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Research at ChristianaCare

INBRE

The Delaware INBRE Program at ChristianaCare

About Delaware INBRE

The Delaware IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence (DE-INBRE) is a collaborative network of Delaware academic, healthcare, and research institutions made up of five partner institutions: the University of Delaware (UD), Delaware State University (DSU), ChristianaCare (CC), Delaware Technical Community College (DTCC), and Nemours Children’s Health (NCH). As a member, ChristianaCare shares a five-year, federally funded grant by the National Institutes of Health, National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIH-NIGMS) and the state of Delaware. Since 2009, ChristianaCare has been a member of DE-INBRE and leverages its clinical environment to assist researchers and undergraduate students develop research programs and skills.

The purpose of the Delaware INBRE grant is to support biomedical research that builds Delaware’s research capacity and workforce. By expanding research activities in basic, translational, and clinical areas, Delaware (and INBRE’s network of institutions) can increase its competitiveness for federal research funding while building self-sustaining research capabilities within the network.

Supported by a grant from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences Institutional Development Award [NIH-NIGMS: P20 GM103446] and the state of Delaware, the DE-INBRE has four specific goals:

  • Provide biomedical research opportunities to undergraduate students.
  • Support newly independent early-career investigators to become established scientists. The Delaware INBRE program offers pilot and core facility grants to investigators to assist in starting their research: Delaware INBRE Pilot Project Program
  • Improve Delaware’s research infrastructure by removing barriers to research core facility access and fostering research core facility operations.
  • Identify and reduce barriers in accessing biomedical data access while training Delaware’s future workforce in data science methods.

Core Facilities at ChristianaCare

The Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Research Design Core (BERD) offers consultative services, including epidemiology, biostatistics, research design, data management, and bio and medical informatics. Claudine Jurkovitz, MD services as the program’s director. To learn more about the BERD program, please visit: Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Research Design (BERD) Core – The Delaware CTR ACCEL Program.

The Cawley Center for Translational Cancer Research (CCTCR) is located at ChristianaCare’s Helen F. Graham Cancer Center & Research Institute and offers a variety of services and techniques including flow cytometry/cell sorting, real time PCR, and microirradiator. Lynn Opdenaker, PhD, is the manager of the CCTCR. To learn more about the CCTCR, please visit: Translational Cancer Research Cawley Center | ChristianaCare.

DE-INBRE Student Research Program

The DE-INBRE Student Research Program (SRP) provides Delaware’s undergraduate students with paid, real-world experience conducting biomedical research at all five DE-INBRE partner institutions as well as two affiliated non-profit locations. At ChristianaCare, students who apply to the program are selected and paired with a mentor who conducts clinical research at ChristianaCare.

Students complete a 10-week, full-time internship while leading an independent research project. Students will receive research education from their mentor and the ChristianaCare INBRE team, which includes didactic lessons on statistics, scientific writing, poster and academic presentations, institutional review boards and human subjects research, all while preparing data from their own project which is presented at the conclusion of the program. The SRP program runs each summer from June – August. For more information and how to apply, please visit: Student Research Program (SRP) | Delaware INBRE.

Contact Us

Susan Smith Birkhoff, PhD, RN
INBRE Site Lead,
ChristianaCare Director, Technology Research & Education, ChristianaCare Professional Development Core,
Delaware Clinical Translational Research (ACCEL)
Susan.Birkhoff@ChristianaCare.org

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