T1-T4 in 3 Minutes

Finalists from UTMB and UTHSCSA at the 2022 Texas Regional CTSA Consortium (TRCC) Meeting at Moody Gardens in Galveston.

T1-T4 refers to stages in translational research: T1 is basic translation of basic science research to its immediate implications, while T4 is the implementation of science that ultimately leads to clinical practices.

In March 2016, the Institute for Translational Sciences at UTMB held its first “T1-T4 in 3” competition, during which translational sciences students and fellows described their entire research project in three minutes or less to a lay audience. This idea was derived by Sharon Croisant, PhD, Director of the ITS Community Outreach and Engagement Core, who modified the three-minute thesis (3MT) competition that started in Queensland and is now an international competition. The purpose of the T1-T4 in 3 competition is to increase health and scientific literacy among our communities, to bridge gaps between the scientific community and the public, and to improve the capacity of our trainees to effectively communicate complex science to a lay audience.

UTMB continues to host T1-T4 in 3 events, and the program has been disseminated to other CTSAs in Texas (see Past T1-T4 in 3 (Minutes) Winners below). 

Contact Krista Bohn, MPH at krbohn@utmb.edu with questions or for more information. 

Past T1-T4 in 3 (Minutes) Winners

T1-T4 Winners

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  • 2023 TRCC Competition Winners


    Photo caption: Left to right: Danielle Jamison (UTMB), Melissa Henwood (UTMB), Zachary Watson (UTMB), Dr. Mike Kurilla (NIH/National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences), Pahul Hanjra (UT Health Houston).

     

    The finalists from the 2023 UTMB competition advanced to the Texas Regional CTSA Consortium (TRCC) T1-T4 in 3 Minutes event held at UT Health Science Center Houston in October 2023.

    First place: Danielle Jamison, a UTMB PhD student working in the Pharmacology and Toxicology department at UTMB. Her presentation was titled "Understanding differences in vulnerability to, and protection against, Alzheimer's disease."

    Second place: Melissa Henwood, a UTMB MD-PhD student working in the Neurobiology department. Her presentation was titled "From bench to bedside - characterizing a new animal model of neuropathic pain following spinal cord injury."

    Third place: Zachary Watson, a UTMB PhD student working in the Neurobiology department. His presentation was titled "The over-excited gardener: the cause of HIV-associated pain?"

    People's Choice award: Pahul Hanjra of the University of Texas Health Houston, for her presentation called "Identifying a drug to starve cancer cells to death."

    Read our news story on this event: https://its.utmb.edu/welcome/news/2023/10/19/UTMB-students-win-science-communication-contest

     

  • 2023 UTMB Competition Winners

    The 2023 competition was held on April 13, 2023 at UTMB’s Health Education Center (HEC). 

    Photo of the eleven 2023 T1-T4 competitors

    • First Place Award: Zachary Watson, The Over-Excited Gardener: The Cause of HIV-associated Pain?
    • Second Place Award: Vivian Tat, Characterizing Spatial and Temporal Host Innate Immune Responses to SARS-CoV-1 and -2 Infection in Pathologically Relevant Human Lunch Epithelial Cells
    • Third Place Award: Melissa Henwood, Characterizing a pre-clinical model of chronic neuropathic pain
    • People’s Choice Award: Danielle Jamison, Understanding Differences in Vulnerability to, and Protection Against, Alzheimer’s Disease
    • Blackstone LaunchPad Award: Lara Leggio, MD, What is the Reality of Counseling in Clinical Practice for Pediatric Cochlear Implant Audiologists? 

  • 2022 TRCC Competition Winners

    Winners from the 2022 UTMB competition were invited to compete against winners from UT Health San Antonio at the 2022 Texas Regional CTSA Consortium (TRCC) meeting at Moody Gardens.  Ten finalists presented, and the winners are as follows:

    • First place award – Kenya Moore’s work on Neurodegenerative disease (UTMB)
    • Second place award – Kelli LaCroix’s work on walking evaluations for individuals with Traumatic Brain Injury (UTMB)
    • Third place award – Maria “Sukie” Raya’s work on liver disease, diabetes, and Cystic Fibrosis (UT Health San Antonio)
    • Tied for Third place award – Leah Salinsky’s work on psychedelics as a substance use disorder therapeutic
    • “People’s Choice” award – Derek Rodriguez’s work on gene therapy in diabetic retina (UT Health San Antonio)
    • BlackStone LaunchPad award – Angela Mosebarger’s work on preterm birth caused by infection (UTMB)

       

  • 2022 UTMB Competition Winners

     

    After a brief hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the T1-T4 in 3 Competition returned in 2022.  Of the 37 abstracts submitted, 12 were invited to present their research in 3 minutes or less at MarMo Plaza in Galveston, TX on March 3, 2022. 

    In 2022, BlackStone LaunchPad offered an award for the best work that could result in a new product, service, or intervention to improve health. 

    • First place award – Kenya Moore’s work on Neurodegenerative diseases
    • Second place award – Leah Salinsky’s work on psychedelics as addition therapeutics
    • Third place award – Kelli LaCroix’s work on walking evaluations for individuals with Traumatic Brain Injury
    • “People’s Choice” award – Kenny Ogunseye’s work on sex differences in eating behavior
    • BlackStone LaunchPad award – Angela Mosebarger’s work on anti-inflammation molecule to prevent preterm birth
  • 2018 Science of Team Science Regional Competition Winners

     

    Science of Team Science (SciTS) Regional Competition at Moody Gardens winners:

    • First place award – Sergio Rodriguez (UTMB)
    • Second place award – Elizabeth Jaworski (UTMB)
    • Third place award – Kristina Andrijauskaite and Ruth Morris (UT Health San Antonio)
    • “People’s Choice” award – Alvaro Moreira (UT Health San Antonio)
  • 2018 UTMB Competition Winners
    First place winner, Elizabeth Jaworski, receives award from Sharon Croisant, PhD

     

    Winners of the UTMB competition:

    • First place award – Elizabeth Jaworski, Form, Function, and Formation of Defective Viruses
    • Second place award – Jacqueline Contrera Avila, High-Cost Hospitalizations Among Older Patients with Cancer
    • Third place award – Suzan Alharbi,  Novel Approach for Using Keratinocyte Sheets for Covering Burn Wounds
    • “People’s Choice” award – Sergio Rodriguez, Designing Cures for a Deadly Viral Disease
  • 2016 UTMB Competition Winners

    About 30 applicants applied to be part of the inaugural T1-T4 in 3 Competition by submitting an abstract of their research project. From this initial group of applicants, judges chose 12 applicants to compete. Below are the competition winners:

    • First place award - Dr. Guillermo Foncerrada’s work on the differences between electrical burns and flame burns in children.
    • Second place award - Maria Swartz's work on rehabilitation.
    • Third place award - Jose Aguirre’s work in internal medicine.
    • “People’s Choice” award - Jourdan Andersson’s work in the Institute for Translational Sciences.

    A direct display of the importance of having these types of events in the Institute for Translational Sciences is the influence it had on one of the competitors, Dr. Guillermo Foncerrada: after winning first place in the 2016 T1 - T4 in 3 Competition, Dr. Foncerrada went on to participate as a speaker at a SCI Café event and is now a Bench Tutorial Program mentor.