CIMI Outreach Core

Objectives:
To educate patients and their families, students, and the lay public about the topic of male reproductive health and infertility.

To provide continuing education about the latest developments in the field of male reproductive health and infertility for health care professionals and researchers.

To develop a multi-function program website for health care professionals and the lay public that will offer comprehensive information about male reproductive health and infertility, encourage participation in clinical trials, and disseminate research results.  

To establish male reproductive health and infertility as a public health issue through collaborations with advocacy societies and federal agencies.  

Telemdicine at KUMC:
The instructional methodology for regional educational programs will be broadcasts conducted by the Center for Telemedicine and Telehealth at the KUMC Office of Outreach. The statewide digital telecommunications network advances the use of interactive video technologies for patient care applications. Web-based or home health applications are even more pervasive. Telemedicine uses home residence (digital and analog) telephone lines to transmit compressed video, linking patients at various sites in Kansas with specialists at KUMC. In addition to clinical service, the statewide telemedicine/telehealth network routinely broadcasts continuing education presentations. Kansas IDeA Network for Biomedical Research Excellence (K-INBRE) links KUMC (Lead Institution) with the two other major doctoral-degree-granting institutions in Kansas: University of Kansas-Lawrence and Kansas State University, as Graduate Partner Institutions, and with six Undergraduate Partner Institutions in Kansas: Emporia State University, Ft. Hays State University, Haskell Indian Nations University, Pittsburg State University, Washburn University, and Wichita State University. These campuses have been networked through the interactive videoconferencing system, Polycom, for several years.

The Center’s telemedicine activity is one of the top five most active in the world. In 1999, the Center received the prestigious President’s Award presented by the American Telemedicine Association (ATA) for its historic contributions to the advancement of telemedicine.

Regional Outreach:
Under Dr Cook’s guidance KUMC has a well established and robust program in telemedicine and tele-health that can translate into aspects of regional public health and also function as a means to collaborate with other institutions. The Center for Telemedicine and Telehealth was established in 1991 and has conducted more than 16,000 patient consults for forty different medical specialty areas over a network of 66 interoperable facilities in Kansas (see figure). This outreach program will provide means to educate and communicate with students, researchers and clinical providers. All projects within CIMI will be involved in using this core for these purposes.

Health Care Provider and Researcher Education:
Gilbert S. Greenwald Symposium - This symposium is hosted annually by the Center for Reproductive Sciences (CRS) at KUMC. This has been held for the last 5 years. Each year, the symposium makes gains in both attendance and recognition by the scientific community. Attendance was 86 in 2004 to 134 in 2009. The two-day symposium features talks by six or seven prominent scientists, hosted from other institutions, and presentations by local researchers. The annual meeting is organized by faculty and trainees at KUMC and brings together graduate students, postdoctoral trainees, clinical and basic science faculty, staff and other interested participants, and recognized leaders of the reproductive sciences research community The format includes plenary lectures, short talks, and posters by participants. It is especially welcoming to individuals early in their reproductive biology research careers, providing them an opportunity to meet and interact with well-established scientists. The event is presented on the KUMC website www2.kumc.edu/crs/greenwald. The Greenwald Symposium has been organized in the past by members of the CIMI faculty (Drs Heckert, Kumar and Blanco). All members of the CIMI faculty have and will present their projects at this symposium using this core.
D. C. Johnson Lecture Series has been running since 2003 with over 86 speakers during that time with approximately 40 attendees per week (total of 3440 over the last 7 years). This is a weekly lecture and discussion series held during the academic year and allows KUMC experts and national speakers to educate about and discuss basic science and translational research of reproductive biology. It includes both male and female perspectives. These educational events are currently not accessible to researchers or clinicians outside of KUMC. These lectures are currently being organized by several members of the CIMI faculty (Drs Heckert, Kinsey, Blanco and Kumar). All members of the CIMI faculty have/will present at these meetings.

Male Reproductive Health, A Public Health Issue:
This part of the core, through Dr Nangia, is already involved with members of the Male Reproductive Health Allience (MRHA) to assure good communication between the sites that are part of this proposed program. Dr Nangia has a history of effective collaboration with the MRHA including bi-weekly conference calls since 2009 which will continue. The first joint meeting with CDC is planned for September 2010. The collaborative plan is to meet twice a year – once at the national meeting of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine each October and the other at the CDC in March or April each year. For the joint meetings, an agenda will be prepared and distributed to all team members. Progress will be reviewed and project plans and strategies will be prioritized. The minutes will contain action items and status of project information to focus team members on common sets of objectives and deliverables such as compound synthesis for animal studies. Collaboration with CDC experts (operating within their institutional regulations) through this core will primarily enable results from each CIMI project, as they relate to mechanisms of spermatogenesis and male infertility, to start discussions with national stakeholders about the public health aspects associated with male reproductive health and concerns about progression of problems into the next generation especially through assisted reproductive technology. Active partnership with the MRHA will lead to the creation of white papers and congressional champions who can influence the creation of health care policy such as mandated insurance coverage for prevention and treatment of problems associated with men’s reproductive health.