the research institute was grateful for the

• U.S. Department of Health & Human Services

• Virtual Tour
• Staff Directory
• En Español

You are here

Gratitude for biomedical progress and all those who make it possible, nih blog post date, connect with us.

• More Social Media from NIH

Landmark $50 million gift to dramatically expand health sciences research at Virginia Tech

An extraordinary donation from the Red Gates Foundation will fuel hiring and research projects at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC.

• John Pastor  and 
• Albert Raboteau

12 Sep 2023

• Share on Facebook
• Share on Twitter
• Copy address link to clipboard

The Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC continues to rise as an innovative hub for translational brain, heart, and cancer research. Boosted by a $50 million gift from the Red Gates Foundation, the institute will hire 14 new faculty and embark on six research projects.

The Richmond-based Red Gates Foundation has committed $50 million to the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC to accelerate health sciences research at Virginia Tech. The gift is among the largest ever made to the university.

“The Red Gates Foundation is committed to funding innovative research that has the potential to make a real difference in the world,” said Jeff Galanti, the foundation’s executive director. “The Fralin Biomedical Research Institute is a world-renowned research institution that pushes the boundaries of what is possible. We are confident that their nimble approach to research, which is focused on the intersections of science, medicine, engineering, and data analytics, will help them make significant breakthroughs that benefit humanity in the years to come."

The Red Gates Foundation was created by the estate of Hunter Goodwin in 2020. The foundation’s overarching mission is to usher in transformative change by supporting innovative programs and community-driven initiatives that boldly tackle seemingly insurmountable challenges.

“At the heart of the Red Gates Foundation's philosophy is a recognition that genuine progress requires more than just financial resources; it demands a commitment to innovative thinking, collaborative partnerships, and a profound understanding of the unique needs of those it seeks to help,” the organization said in a statement.  

“We are grateful for this extraordinary gift from the Red Gates Foundation supporting Virginia Tech’s commitment to health and biomedical sciences,” said university President Tim Sands. “As we work to significantly increase the impact of our biomedical research, this gift will accelerate our timeline and help recruit world-leading researchers to join us in fighting diseases that impact millions of people worldwide.” 

Added Sands,“It is a powerful endorsement of the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute’s rapid rise as one of the nation’s most innovative and productive enterprises in translational brain and heart research, and its emerging focus on similar innovation in cancer research under the leadership of founding Executive Director Michael Friedlander.”

Friedlander, who is also Virginia Tech’s vice president for health sciences and technology and who has led the development of the partnership with the Red Gates Foundation, said, “We are incredibly grateful to the Red Gates Foundation and are excited to now be able to do more to address two of the major categories of health challenges that affect millions of people worldwide — cancer and brain disorders. This transformational gift will create new opportunities for our already highly successful neuroscience research programs at the institute and across the entire Virginia Tech campus. It will also serve as a major foundational launch pad for growing our cancer research programs and accelerating the transition of the Virginia Tech-wide Cancer Research Alliance to a more potent and integrated alliance while also building stronger bridges with our clinical partners at Carilion Clinic and Children’s National Hospital.”

A majority of the gift will go toward recruiting 14 researchers focused largely on cancer, but also on neuroengineering and computational neuroscience. A third of the gift will support six major research projects, directed toward cancer and brain disorders in adults and children. Each of the six projects will be led by a senior Fralin Biomedical Research Institute faculty member based in Roanoke.

Your browser does not support iframes. Link to iframe content: https://www.youtube.com/embed/GYiTsLqkJwA?si=ReU6bCcT4eInGotJ

Expanding the international scope of the university’s research enterprise and becoming a top 100 global university is  a principal objective of Virginia Tech  this decade. The Red Gates Foundation gift, which equals the two largest  ever   made  to the university, will help a great deal by allowing the university’s premier health sciences research institute to increase by roughly one-third the number of faculty-led research teams.

