RCMI Puerto Rico Medical Sciences Campus

RCMI Principal Investigators Meeting

Principal Investigators of the RCMI Program met in Bethesda, MD. on September 14, 2004. The meeting was organized by Dr. T. Joan Robinson, Principal Investigator at Morgan State University. Dr. Barbara Alving, Acting Director, NCRR and Dr. Dr. Sidney A. McNairy, Jr., Associate Director, NCRR, Division of Research Infrastructure greeted the participants from the nineteen RCMI institutions.

The meeting included updates on the impact of the RCMI Program on research infrastructure at four selected institutions: Ponce School of Medicine, Clark Atlanta University, University of Hawaii, and Morehouse School of Medicine.

Special presentations were offered by Dr. Bonny Harbinger, Deputy Director and Dr. Sue Ano, Technology Licensing Specialist of the Office of Technology Transfer at NIH. The titles and links to their presentations follow.

• Why is Intellectual Property Important? Bonny Harbinger, Ph.D,
  
• How to Recognize Commercial Value in Your Research Sue Ano, Ph.D,

These presentations were followed by brief overviews of the Comprehensive Centers on Health Disparities at Meharry Medical College and the University of Puerto Rico Medical Sciences Campus.

A closed session followed in which Dr. Keith Norris, Program Director from Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science, provided a comprehensive up-date of the RCMI Translational Research Network (RTRN).
Future activities announced at the meeting included:

RCMI Twentieth Anniversary Seminar "Minorities, Race, Genomics and Health Inequities: What are the Connections?" and Program Directors Meeting
December 9-10, 2005 - Hunter College, NY
Announced by Dr. Robert Dottin, Program Director at Hunter College

Spring RCMI Program Directors Meeting
April 24, 2006 – Washington DC
Hosted by Dr. Southerland at Howard University

Xth RCMI International Symposium on Health Disparities
December 13-16, 2006
Announced by Emma Fernández-Repollet at the UPR Medical Sciences Campus
Co-hosted by Universidad Central del Caribe and Ponce School of Medicine

We thank Dr. Robinson and NCRR staff for hosting this important meeting and look forward to the participation of the RCMI community in future activities.

By,

EFR

Emma Fernández-Repollet,Ph.D.

Program Director

RCMI Program

Room 621-A, 6th. floor

Main Building, Medical Sciences Campus

GPO Box 365067

San Juan, PR 00936-5067

Email: efernandez@rcm.upr.edu

Voice (787) 763-9401

FAX (787) 758-5206