Bantz-Petronio Translating Research into Practice Awards

2024 Bantz-Petronio Translating Research into Practice Award

The 2024 Bantz-Petronio Translating Research Into Practice Faculty Award recipient is Sherri Bucher, PhD, Associate Professor of Community and Global Health, Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public health, and Adjunct Associate Professor of Pediatrics in the IU School of Medicine. Dr. Bucher is a champion of maternal and infant health locally and internationally. The goal of her research is to eliminate preventable maternal and newborn illnesses and deaths. While tirelessly working towards her objective, she has built a collaborative network of clinicians, researchers, trainees and community members in Indiana, East Africa and other locations around the world to advance this goal.  

Dr. Bucher is an award-winning inventor of digital health and biomedical device solutions to improve neonatal care and strengthen global health care systems. Currently, she holds 3 patents for “NeoWarm,” a biomedical device she invented to prevent newborn hypothermia. The device has patents in the United States and 23 countries in sub-Saharan Africa, with a patent pending in India. Neowarm is one part of a suite of biomedical devices and digital health interventions that Dr. Bucher and her collaborators are developing to improve care for newborns. She also developed phone apps which are used “bedside” by healthcare providers in resource-limited settings for newborn resuscitation and stabilization.  

Since 2009, Dr. Bucher has also been involved in the design, development, evaluation and implementation of the American Academy of Pediatrics’ (AAP) Helping Babies Survive (HBS) programs. She continues to serve on curriculum development working groups and as an international trainer and Kenya country mentor. She was previously a global technical advisor and implementation specialist and contributed to key policy and guideline documents that have been integrated into national health policies by global partners. Over the years, she has trained thousands of healthcare workers in cities throughout the United States and Canada, and sub-Saharan Africa, including Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and Zanzibar. 

Dr. Bucher is also the Founder and Director of The NeoInnovate Collaborative Consortium, an interdisciplinary international coalition of faculty, students, post-graduate trainees, and external collaborators. Their goal is to build, deploy, and evaluate innovative solutions by which to equip and empower healthcare workers and communities, and strengthen health systems, to more effectively implement evidence-based public health interventions to improve maternal, newborn, and child health. 

Dr. Bucher has also served as an abstract reviewer for the Pediatric Academic Societies and the American Public Health Association meetings, ad hoc reviewer for a variety of international journals, and a reviewer of grant applications for NIH and the National Academy of Sciences. She recently served as a Guest Editor for a special supplement of the journal BMC Pediatrics, entitled “Prematurity and low birthweight infants in resource limited settings.” She was a member of 3 AAP Editorial Committees which published the “Helping Babies Survive” curriculum and was the primary developer of graphics-based educational parent guides for content regarding essential newborn care and care for small and premature babies. She was also a member of the United Nations (UN) Commission on Life-Saving Commodities for Women and Children for several years, and then became a member of the UN Practitioner’s Network. Dr. Bucher is the only non-clinician to be appointed as an International and Country Mentor for the “Helping Babies Survive” and “Helping Babies Breathe” programs for the American Academy of Pediatrics. Currently, she serves as a member of the AAP’s Global Neonatal Advisory Committee.  

Over her career, Dr. Bucher has received over $22 million in research funding, including from the NIH and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. From 2008 to 2024, she contributed to the IU-Kenya site of the Global Network for Women’s and Children’s Health Research, including as the US-based co-Principal Investigator from 2017 - 2024. During her tenure with the Global Network, in addition to participating in several observational and prevalence studies, Dr. Bucher also contributed to seminal international clinical trials for interventions related to prevention of maternal sepsis and preterm delivery, resulting in publications in journals such as New England Journal of Medicine, The Lancet, and Lancet Global Health. 

Dr. Bucher has served as a mentor to over 100 trainees within Indiana, Kenya and other places around the globe. This dedication to working with mentees in medicine, public health, informatics, biotechnology, engineering, and other disciplines is creating the next generation of scientists and health leaders who will be empowered to make contributions to solve current and future health challenges. She was selected as a mentor in the IU Indianapolis Advancing Women Mentoring Program and is an appointed member of the Women’s Advisory and Diversity Counsel in the IU School of Medicine.  

Dr. Bucher is passionate about saving the lives of women and babies all around the world and mentoring the next generation of public health, medical, and nursing leaders.  

“I am extremely honored to be selected for the 2024 Bantz-Petronio Translating Research into Practice Award, and to have the privilege to join the ranks of esteemed colleagues who are prior recipients of this distinguished honor. I am remarkably fortunate that my career in global public health has been incubated within the supportive environment of Indiana University, which scaffolds the cultivation of meaningful and impactful multidisciplinary and community-engaged translational research, education, and practice initiatives, across Indiana, and beyond.” 

Congratulations Dr. Bucher! 