The six immediate projects led by senior researchers at the institute that will be made possible by the Red Gates Foundation gift are the following:

• A new therapeutic approach to reducing side effects of radiation treatment in cancer patients in a project led by Robert Gourdie
• A new technique that targets and destroys invasive brain cancer cells in a project led by Jennifer Munson
• A remotely delivered smartphone app that helps the brain consider future events  to reduce smoking and incidence of lung cancer among veterans in a project led by Warren Bickel
• Combination therapies and delivery routes that target mitochondrial dysfunction in nerve cells to slow and prevent Parkinson’s disease progression in work led by Anthony-Samuel LaMantia with collaborator Read Montague
• New machine learning applications to rapidly measure neurochemicals in the brain for precision diagnosis and tracking of effective therapeutics to treat epilepsy in children in work led by Montague
• Development of a compound that mimics exercise for promoting health and preventing and treating non-communicable diseases including cancer in work led by Zhen Yan with collaborator Webster Santos

“These six projects will each provide important new scientific insights and take critical steps to advance those insights to evaluation of effective diagnostics, preventatives, and treatments for cancer and brain disorders,” said Friedlander. “This gift from the Red Gates Foundation makes possible a carefully designed plan to enhance our cancer research and our research enterprise overall, building on our strengths in neuroscience, our relationships with researchers across several Virginia Tech colleges, and our partnerships with Children’s National Hospital and Carilion Clinic.”

In 2007, the Commonwealth of Virginia, Virginia Tech, and Carilion Clinic joined together to announce an advanced biomedical research institute and medical school in Roanoke. Fueled by investment by the commonwealth, the university, and Carilion and bolstered by philanthropy, the institute has helped Virginia Tech dramatically expand its health sciences research over the past decade.

Using state-of-the-art instrumentation, Fralin Biomedical Research Institute scientists and engineers can visualize tissues or processes with unprecedented high resolution.

Heywood Fralin, a Roanoke businessman and health care executive who made the major gift that named the research institute in 2018, said ongoing investment in biomedical research is a wellspring to enrich Virginia’s economy.

“All at the research institute thank the folks at the Red Gates Foundation for their support and confidence in the research occurring here in Roanoke,” Fralin said. “This investment will allow Mike Friedlander and his team to hire more world-class research teams at a faster pace. This quality research will contribute to the greater good and advance public health around the world.

Added Fralin, “It’s the sort of thing that gets me up every morning. All the research that the colleagues here are doing is exciting and of great quality that leads to the betterment of humankind. Additionally, this research will continue to greatly enhance economic development in this region and throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia. Thanks, again, to the Red Gates Foundation for investing in this game-changing research.”

New hires enabled by the gift will include 11 tenured or tenure-track faculty. The gift will also support the hiring of three non-tenure-track research faculty.

The gift enhances the university’s emerging partnership with Children’s National Hospital, consistently rated one of the top five children’s hospitals in the U.S., by facilitating the hiring of several additional research teams located at the new Children’s National Research and Innovation Campus in Washington, D.C., in addition to  cancer research faculty hired through additional university support to work in Virginia Tech labs at that campus.

Michael Stowe

540-392-4218

• Biomedical Engineering and Mechanics
• Cancer Research
• College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
• College of Engineering
• College of Science
• Faculty of Health Sciences
• Fralin Biomedical - Giving
• Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC
• Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC - top news
• Fralin Biomedical--Cancer Research Group
• Friedlander News
• Health Sciences and Technology (Roanoke)
• Office of the President
• One Health Frontier
• Research Frontiers
• Roanoke, Va.

Related Content

Greater Good Science Center • Magazine • In Action • In Education

About the Project

For too long, we’ve taken gratitude for granted. Yes, “thank you” is an essential, everyday part of family dinners, trips to the store, business deals, and political negotiations. That might be why so many people have dismissed gratitude as simple, obvious, and unworthy of serious attention. But that's starting to change. Recently scientists have begun to chart a course of research aimed at understanding gratitude and the circumstances in which it flourishes or diminishes. They're finding that people who practice gratitude consistently report a host of benefits:

• Stronger immune systems and less depression;
• More joy, optimism, and happiness;
• Stronger relationships and more generous behavior;
• Less feelings of loneliness and isolation.

