C. KENNETH AND DIANNE WRIGHT CENTER FOR CLINICAL AND TRANSLATIONAL RESEARCH VCU BLOG

A three-year appointment to NCURA places VCU expertise into the national network that trains research administrators across the country. Elizabeth Fortune, MBA, administrative director of VCU’s C. Kenneth and Dianne Wright Center for Clinical and Translational Research, has been appointed to the National Council of University Research Administrators (NCURA) Traveling Workshop Faculty for a three-year […]

The report, “Research Accelerated,” captures a year of momentum across the Wright Center’s research, training, and community partnerships — from workforce development to the fight against the opioid crisis. The C. Kenneth and Dianne Wright Center for Clinical and Translational Research is pleased to announce the publication of its 2025 Impact Report, Research Accelerated. The […]

Every year on May 20, the global research community observes International Clinical Trials Day, commemorating the date in 1747 when Scottish physician James Lind conducted what is widely recognized as the first controlled clinical trial — a systematic test of scurvy treatments aboard a British naval vessel. This year, the C. Kenneth and Dianne Wright […]

After 12 years, 57 publications, and a hand in securing millions in research funding, Amy Olex, Ph.D., is leaving the Wright Center — but not VCU. Her bioinformatics pipelines powered landmark cancer research, her COVID data work shaped health policy across six countries, and her teaching, from the "Bioinformatics 101" seminar series to a graduate course still running today, brought hundreds of researchers into the fold. "I don't know of anywhere else where I would have been able to get all of that experience in one job," she says. "The Wright Center really put me in a unique position."

How does a junior faculty member evolve into a national leader in periodontal research? For S. Esra Sahingur, D.D.S., M.S., Ph.D., the catalyst was the Wright Center’s KL2 scholarship. Now the Associate Dean of Graduate Studies and Student Research at the University of Pennsylvania, Sahingur’s career trajectory—including nearly $4 million in NIH R01 funding—demonstrates how the Wright Center’s K12 Program serves as a powerful launchpad for clinician-scientists.

Last week in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the Wright Center’s own Emily Zimmerman, Ph.D., M.S. and Leah Gregory, M.P.H., M.S.W. brought VCU’s innovative community engagement strategies to a national audience of peer institutions. They presented at the Association for Clinical and Translational Science (ACTS) annual conference, Translational Science 2026 (TS26), one of the most significant annual gatherings […]

To understand the impact of the digital divide on modern healthcare, the VCU Wright Center for Clinical and Translational Research supported a massive analysis of 21 million primary care visits. Led by Jong Hyung Lee, Ph.D., and Alex Krist, M.D., the study reveals that while telehealth use remains significantly higher than pre-pandemic levels, persistent barriers like poverty and broadband access continue to limit its reach. The timing of the study is critical as emergency authorizations that allow Medicare to cover a broad range of telehealth services could expire in days.

Happy New Year, Wright Center Team! As we step into 2026, I find myself reflecting on what can only be described as an extraordinary year for the C. Kenneth and Dianne Wright Center for Clinical and Translational Research. Our theme for 2025 was Impact, and looking back at the data from our Evaluation team, the […]

If you don’t share your research, who will? Groundbreaking work only achieves its full potential when it is shared effectively, allowing it to live outside the lab and change the world. To help scientists bridge the gap between academic study and real-world application, VCU’s Wright Center for Clinical and Translational Research is proud to introduce […]