2022 Bantz-Petronio Translating Research into Practice Award

The 2022 Bantz-Petronio Translating Research Into Practice Faculty Award recipient is Todd Skaar, PhD. Dr. Skaar, an internationally recognized leader in the field of pharmacogenomics, received this award in recognition of his groundbreaking research and his dedication to mentoring the next generation of translational scholars. Dr. Skaar is a professor of medicine in the IU School of Medicine and a co-leader at the Cancer Prevention and Control & Symptom Science Program of the Indiana University Melvin & Bren Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center. He also currently serves as the interim chief of the Division of Clinical Pharmacology, an internationally recognized division of expert investigators in drug therapies.

Dr. Skaar and his research team study ways to improve the success of cancer treatment drug therapies.  His work focuses on the impact of genomic variability in how these drugs interact with each other and in the body. Better understanding these drug interactions can improve outcomes and reduce hospitalizations. Dr. Skaar’s competitive translational research was awarded an NIH-funded Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award (MIRA).

Dr. Skaar serves as the leader of the Pharmacogenomics (PGx) Implementation Team working under the larger Precision Health Initiative (PHI) inaugural project awarded in 2016. PGx, which utilizes a patient’s genetics to guide selection and dosing of appropriate medications, has the potential to enhance medication efficacy and minimize toxicity. Dr. Skaar’s team has successfully implemented PGx testing in cardiology, oncology, psychiatry, neurology, and in various transplant disciplines.

In addition to a robust research portfolio, Dr. Skaar also has more than 150 indexed publications in PubMed and has authored numerous clinical practice guidelines as a member of the Clinical Pharmacogenetics Implementation Consortium, an expert organization whose mission is to provide evidence-based guidance on how to translate genetic results into actionable prescribing decisions.

Dr. Skaar is passionate about mentoring and encouraging young researchers. Trainees have emerged as leaders in translational medicine, as faculty at academic institutions, as scientists working in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, and as regulators at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and National Institutes of Health. Dr. Skaar exemplifies a translational scientist through his research, collaborations, mentorship of trainees, and through his positive impact on human health.

Congratulations Dr. Skaar!

2020 Bantz-Petronio Translating Research into Practice Award

Peter Schubert, PhD, was awarded the 2020 Bantz-Petronio Translating Research Into Practice Award for translating his research into practical solutions for affordable and reliable energy from renewable sources. The university created the spin-up company Green Fortress Engineering (GFE) to commercialize his intellectual property on waste-to-energy, hydrogen storage, and in-space resource utilization. The biomass gasifier he invented has been funded by the USDA, the Department of Energy, and the Army, and has earned five US patents. Using locally-available low-cost materials such as crop waste, food waste, and utility trimmings, his technology can produce electricity, heat, biochar, and hydrogen gas. The gasifier is called the Stalk Stoker, and is suitable for farms, factories, and facilities which have free or nuisance materials available. 

The bio-hydrogen can be stored in a novel solid-state storage media for which Schubert holds four US patents. The research has been funded by the DOE and the National Science Foundation. GFE has received further development funds from private industry, subcontracting the research components to IUPUI while developing commercial applications for fuel cell vehicles and long-duration aerial drones. This approach is eight times better than batteries, and could revolutionize how we generate, store, and transport energy.

Schubert’s most out-of-this-world technology is converting mineral resources from the moon and asteroids into solar power satellites.  When placed in a geosynchronous orbit they can beam power to cities on earth around the clock. With abundant clean and inexhaustible power to urban centers, paired with local waste-to-energy in rural and remote locales, his translational research is a very practical exemplar of how IUPUI's faculty members seek to make our communities better.

Dr. Schubert is Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering in the Purdue School of Engineering and Technology and serves as Director of the Richard G. Lugar Center for Renewable Energy and CEO of Green Fortress Engineering, Inc.

Congratulations Dr. Schubert!

2018 Bantz-Petronio Translating Research into Practice Award

Sunil Badve, MBBS, MD (Path), FRCPath (Engl), was awarded the 2018 Bantz-Petronio Translating Research into Practice Award in recognition of his exemplary translational research in the area of breast cancer.

Dr. Badve's translational research efforts on efficient treatment of breast cancer have a two-pronged approach; developing novel targeted therapies on the one hand and identifying ineffective therapies on the other. His team is studying the individual biological components that culminate in cancer. Gaining a better understanding of these molecular mechanisms will enable identification of key "nodes" in cellular pathways, which can then be targeted by biological agents leading to better diagnosis and effective treatment of breast cancer.

Dr. Badve demonstrated that the FoxA1 protein plays a critical role in determining responses to anti-hormonal therapy IU patent, being licensed. His group has developed a gene signature useful for predicting brain metastasis (IU patent pending) and is currently, with (IU and non-IU) collaborators, trying to dissect the pathways associated with brain metastasis with the hope of preventing and treating this disease. He is also collaborating with IU and Purdue researchers to develop novel methods of detecting and treating breast cancer.

His practical application of research into information that can be used by local clinicians in treating breast cancer is a unique and important contribution to our understanding of cancer and successful treatment approaches.