That’s why the Greater Good Science Center, in collaboration with Robert Emmons of the University of California, Davis, in 2011 launched Expanding the Science and Practice of Gratitude (ESPG), a multiyear project funded by the John Templeton Foundation . The general goals of this initiative are to:

• Expand the scientific database of gratitude, particularly in the key areas of human health, personal and relational well-being, and developmental science;
• Raise awareness and engage the public in a larger cultural conversation about the meaning and significance of gratitude; and
• Promote evidence-based practices of gratitude in educational, medical, and organizational settings.

The project has centered on a mix of cutting-edge research and broad public education.

Gratitude Research

After several far-reaching requests for proposals, the GGSC distributed nearly $4 million in funding to researchers across the country, including university faculty, postdoctoral researchers, and graduate students. Their projects broke new ground in the study of gratitude, ranging from studies of gratitude’s benefits for cardiovascular health to the the role of gratitude in romantic relationships to the neuroscience of gratitude . You can learn more about this research on the project’s Research Grant Winners page .

Gratitude Public Education

Complementing—and amplifying—that research has been a variety of efforts to disseminate the scientific findings about gratitude and generally educate the public about what gratitude is, why it matters, and how to cultivate it. This aspect of the project grew out of our belief that new research on gratitude has the potential to improve the lives of millions, if not billions, of people worldwide. For more than a decade, the Greater Good Science Center has provided trailblazing coverage of the science of gratitude through its online magazine, Greater Good , as well as through books and other media. As part of ESPG, the GGSC has greatly expanded its coverage, helping the general public understand new findings from the science of gratitude and apply this research to their personal and professional lives. This has also included reporting on the results of the research funded through the Expanding Gratitude project. Read our latest articles on gratitude on Greater Good . Visit our Gratitude Multimedia page to learn more about our reporting on gratitude, including our award-winning radio special hosted by Susan Sarandon. Also, in June of 2014, the GGSC hosted The Greater Good Gratitude Summit , a large public event where more than 600 people participated in a day of science, stories, and inspiration. This event featured presentations by researchers (including many of the GGSC's gratitude grant recipients), educators, and special guests such as U.S. Olympic women's swimming head coach Teri McKeever , producers from the public radio series StoryCorps , and spiritual teachers Jack Kornfield and Brother David Steindl-Rast . You can watch videos of the day’s presentations and read our reporting on some of the key insights shared at the event.

Putting the Research into Practice

In the later stages of ESPG, the GGSC is Partnering with leaders in education, health care, and business to explore how the fruits of gratitude research can inform new initiatives to build well-being in each of those fields. Collaborators include GreatSchools.org, the Committee for Children (which runs the Second Step program), Kaiser Permanente, the Search Inside Yourself Leadership Institute, and several other prominent organizations. Many of these partnerships involve Thnx4.org , an online journal that allows users to record and share the things for which they're grateful. This unprecedented, web-based effort to track and promote the practice of gratitude worldwide also serves as an invaluable source of scientific data on gratitude: Users of Thnx4 can track their thankfulness, and these results will also be made available to the research community, though individual users always have the option to keep their data private. Many of the GGSC’s partners have included Thnx4 as part of a Gratitude Challenge for their members, encouraging them to use Thnx4 for 21 days of thankfulness. Some of these early partnerships showed that Thnx4 gave a significant boost to users' health and happiness . The GGSC will continue to report on Thnx4 partnerships, including those with Kaiser, Dignity Health, and the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency. Learn more about this work on our Gratitude Partnerships page.

More about Gratitude

Robert Emmons, the GGSC’s lead collaborator on the ESPG project and perhaps the world’s leading scientific expert on gratitude, argues that gratitude has two key components, which he describes in a Greater Good essay, “Why Gratitude Is Good .” “First,” he writes, “it’s an affirmation of goodness. We affirm that there are good things in the world, gifts and benefits we’ve received.” In the second part of gratitude, he explains, “we recognize that the sources of this goodness are outside of ourselves. … We acknowledge that other people—or even higher powers, if you’re of a spiritual mindset—gave us many gifts, big and small, to help us achieve the goodness in our lives.” Read more about what gratitude is, why it’s worth practicing, and how to cultivate it on the Greater Good   Gratitude Definition  page. And for more on gratitude:

• check out our list of seminal studies on gratitude;
• review our list of key books about gratitude;
• take this gratitude quiz to learn how grateful you are;
• try these practices to build gratitude on our Greater Good in Action platform.

