Cynthia Morton – Research, Discovery & Innovation Website

Highlights from the BRI Director (2008-2010)

The Brigham Research Institute conducted strategic planning exercises with the Research Oversight Committee, leading to the development of strategic themes and priorities for the BRI that included:

Shared Mechanisms of Disease
Personalized Medicine
Targeted Therapeutical
Health Disparities
Comparative Effectiveness

As part of the goal of increasing attendance at the BRI’s monthly forum, it was rebranded as part of the successful Research Connection E-Mail Series, which is distributed weekly to the research community. The BRI collaborated with the Center for Clinical Investigation (CCI), Office for Research Careers and Research Operations to thoroughly promote these monthly lunches, which attract standing-room only crowds.

Brigham Research Institute staff worked closely with the CCI and Harvard Catalyst to communicate significant grants and resources available to investigators, particularly junior investigators, when Catalyst launched and throughout the academic year.

A town hall meeting was organized to deliver up-to-the-minute information on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).

Wednesday, June 1, 2016, 5PM, Cabot Atrium

The Brigham Research Institute (BRI) capped off a decade of supporting discovery and innovation last week with a celebration honoring its community and accomplishments. At a reception in Cabot Atrium on June 1, 2016, members of the research community gathered to share food and drink and hear remarks from the BRI’s past and current directors.

“The Brigham Research Institute was originally conceived of as an experiment. Today, it is a powerful force of collaboration.”
Thomas Kupper, MD, Chair, Department of Dermatology, Inaugural Director of the Brigham Research Institute

Kupper highlighted research funding programs, such as the Fund to Sustain Research Excellence (FSRE), which provides interim support to sustain research projects that are likely to receive federal funding in the future. Through the FSRE, the BRI has distributed more than $6 million to 95 investigators. In turn, award recipients have used that to attain more than $200 million in funding.

“I’m proud to have launched the Fund to Sustain Research Excellence (FSRE) and to have been on the committee that hired our Executive Director, Jacqueline M. Slavik, PhD, MMSc.
Thomas Kupper, MD, Chair, Department of Dermatology, Inaugural Director of the Brigham Research Institute

In total, the BRI has distributed more than $10 million in awards since 2006 through the FSRE, micro-grants and other competitive funding programs, such as the BRI Director’s $500K Transformative Award, BRIght Futures Fund and BWH Health & Technology Innovation Fund.

Slavik, who has served as executive director since the BRI launched, introduced each of the BRI’s past and present directors, including Kupper, Cynthia Morton, PhD, Joseph Loscalzo, MD, PhD (in absentia), Christine Seidman, PhD, and Richard Blumberg, MD, who highlighted milestones and achievements from their tenure as directors.

During the celebration, attendees were encouraged to submit one-word answers to the question, “What does the BRI mean to you?” By providing this feedback to the BRI, attendees could be entered into a raffle for prizes.