Congratulations, Professor Badve!

2016 Bantz-Petronio Translating Research into Practice Award

Patricia Scott, PhD, was awarded the 2016 Bantz-Petronio Translating Research into Practice Award based on her outstanding translational research.

Roles are sets of activities performed in a routine way, for example, work, friendship, volunteerism, hobbyist, or maintaining a home. The roles we participate in structure our lives, and govern the way we see ourselves and others see us. As life moves forward we develop habits and routines that enable us to meet the expectations of these various roles. Roles are the ‘how’ of social participation. Human beings we are social in nature, and make choices based on our interests and values. Through this social interaction we identify ourselves through roles such as "I am a student at IUPUI" or "this is my sister Joanne" and "David is an engineer who works with my brother-in-law."

As an occupational therapist, Dr. Scott treated people with problems stemming, in part, from lack of participation in valued roles. Many of these people have trouble with role identification. It is socially awkward to say, ‘this is my brother who just got out of prison’, and ‘I cannot work because I have schizophrenia ’, or ‘I cannot attend because I lost my license for driving drunk’.

In 1997, Dr. Scott's own role identification was threatened. She was told her 20-year course of autoimmune hepatitis caused irreversible cirrhosis, and the only option was liver transplantation. She did not want to take on the role of a patient or a ‘sick’ person, and importantly she did not know how. She scoured the research literature for information that would help her understand what her life would be like during and after transplantation. She found very little. There is extensive evidence about the life saving aspects of transplantation, however, little to assist those individuals who struggle to return to life as they knew it before transplantations. And life after transplantation IS different. Aside from her own situation, as an occupational therapist, she realized if she had this problem, many others likely did also. She has since devoted herself to a research career with the goal of increasing the number of individuals who have access to information and health care services such that they can return to full meaningful participation in life post-transplant. Phase I, revealed that post-transplant participation in a higher number of valued roles as measured by the Role Checklist, is significantly associated with higher SF-36 scores. Phase II is a longitudinal study, measuring timing of return to activities of daily living and valued roles at 15 points over the first 2 years post-transplant. Phase III moved her work into determining the best interventions to support individuals struggling to resume meaningful life participation after transplantation. Her presentations and publications caught the work of colleagues.

Ironically, it was the innovative use, and modification of the Role Checklist, a long standing tool used by occupational therapists, which catapulted her work into the international spotlight. In 2012 she established a formal collaboration with International colleagues and now, in Version 3 of the Role Checklist, with tested translation guidelines and international cross-cultural validation studies in place, her aspiration to establish the first globally accepted measure of participation appears closer than ever.

Dr. Scott's work to enable more individuals to engage in full participation in society, not only following liver transplantation but through establish a cross-culturally valid role participation tool, is another example of how IUPUI's faculty members are translating their research into practice. Dr. Scott is Associate Professor, Occupational Therapy in the IU School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences.

Congratulations, Professor Scott!

2014 Bantz-Petronio Translating Research into Practice Award

Jeffrey Kline, MD, was awarded the 2014 Bantz-Petronio Translating Research into Practice Award based on his outstanding translational research. Dr. Kline has transformed the way physicians think about, diagnose, and treat pulmonary embolism (PE). The direct application of his work has saved countless lives and prevented unnecessary testing in hundreds of thousands of other patients who present with high risk medical situations. For instance, if you ask an Emergency Medicine physician how they think about PE, you will hear about the PERC rule (Pulmonary Embolism Rule out Criteria). This was created by Dr. Kline and has fundamentally changed the approach to the patient who presents with chest pain or shortness of breath. It is also because the elegance and rigor of his studies, coupled with the clarity of his language, that his work is translated into clinical practice around the world.  

His diagnostic research interests focus on human affect analysis, pretest probability, and novel breath-based instruments to reduce overuse of medical imaging. His human treatment research includes randomized trials of fibrinolysis and inhaled nitric oxide to reduce heart damage from blood clots in the lungs. Dr. Kline’s current work focuses on using the human face as a diagnostic instrument to further help doctors make informed decisions about diagnostic testing for blood clots. His laboratory work focuses on mechanisms and treatment of acute pulmonary hypertension from pulmonary embolism, animal models of pulmonary embolism, and a nanoparticle-delivered enzyme, plasmin, to promote clot lysis without increasing risk. He helped set up an advanced hospital treatment program for patients with severe PE, and he also created and currently runs a clinic specifically to allow patients diagnosed with blood clots in the emergency department to receive treatment at home, rather than in the hospital.

Dr. Kline’s work on an interdisciplinary team including faculty and students focusing on the human face as a diagnostic instrument is an excellent example of the translational research efforts of IUPUI. Dr. Kline is Professor of Emergency Medicine, Professor of Physiology, and Vice Chair of Research in the Department of Emergency Medicine, IU School of Medicine.

Congratulations, Professor Kline!