Contact Information

Expanding the Science and Practice of Gratitude Greater Good Science Center University of California, Berkeley, MC 6070 Berkeley, CA 94720­-­6070 510.642.2490 .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) /* ','a','/',' ','\"',' 59',' 116',' 111',' 117',' 113',' 38',' 117',' 100',' 101',' 46',' 121',' 101',' 108',' 101',' 107',' 114',' 101',' 66',' 64',' 101',' 100',' 117',' 116',' 105',' 116',' 97',' 114',' 71',' 59',' 116',' 111',' 117',' 113',' 38',':','o','t','l','i','a','m','\"','=','f','e','r','h','a ',' = 0)out += decodeURIComponent(l[i].replace(/^\s\s*/, '&#'));while (--j >= 0)if (el[j].getAttribute('data-eeEncEmail_TcIfFhuMui'))el[j].innerHTML = out;/*]]>*/ https://ggsc.berkeley.edu/expandinggratitude

“Greater Good is unparalleled in bringing together fresh ideas, the latest science, and daily practices that can help people thrive. If you want to learn about empirically proven ways to enhance personal well-being while building more compassionate connections with others, the Greater Good Science Center is the place to start.”

― Kristin Neff, Ph.D., associate professor, University of Texas at Austin & author of Self-Compassion: The Proven Power of Being Kind to Yourself

Get Involved

There are many ways to support our mission: become a greater good member , make a donation , volunteer for an event , or subscribe to our e-newsletters ..

Thesis Acknowledgements Examples

By: Derek Jansen (MBA) | Reviewers: Dr Eunice Rautenbach | May 2024

T he acknowledgements section of your thesis or dissertation is an opportunity to say thanks to all the people who helped you along your research journey. In this post, we’ll share five thesis acknowledgement examples to provide you with some inspiration.

Overview: Acknowledgements Examples

• The acknowledgements 101
• Example:  Formal and professional
• Example:  Warm and personal
• Example:  Challenge-centric
• Example:  Institution-centric
• Example:  Reflective and philosophical
• FREE Acknowledgements template

Acknowledgements 101: The Basics

The acknowledgements section in your thesis or dissertation is where you express gratitude to those who helped bring your project to fruition. This section is typically brief (a page or less) and less formal, but it’s crucial to thank the right individuals in the right order .

As a rule of thumb, you’ll usually begin with academic support : your supervisors, advisors, and faculty members. Next, you’ll acknowledge any funding bodies or sponsors that supported your research. You’ll then follow this with your intellectual contributors , such as colleagues and peers. Lastly, you’ll typically thank your personal support network , including family, friends, and even pets who offered emotional support during your studies.

As you can probably see, this order moves from the most formal acknowledgements to the least . Typically, your supervisor is mentioned first, due to their significant role in guiding and potentially evaluating your work. However, while this structure is recommended, it’s essential to adapt it based on any specific guidelines from your university. So, be sure to always check (and adhere to) any requirements or norms specific to your university.

With that groundwork laid, let’s look at a few dissertation and thesis acknowledgement examples . If you’d like more, check out our collection of dissertation examples here .

Need a helping hand?

Example #1: Formal and Professional

This acknowledgement formally expresses gratitude to academic mentors and peers, emphasising professional support and academic guidance.

I extend my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Professor Jane Smith, for her unwavering support and insightful critiques throughout my research journey. Her deep commitment to academic excellence and meticulous attention to detail have significantly shaped this dissertation. I am equally thankful to the members of my thesis committee, Dr. John Doe and Dr. Emily White, for their constructive feedback and essential suggestions that enhanced the quality of my work.

My appreciation also goes to the faculty and staff in the Department of Biology at University College London, whose resources and assistance have been invaluable. I would also like to acknowledge my peers for their camaraderie and the stimulating discussions that inspired me throughout my academic journey. Their collective wisdom and encouragement have been a cornerstone of my research experience.

Finally, my sincere thanks to the technical staff whose expertise in managing laboratory equipment was crucial for my experiments. Their patience and readiness to assist at all times have left a profound impact on the completion of my project.

