Education and Events

Periodical workshops led by Dr. K. Ravid with participation of ARC directors

1. Review reputable published data documenting the value of teamwork in creating new and greater knowledge, and how team structure and collaboration enhance performance in complex environments, informing the design and development of resilient and creative teams, drawing on network science; 2. Introduction of new ways of applying theories of team-based science to practice through building novel Affinity Research Collaboratives (ARCs), anchored in five core principles–Capability; Cooperation; Communication; Coaching; Conditions–leading to cohesive, collaborative teams, whose members typically speak different “scientific languages. ARC principles are described in our published papers (see below) and in: https://www.bumc.bu.edu/evanscenteribr/the-arcs/process /; 3. Review and learn from published methods, and, importantly, from our own ARC experiential challenges and opportunities, granted by practicing interdisciplinary science in general and in context of biomedical research.

Examples of literature and data analyzed during educational workshops:

From our own experience:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23269301/  
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23874035/  
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28445220/  
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28720207/

Examples of recent and past articles reviewed in workshops:
> Artificial intelligence in biomedical team science: perceptions, practices, and training needs (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41646907/)
> Team Science evaluation (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK617876/)
> A framework for developing team science expertise using a reflective-reflexive design method (R2DM) (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41599-023-02298-2)
> Moving the Science of Team Science Forward: Collaboration and Creativity (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18619406/)

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What is Synopsis 5′? It is a research presentation platform held by the ARC program since its inception. Research On Tap holds a similar format. A Synopsis 5′ event includes 10-14 investigators, each using 2-4 slides max within 5 min max to present: 1. Major goals of their research; 2. Major milestones so far; 3. Future research directions that could benefit from team and interdisciplinary science.

Wednesday  2/11/26:  MHet ARC Trainees Presentation
(hybrid)
Zoom (click above for meeting info) or 635 Comm Ave, room 236 (Charles River Campus)
8:30 am – 10 am
Presenter: Elaine Huang, MS
“Deep Learning in Histopathological Whole Slide Images (WSIs) for Breast Cancer Subtype Classification”

Monday  2/23/26:  Precision Medicine for Alzheimer Disease & Related Disorders ARC Program presents:
Health Economics in Alzheimer’s Disease and Alzheimer’s Disease–Related Dementias (AD/ADRD) Mini-Symposium

1:00 pm – 2:15pm

Invited Speakers: Amitabh Chandra, PhD (Harvard); Norma Coe, PhD (University of Pennsylvania); David Cutler, PhD (Harvard)

“Why health economics should matter to my research in ADRD”
Format: 15 minute talks with 5 minutes for Q&A for each speaker, and then a 15 minute panel discussion at the end

Registration: https://bostonu.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_fhLbpWpmRJGKwV9q40stdw

Tuesday  2/24/26 (postponed, rescheduled to 5/11/26):  Mobile and Electronic Health ARC Seminar
(Virtual)
12:00 pm – 1:00 pm
Invited Speaker: John Piette, PhD​, University of Michigan
“Improving Healthcare Access, Efficiency, and Quality Using Machine Learning and NLP”

Wednesday  2/25/26 (postponed):  Food as Medicine Pre-ARC mini-symposium
L403, 72 East Concord St (Medical Campus)
2:00 pm – 4:15 pm
Keynote Speaker: Dr. Fang Fang Zhang, Tufts University
Full Agenda & Registration Will Appear Here with new date

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March 2026

Wednesday  3/18/26:  MHet ARC Trainees Presentation
(hybrid)
Zoom (click above for meeting info) or 635 Comm Ave, room 236 (Charles River Campus)
8:30 am – 10 am
Presenter: Nargiz Valikhanova
“Exploring role of Schwann cell precursors in fracture healing“
Presenter: Henry Brisebois
“Quantitative Raman Imaging for Label-Free Characterization of the Extracellular Matrix: Applications in Cartilage and Lung”

