Science In Translation Podcast: Northwestern University Clinical & Translational Sciences Institute: Feinberg School of Medicin

Science In Translation Podcast: Northwestern University Clinical & Translational Sciences Institute: Feinberg School of Medicine
Science In Translation Podcast
The NUCATS Institute hosts
Science in Translation
, a podcast featuring Feinberg scientists who are dedicated to accelerating how fast they can move a transformational finding in a lab into a treatment, cure, or solution that will improve human health. Scientists also share how tools and resources available through NUCATS have benefited their careers. Browse all our episodes below.
Episodes
Release Date
Listen Now
Transforming Hearing Healthcare Through Translational Science with Sumit Dhar
This episode explores the promise of translational science through
cross-campus, cross-school collaboration between NUCATS and a
professor of communication at Northwestern, that could help the 48
million Americans with hearing loss. Along with his groundbreaking
research into the physiology and the mechanics of the ear,
Sumit Dhar, PhD
is turning his attention to hearing healthcare delivery and
understanding why so few people seek hearing healthcare. With the
help of NUCATS, he is exploring the idea of creating a clinical
trial network for affordable hearing healthcare as well as other
living documents and guidelines that will offer experts in his
field a roadmap to making hearing healthcare more accessible and
utilized.
Jan 29, 2026
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How Collaboration Can Lead to Medical Innovation with John A. Rogers, PhD
Some of the most successful biomedical innovations from the lab
of
John A. Rogers, PhD
are the result of an email or phone call he received from a
clinician, with a real-world problem impacting patients. In this
episode, Rogers, a Northwestern University biomedical engineer,
whose work involves novel material science, talks about his
collaboration with the medical community and why his
often-untraditional approach to academic research is helping to
accelerate translational science.
Jan 21, 2026
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Inside Northwestern’s Collaborative Research Ecosystem with Eric Perreault, PhD
This season on Science in Translation, we will explore how
Northwestern University's interdisciplinary culture drives
discovery and impact, harnessing diverse expertise to address
society's most challenging problems. In this episode,
Eric J. Perreault, PhD
Vice President for Research at Northwestern University, discusses
the power of collaboration and how Northwestern's deeply
interdisciplinary culture across multiple schools and units drives
research and real world impact.
Dec 4, 2025
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From Bench, to Bedside, to Boardroom
Priya Kumthekar, MD
didn’t have industry connections or commercialization training when
she started working with small companies to help bring scientific
advancements to her patients with brain tumors. She learned along
the way the many steps it takes to bring new scientific
breakthroughs to the marketplace specifically through clinical
trials. In this episode, Kumthekar explains how she is now helping
to streamline this commercialization process with
The Chicago Biomedical Consortium Hub for Innovative Technology and
Entrepreneurship in the Sciences
(CBC-HITES) where she serves as a clinical trial translation guide
and how NUCATS members and investigators from across Chicagoland
universities and colleges can benefit from funding and training
offered by the program.
Apr 17, 2025
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Bridging Gaps to Improve Global Health
Through implementation science, NUCATS is dedicated to accelerating
and moving new interventions into impact that improves health for
all.
In this episode of Science
in Translation,
Amy Van Pelt, PhD
discusses her work in implementation science and its impact on
global health, particularly in resource-limited settings. She
shares the importance of bridging gaps between research and
practice, linguistic barriers, and the cultural adaptation of
health interventions through implementation science. She also
shares new educational opportunities for investigators to learn
more about implementation science.
Mar 13, 2025
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Career Development: ‘It’s Not One Size Fits All’
In this episode of Science
in Translation,
Laura Rasmussen-Torvik, PhD
explains some of the innovative strategies and programs driving
career development in clinical and translational science at NUCATS.
She talks about her new role as co-director of the Center for
Education and Career Development (
CECD
at NUCATS, her journey in research and mentorship, and the
intersection of career development, research excellence, and
fostering a collaborative research ecosystem.
Jan 23, 2025
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Empowering Clinical and Translational Research Across Northwestern with Leah Welty, PhD and Anju Peters, MD
As part of $55 million recently awarded to NUCATS by the NIH's
Clinical and Translational Science Awards Program, NUCATS will
provide critical resources and services that empower clinical and
translational research across Northwestern and its
affiliates.
Leah Welty, PhD
and
Anju Peters, MD
are co-leading an effort to streamline research processes, enhance
inclusivity, and foster innovation through collaborative efforts.
In this episode they talk about what NUCATS members can expect as
these efforts launch in the months ahead.
Nov 14, 2024
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Innovation and Commercialization in Biomedical Research with Lisa Dhar, PhD
Aug 8, 2024
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The Future of Community-Driven Research with Jen Brown, MPH, & Sherida Morrison, MS, MA
Since 2008, Northwestern University’s Alliance for Research in
Chicagoland Communities (ARCC) has been bridging the gap between
medical research and local communities. In this episode, ARCC
Director
Jen Brown, MPH
and ARCC Associate Director
Sherida Morrison, MS, MA
discuss the benefits of a community-engaged approach for both
scientists and community members, key considerations for
investigators who want to partner with communities, and the future
of the field.
