iTHRIV Scholars Program
A cornerstone of the integrated Translational Health Research Institute of Virginia is the iTHRIV Scholars Program. This competitive program prepares trainees to excel in a transformed biomedical research environment in which digital data drives health care hypotheses, interventions, and health quality evaluation.
The program also contributes to the growth and development of team science culture created by the marriage of data-driven approaches with robust clinical translational research across the Commonwealth of Virginia.
The iTHRIV Scholars Program is a mentored, career development award over a two-year period. A request for applications is released in the fall each year and requires an NIH-like submission process with study section review and assessment. Finalists are interviewed in person; awards are announced in the spring, and awards begin on July 1st. Attendance and participation in weekly curriculum and activities are a required part of the program and offers an opportunity for each cohort to develop a community of practice within their own group as well as with the other Scholar cohorts and greater iTHRIV community.
Meet the 2021-2023 iTHRIV Scholars
Julia Basso, PhD
Department of Human Nutrition, Foods, and Exercise in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Virginia Tech
Assistant Professor
Primary Mentor: Martha Ann Bell, PhD
Research Project: Examining the clinical utility of dance to support social skills and behavioral and neural synchrony in individuals with autism spectrum disorder
Jessie Gibson, PhD, RN
Acute and Specialty Care Department, UVA School of Nursing
Assistant Professor
Primary Mentor: Bethany Teachman, PhD
Research Project: Measurement and Modification of Threat Interpretation Bias to Reduce Anxiety in Huntington’s Disease
Lee Ann Johnson, PhD, RN
Acute and Specialty Care Department, UVA School of Nursing
Assistant Professor
Primary Mentor: Sarah Ratcliffe, PhD
Research Project: Comorbidity Profiles and Their Influence on Treatment and Survival Among Underserved Individuals with Advanced Lung Cancer
Shawna Klahn, DVM
Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences, VT Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine
Assosciate Professor
Primary Mentor: Nicola Mason, BVetMed, PhD
Research Project: Nanopulse stimulation as an ablative immune modifier in spontaneous canine
diffuse large B-cell lymphoma
Gregory Madden, MD
Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases and International Health, UVA School of Medicine
Assistant Professor
Primary Mentor: William Petri, MD, PhD
Research Project: Immune profiling to stratify Clostridioides difficile infection outcomes
Kazlin Mason, PhD
Department of Human Services, UVA School of Education and Human Development
Assistant Professor
Primary Mentor: Silvia Blemker, PhD
Research Project: Improving speech outcomes for cleft and craniofacial conditions through applications of machine learning algorithms and patient-specific pre-operative assessment
Adema Ribic, PhD
Department of Psychology, UVA College of Arts and Sciences
Assistant Professor
Primary Mentor: Jessica Connelly, PhD
Research Project: Vision deficits of non-retinal origin in preterm infants: circuit mechanisms and noninvasive approach for prevention and treatment
Meet the 2020-2022 iTHRIV Scholars
Laurie Brenner, PhD
University of Virginia
Assistant Professor, School of Medicine Department of Neurology, NeuroNEXT Scholar
Primary Mentor: Kevin Pelphrey, PhD
Research Project: Is autism-plus-epilepsy an autism subtype with a focal neurobiological basis?
Alexandra DiFeliceantonio, PhD
Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC
Assistant Professor
Primary Co-Mentors: Warren Bickel, PhD and Matthew Hulver, PhD
Research Project: Neural and metabolic correlates of carbohydrate reward
Brittany Howell, PhD
Frailin Biomedical Research Institute
at VTC
Assistant Professor
Primary Mentor: Catherine Limperopoulos, PhD
Research Project: A pilot study of the role of gut dysbiosis in the neurodevelopmental consequences of Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS)
Lisa Letzkus, PhD, RN
University of Virginia
Assistant Professor, School of Medicine Department of Pediatrics
Primary Co-Mentors: Karen Fairchild, MD, and Doug Lake, PhD
Research Project: Neurodevelopmental infant cardiorespiratory evaluation (NICE)
Nicole Long, PhD
University of Virginia
Assistant Professor, College of Arts and Sciences
Primary Mentor: Carol Manning, PhD
Research Project: Mnemonic brain states and selective memory deficits in healthy aging
Kaitlin Love, MD
University of Virginia
Assistant Professor, School of Medicine Department of Endocrinology
Primary Mentor: Zhenqi Liu, MD
Research Project: Effect of Glucagon Like Peptide-1 Receptor Agonism on Microvascular Perfusion, Cardiorespiratory Fitness, and Glycemic Variability in Type 1 Diabetes
Sora Shin, PhD
Frailin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC
Assistant Professor
Primary Mentor: Warren Bickel, PhD
Research Project: Deciphering the role of leptin receptor neural circuits in mediating early life trauma-induced binge eating behavior
Kara Wiseman, MPH, PhD
University of Virginia
Assistant Professor, School of Medicine Department of Public Health Sciences and Neurobehavioral Sciences
Primary Mentor: Lee Ritterband, PhD
Research Project: Establishing the effectiveness of publicly available smoking cessation resources: Does rurality matter?