Thursday 3/19/26:  TIARA ARC mini-symposium
L403, 72 East Concord St (Medical Campus & Zoom)
RSVP HERE
11:30 am – 2:30 pm
Keynote Speaker: Dr. Sarah Fortune, “Pursuing Tuberculosis Elimination from Genes to the Globe”
John LaPorte Given Professor of Immunology and Infectious Diseases
Chair, Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Chair of the Department of Immunology and Infectious Disease

Thursday  3/19/26:  Mobile and Electronic Health ARC Seminar
(Virtual)
12:00 pm – 1:00 pm
Invited Speaker: Nicholas Jacobson, PhD​​, Dartmouth College
“Therabot: 6.5 Years and Over 100,000 Human Hours Building and Evaluating the First Generative AI Psychotherapy Chatbot“

Monday  3/23/26: B4D ARC mini-symposium
X714/715, 650 Albany St (Medical Campus)
1:00 pm – 5:00 pm RSVP
Keynote Speaker: Dr. Shannon Stott, Chair of the BU Biomedical Engineering Department, “Microfluidics for detecting rare biomarkers in disease”

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April 2026

Tuesday  4/7/26:  Mobile and Electronic Health ARC Seminar
(Virtual)
12:00 pm – 1:00 pm
Invited Speaker: Timothy Bickmore, PhD​, Northeastern University
“Embodiment, Empathy, and Engagement in Automated Health Counseling “

Friday 4/10 & Saturday 4/11/26:  Medical AI Hackathon
co-sponsored by the Evans Center IBR & others
4/10: 3-6pm & 4/11: 9aa-6pm
CDS building, 665 Commonwealth Ave, 17th floor
Registration is closed; all spots are filled at this time.
contact: Dr. Vijaya Kolachalama, ARC co-director

Monday 4/13/26:  3rd Annual MHet ARC Mini-Symposium
11:00 am – 4:00 pm
Photonics Building, 8 St. Mary’s St, 906 Colloquium Room
New this year:There will be opportunities  for top scoring abstracts to be selected for  short talks. Abstract submissions are closed.

Thursday  4/23/26:  Precision Medicine for Alzheimer Disease & Related Disorders ARC Program: April Seminar
1:00 pm – 2:30 pm
(Virtual)

Wednesday 4/29/26:  Precision Medicine for Alzheimer’s Disease: 6th Annual FHS-BAP Symposium
12:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Please register for this year’s symposium by following the instructions in the attached registration flyer or by clicking on the following link: Webinar Registration – Zoom

Wednesday  4/29/26:  Food as Medicine Pre-ARC Mini-symposium
650 Albany St, room X714&715
2:00 pm – 4:15 pm
Keynote Speaker: Dr. Fang Fang Zhang, Tufts University
Full Agenda & Registration

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May 2026

Tuesday  5/5/26: BU BIRCWH & Women’s Health Research ARC Symposium: Boston Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women’s Health Symposium
9:30 pm – 3:15 pm
665 Commonwealth Ave(Charles River Campus)
Hariri Building 1101
co-hosted by the BU Women’s Health Research ARC, Boston BIRCWH sites (BU/BMC, Tufts/Tufts Medical, MGB), Hariri Institute
Keynote Speaker: Harriette GC Van Spall, MD, MPH, FRCРС, “Opportunity and Unintended Consequences with Use of Al to Advance Women’s Health Research”

Monday  5/11/26:  Mobile and Electronic Health ARC May Seminar
(Virtual)
12:00 pm – 1:00 pm
Invited Speaker: John Piette, PhD​, University of Michigan
“Improving Healthcare Access, Efficiency, and Quality Using Machine Learning and NLP”

Tuesday  5/12/26:  B4D ARC May Seminar
(Hybrid)
1:00 pm – 2:00 pm
Invited Speaker: Haolin (Leo) Li, PhD,BU SPH
“Improving Decision-Making in Oncology Basket Clinical Trials: Challenges of Small Sample Sizes and Heterogeneous Treatment Effects”

Wednesday  5/27/26: MHet May Seminar
(Virtual)
9:00 am – 10:00 am
Invited Speaker: Young C. Jang, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Emory Musculoskeletal Institute
Department of Orthopaedics, Emory School of Medicine
“Integrative bioengineering approaches to rejuvenate aging skeletal muscle“