For Dr. Callie Brown, research success is rooted in collaboration. The CTSI Day keynote speaker, her message—empowering discovery in research—reflects both her scientific philosophy and her personal experience leveraging CTSI resources to advance impactful, community-centered research.
"Research is very rarely successful when performed individually or in silos,” Brown notes. "Team science, community-engaged research, and multidisciplinary collaborations are essential for research breakthroughs and dissemination.” At Wake Forest University School of Medicine, she credits the CTSI with serving as a hub that brings people and resources together, accelerating research across the translational spectrum.
Advancing Community-Engaged Research
One of the most meaningful impacts of CTSI support on Brown’s career came early through the Program in Community Engaged Research (PCER), now known as the Community and Stakeholder Engaged Research Program. With funding and mentorship from the program, Brown received a pilot grant to partner with a community organization developing a food pharmacy program.That experience proved formative. Beyond supporting a single project, the guidance she received helped shape how she approaches research—emphasizing authentic community partnerships and real-world relevance. Today, Brown serves as Assistant Director for the Community and Stakeholder Engaged Research Program, where she is helping to establish a Community Practice Research Network. This network brings primary care providers and practices together with researchers to study real-world clinical questions and improve patient care.
The initiative is designed to engage clinicians as active partners in research—from recruitment and study execution to the rapid adoption of findings into clinical care—demonstrating how CTSI-supported infrastructure can translate discovery directly into practice.
Strengthening Career Development and Research Capacity
CTSI services also played a critical role in Brown’s successful NIH K23 Career Development Award. While preparing and conducting this research, she utilized a range of CTSI-supported services, including grant editing, informatics support, and the Clinical Research Unit.“Our CTSI prioritizes helping early-career faculty at no or low cost,” Brown explains. Through in-house support, her team was able to prepare standardized meals for feeding assessments, collect dietary recalls, and maximize limited research funds. This support enabled the recruitment of a cohort of 335 preschool-aged children and their parents, who were followed for two years to study associations between feeding practices and growth.
In addition, standardized feeding assessments and dietary recalls conducted with a subset of participants generated pilot data that is now being used to support future R01 submissions—illustrating how CTSI services can extend the reach and longevity of a research project well beyond its initial funding period.
Building a Foundation for Translational Success
Encouraging Early and Ongoing Engagement
Reflecting on her experience, Brown encourages other faculty to take full advantage of CTSI resources early in their careers. “There is no need to reinvent the wheel,” she says, pointing to the expertise and institutional knowledge housed within the CTSI. Leveraging these assets, she emphasizes, can save time and resources while opening doors to future collaborations.
As the institution continues to grow, Brown sees expanding opportunities for CTSI to support discovery at scale—through access to larger and more diverse patient populations, the ability to analyze electronic health record data across multiple states, and the rapid dissemination of findings into clinical and community settings.
Brown is especially optimistic about CTSI’s ability to make teamwork in science easier. She believes CTSI can bring together researchers from different fields, institutions, and communities, while offering the resources and support needed to turn real-world clinical and community questions into meaningful research.
Ultimately, Brown views CTSI as far more than a collection of services. “Our CTSI is not just a service center,” she says. “It can serve as a scaffold for research and career development—catalyzing research that is inclusive, patient-centered, and positioned to improve health at scale.” To learn more about the CTSI, please visit the website.