Example #2: Warm and Personal

This acknowledgement warmly credits the emotional and personal support received from family, friends and an approachable mentor during the research process.

This thesis is a reflection of the unwavering support and boundless love I received from my family and friends during this challenging academic pursuit. I owe an immense debt of gratitude to my parents, who nurtured my curiosity and supported my educational endeavours from the very beginning.

To my partner, Alex, your endless patience and understanding, especially during the most demanding phases of this research, have been my anchor. A heartfelt thank you to my supervisor, Dr. Mark Brown, whose mentorship extended beyond the academic realm into personal guidance, providing comfort and motivation during tough times.

I am also thankful for my friends, who provided both distractions when needed and encouragement when it seemed impossible to continue. The discussions and unwavering support from my peers at the university have enriched my research experience, making this journey not only possible but also enjoyable. Their presence and insights have been pivotal in navigating the complexities of my research topic.

Example #3: Inclusive of Challenges

This acknowledgement recognises the wide range of support received during unexpected personal and academic challenges, highlighting resilience and communal support.

The path to completing this dissertation has been fraught with both professional challenges and personal adversities. I am profoundly grateful for the enduring support of my supervisor, Dr. Lisa Green, whose steadfast belief in my capabilities and academic potential encouraged me to persevere even during my lowest moments. Her guidance was a beacon of light in times of doubt.

I must also express my deepest appreciation for my family, who stepped in not only with emotional reassurance, but also with critical financial support, when unexpected personal challenges arose. Their unconditional love and sacrifice have been the foundation of my resilience and success.

I am thankful, too, for the support services at the university, including the counselling centre, whose staff provided me with the tools to manage stress and maintain focus on my academic goals. Each of these individuals and institutions played a crucial role in my journey, reminding me that the pursuit of knowledge is not a solo expedition but a communal effort.

Example #4: Institution-Centric

This acknowledgement succinctly appreciates the financial, academic, and operational support provided by the university and its staff.

This dissertation would not have been possible without the generous financial support from the University of Edinburgh Scholarship Programme, which enabled me to focus fully on my research without financial burden. I am profoundly grateful to my advisor, Professor Richard Miles, for his sage advice, rigorous academic guidance, and the confidence he instilled in me. His expertise in the field of microbiology greatly enriched my work.

I would also like to thank the staff at the university library, whose assistance was indispensable. Their patience and willingness to help locate rare and essential resources facilitated a thorough and comprehensive literature review. Additionally, the administrative and technical staff, who often go unmentioned, provided necessary support that greatly enhanced my research experience. Their dedication and hard work create an environment conducive to academic success.

Lastly, my peers’ encouragement and the intellectual environment at the university have been vital in completing my research.

Example #5: Reflective and philosophical

This acknowledgement reflects on the philosophical growth and personal insights gained through the support of mentors, peers, and family, framing the dissertation as a journey of intellectual discovery.

Completing this thesis has been not only an academic challenge but also a profound journey of personal and philosophical growth.

I am immensely grateful to my mentor, Professor Sarah Johnson, for encouraging me to explore complex ideas and to challenge conventional wisdom. Her guidance helped me navigate the philosophical underpinnings of my research and deepened my analytical skills. My fellow students in the Philosophy Department provided a supportive and intellectually stimulating community. Our discussions extended beyond the classroom, offering new insights and perspectives that were crucial to my thesis.

I am also deeply thankful for my family, whose intellectual curiosity and spirited philosophical debates at home sparked my interest in philosophy from a young age. Their continuous support and belief in my academic pursuits have been instrumental in my success.

This dissertation reflects not only my work but also the collective support of everyone who has touched my life academically and personally. The journey has taught me the value of questioning and the importance of diverse perspectives in enriching our understanding of complex philosophical issues.

FREE Acknowledgements Template

To help fast-track your writing process, we’ve created a free, fully editable template . This template covers all the necessary content for a generic thesis or dissertation acknowledgements section. If you’re interested, you can download a copy here .

Learn More About Methodology

How To Choose A Tutor For Your Dissertation

Hiring the right tutor for your dissertation or thesis can make the difference between passing and failing. Here’s what you need to consider.

