Wright Center Bioinformatics Specialist earns PhD and sets sights on future policy implications for Multiple Sclerosis patients
Defending a dissertation and subsequently obtaining a PhD is an enormous accomplishment. To Amy Olex, PhD, it is just the beginning of her lifelong journey in research which is deeply personal. Dr. Olex, senior bioinformatics specialist at the Wright Center, began her PhD journey a few years before she came to the Wright Center. She […]
Wright Center researchers co-author winning N3C poster on organ transplants and COVID-19
The Wright Center’s Amy Olex, M.S., and Evan French were co-authors on a poster that won top honors at a recent conference. The senior bioinformatics specialist and informatics system analyst, respectively, helped produce Covid-19 In Solid Organ Transplantation (SOT): Results of The National Covid Cohort Collaborative (N3C). The poster was accepted to the Cutting Edge of Transplantation […]
Wright Center informaticist leads international team for COVID-19 research
Organ transplant recipients, people with HIV, those with autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis – the COVID-19 pandemic has been especially scary for people whose immune systems are compromised or suppressed. They’ve fought or are fighting battles against other diseases – or even their own immune systems. And the newness of the virus […]
The Wright Center is here to help with your research resolutions
Last year did not go as planned for anyone. But 2021 will slowly, we hope, bring a return to the new normal in our professional lives. If more or better health-related research at VCU is one of your 2021 resolutions, the Wright Center can help. Find your research resolution below and see how. Wright Center […]
What is natural language processing? Six questions with Amy Olex
The machines are learning. But that’s OK, because Amy Olex, M.S., is there to teach them. The senior bioinformatics specialist at the Wright Center is extracting de-identified information from troves of clinical notes so that health researchers at VCU and VCU Health can create meaningful studies and bring research results to patients more quickly. Natural […]
Wright Center researchers featured for Global Diversity Awareness Month
VCU Health featured two VCU researchers, both serving in community engagement roles at the Wright Center for Clinical and Translational Research, for October’s Global Diversity Awareness Month. “Diversity matters in health care because it drives innovation,” said Katherine Tossas, Ph.D., M.S., whose work is informed by bioinformatics and community-engaged research. Tossas, the director of catchment […]
VCU researchers can now access national COVID-19 data
Virginia Commonwealth University researchers can now tap into a national resource to further their study of COVID-19. The National COVID Cohort Collaborative, or N3C, led by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), securely collects and organizes clinical and diagnostic data from patients across the country to create a dataset broad enough to engage in meaningful research […]
VCU joins national data collaboration to fight COVID-19
Virginia Commonwealth University has joined a national, centralized data resource designed to help researchers study COVID-19 for years to come. The National COVID Cohort Collaborative, or N3C, led by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), will securely collect and organize clinical and diagnostic data from patients across the country to create a dataset broad enough […]
Wright Center COVID trials expanded with the help of medical language services
adapted from a VCU Health news story Clara Dutari is bilingual, interpreting for Spanish-speaking patients at VCU Health. But she doesn’t just convert words, like a Spanish-English dictionary. She provides context, nuance and intuition to improve communication. One of six interpreters and translators at VCU Medical Center, Dutari sometimes sees patients nodding as their doctor […]
Zero to Sixty: The Wright Center’s rapid response to COVID-19
The Wright Center has been on the front lines of the battle against COVID-19 since March. As Virginia Commonwealth University’s home for interdisciplinary human health research, the center is uniquely positioned to act as a bridge between the physicians, faculty, researchers and staff that are engaged in fighting the pandemic on multiple fronts. And it’s […]