InPhotos: BWH Research Administrators’ Retreat
On May 16, BWH hosted its fourth annual Research Administrators’ Retreat at the Boston Hotel and Conference Center. Christopher Coburn, vice president of Partners Innovation, and Jeffrey Karp, PhD, co-director of the BWH Center for Regenerative Therapeutics, were the keynote speakers, providing an overview of the current state of research funding and next-generation bio-inspired adhesives, respectively.

Along with keynote presentations and sessions covering topics such as clinical trials management, human resources case studies and the grant management process, attendees were encouraged to participate in activities throughout the day to win raffle tickets for various prizes. A photo quiz (shown here) tested attendees’ knowledge of places in and around BWH.

Daniel Salvati, administrative director for Research in the BWH Department of Surgery, helped moderate a session on research systems that drive applications utilized in Proposal Development, Financial Reporting and Human Resources and Purchasing.

A fun activity to educate research administrators about the many acronyms and phrases they encounter in their work involved a sticky situation. Stickers with acronyms and phrases were placed on attendees’ backs. Attendees were encouraged to mingle with one another during the retreat to figure out what was written on their backs and find their matching partner. For instance, a person with an “A/P” sticker would be on the lookout for a person with an “Accounts Payable” sticker.

Angela Vail, administrative director of BWH Research Operations, moderated a session called, “Stump the Expert,” where attendees posed their most vexing questions about research administration to an expert panel comprised of Chris Clark (shown here), director of Partners HealthCare Office for Interactions With Industry and Legal Counsel in Partners HealthCare Office of General Counsel; Peter Markell, chief financial officer of Partners HealthCare; and Barbara Bierer, MD, senior vice president of BWH Research.