May 23, 2024
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How AI and Machine Learning are Changing Healthcare and Health Research with Yuan Luo, PhD
As the Chief AI Officer at NUCATS,
Yuan Luo, PhD
is working to break down barriers by applying artificial
intelligence (AI) methods to medical research and clinical
practice. In this episode, he talks about his career path, the
potential of AI in discovering disease mechanisms and making
scientific discoveries, and how healthcare providers can start
collaborating with AI experts through the NUCATS AI for Health
Clinics initiative.
Feb 15, 2024
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Building Teams for High-Risk, High-Reward Research Projects with Jonathan Rivnay, PhD
There are billions of dollars of funding available through
government agencies such as the Defense Advanced Research Projects
Agency (DARPA) and Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health
(ARPA- H) for innovative research projects that could lead to new
biomedical breakthroughs. In this episode, Northwestern
Engineering's Jonathan Rivnay, PhD, explains how he helped build
teams capable of securing such funding and how his $33 million
DARPA and $45 million ARPA-H projects are progressing.
Jan 11, 2024
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Using Data to Improve the Lives and Health of People Through Their Lifespan with Juan Espinoza, MD
As a new faculty member and leader at NUCATS,
Juan Espinoza, MD
is bringing a fresh perspective and expertise in the oversight of
research informatics and analytics as applied to basic,
translational, clinical, and population health sciences. In his
roles as associate director of the
Center for Biomedical Informatics and Data
Science
which spans NUCATS and the Institute for Augmented Intelligence and
Medicine at Northwestern University, and the inaugural chief
research informatics officer for
Stanley Manne Children's Research Institute
at the Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, he
has big goals to improve the lives and health of people through
their lifespan.
Aug 10, 2023
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Dissemination and Implementation Science with Sara Becker
Translating evidence-based services and programs into clinical and
community practice is a NUCATS priority. There has recently been a
shift within
NUCATS
and Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine to offer
more access and new initiatives to help scientists gain knowledge
in this field of study. In this episode, Sara Becker, PhD, director
of the newly formed
Center for Dissemination and Implementation Science
within the Institute for Public
Health and Medicine at Feinberg explains steps taken in
recent months to make dissemination and implementation
(D&I)  training
more accessible to investigators and to equitably and intentionally
bridge the gap between public health and medical knowledge in terms
of what we know and public health and medical practice in terms of
what we do.
Apr 20, 2023
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How an Apple Watch Will Inform a $37 Million Clinical Trial with Rod Passman, MD
There is an exciting new clinical trial about to launch at
Northwestern Medicine that uses an Apple Watch and an iPhone app
and could revolutionize the standard of care for many with atrial
fibrillation, the most common type of heart arrhythmia in the
nation. Rod Passman, MD, is leading the trial and details how the
NUCATS Institute and the CTSA Trial Innovation Network helped his
team secure a $37 million NIH grant to conduct this work.
Feb 7, 2023
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Startups and Commercialization of Research with Satish Nadig, MD, PhD
NUCATS can help facilitate bringing your research to market by
fostering biomedical ingenuity and entrepreneurial activities
through its focus on translational innovation. In this episode,
Satish Nadig, MD, PhD
, discusses his experience collaborating
with and starting biotechnology companies and the importance of
institutional support when launching startups or exploring the
commercialization of research.
Jan 10, 2023
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Supporting Early-Career Scientists with Sadiya Khan, MD, MSc
Sadiya Khan, MD, MSc, was
recently awarded two Research Project (R01) grants from the
National Institutes of Health, a rare feat for an investigator in
the earlier stages of her career. In the first episode of the
NUCATS’ podcast, Science
in Translation, Khan
talks about the role the institute has played in her research
career so far, through the KL2 Career Development Award, to access
mentors, resources and more.
Dec 7, 2022
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Welcome to the Science in Translation Podcast
Northwestern University,
Clinical and Translational Sciences (NUCATS) Institute is launching
its first podcast, Science in Translation. Find out more about this new show in an
interview with Richard D'Aquila, MD, Director of NUCATS.
Nov 17, 2022
Listen Now
Introducing Science in Translation
Science in
Translation is a
podcast from the Northwestern University Clinical and Translational
Sciences (NUCATS) Institute. On this show, you’ll hear from NUCATS
scientists who are dedicated to accelerating how fast they can move
a transformational finding in a lab into a treatment, cure, or
solution that will improve human health. You will also discover
tools and resources available through NUCATS to catalyze,
accelerate, and transform translational science.
Funded by the NIH’s National
Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, the NUCATS Institute
is part of a national network of CTSA hubs and is a critical
component of Northwestern’s research enterprise.
Nov 2, 2022
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