinical Professor, College of Pharmacy	University of Houston
Kevin Morano, PhD	Professor, Microbiology & Molecular Genetics	UTHealth Medical School
Barbara Murray, MD	Professor & Director, Infectious Diseases	UTHealth Medical School
Ponnada Narayana, PhD	Professor & Director, Radiology	UTHealth Medical School
Raphael E. Pollock, MD, PhD	Professor Emeritus, Surgical Oncology	UT MD Anderson
John Reveille, MD	Professor, Internal Medicine, Rheumatology	UTHealth Medical School
Mark Sherer, PhD, ABPP-Cn	Clinical Professor, Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation	Baylor College of Medicine
Filemon Tan, MD, PhD	Professor & Chair, Rheumatology	UTHealth Medical School
Sally Vernon, PhD	Blair Justice, PhD, Professorship in Mind-Body Medicine and Public Health, and Director, Division of Health Promotion and Behavioral Sciences	UTHealth School of Public Health
Rick Wetsel, PhD	Professor & Chair, Immunology	UTHealth Institute of Molecular Medicine
Edward T. H. Yeh, MD	Professor & Chair, Cardiology	UT MD Anderson