5 Signs You Need A Dissertation Helper

Discover the 5 signs that suggest you need a dissertation helper to get unstuck, finish your degree and get your life back.

Triangulation: The Ultimate Credibility Enhancer

Triangulation is one of the best ways to enhance the credibility of your research. Learn about the different options here.

Research Limitations 101: What You Need To Know

Learn everything you need to know about research limitations (AKA limitations of the study). Includes practical examples from real studies.

In Vivo Coding 101: Full Explainer With Examples

Learn about in vivo coding, a popular qualitative coding technique ideal for studies where the nuances of language are central to the aims.

📄 FREE TEMPLATES

Research Topic Ideation

Proposal Writing

Literature Review

Methodology & Analysis

Academic Writing

Referencing & Citing

Apps, Tools & Tricks

The Grad Coach Podcast

Very insightful ideas well thought and formulated

Submit a Comment Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Submit Comment

• Print Friendly

An official website of the United States government

Here’s how you know

Official websites use .gov A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS A lock ( Lock A locked padlock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

• Science and Technology Directorate

How We’re Grateful for Our Critical Infrastructure

Traditionally, November kicks off a season of gratitude as we look forward to gathering with loved ones at Thanksgiving. It is also Critical Infrastructure (CI) Security and Resilience Month, a commemoration of the systems and structures in place to ensure our nation and communities remain safe and thriving. Here are some of the ways the Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) has committed to improving resiliency against various threats.

We are executing some of the largest infrastructure investments in U.S. history.

As the emergence of new technologies and more complex local and global threats face our nation’s CI, S&T is investing in research and development to modernize these vital lifelines and ensure they remain functioning and resilient.

S&T's  Critical Infrastructure Security and Resilience Research (CISRR) Program was born out of the landmark 2021  Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), which tasked the Directorate with conducting research, development, testing, and evaluation in five targeted strategic mission areas. The need for increased CI protection is further emphasized in the recent  National Security Memorandum on Critical Infrastructure Security and Resilience  issued by the White House in April and  strategic guidance  issued by Secretary of Homeland Security Mayorkas in June.

From this month, CISRR is more than halfway completed, and we continue to  advance on the massive infrastructure investment by tapping into the latest science and technology innovations addressing key CI needs. Stay tuned to  S&T’s LinkedIn throughout November for a new series of vignettes demonstrating how CISRR is leveraging IIJA funding into impactful results.

We are revolutionizing energy solutions in remote Arctic communities.

Increasing sea ice, coastal erosion, environmental hazards, and other challenges could cause power outages in remote facilities in the formidable Arctic region. To power those facilities during maritime traffic spikes or natural disasters, S&T is working with the brand new  Arctic Domain Awareness Center-Addressing Rapid Changes through Technology, Innovation, and Collaboration Center of Excellence, led by the University of Alaska at Anchorage, on the  Reliable Arctic Power & Intelligent Energy Resilience (RAPIER) project.

The RAPIER team will collaborate with rural communities to identify energy needs and renewable energy options (solar, wind, wave, tidal, run-of-river, and nuclear) and propose a deployable pilot solution and an optimal energy portfolio for Department needs, including electric vehicles and boats. RAPIER will ultimately help DHS effectively react to life-altering contingencies quickly and better prepare local electric grids.

We are securing against Positioning, Navigation, and Timing threats.

Critical operations like the electric grid, communication networks, and financial institutions rely on  Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) services via the Global Positioning System (GPS). However, GPS is susceptible to disruption, like interference, jamming, and spoofing, that could cause safety-of-life issues or CI failure. To better understand those threats, the CISRR Program is collaborating with industry, manufacturers, and other partners to develop actionable best practices, standards, frameworks, and tools. These products will maximize robust, strengthened, and resilient PNT solutions designed for CI owners and operators, technology manufacturers, and service providers.

We are defining telecom supply-chain risks for self-driving and wi-fi/5G communicating vehicles and smart transportation systems.

As CI increasingly relies on real-time communications for monitoring, operations, and control, telecommunications infrastructure becomes essential for functionality. For five years, the  Critical Infrastructure Resilience Institute (CIRI) Center of Excellence has collaborated with the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) to provide a comprehensive analysis of the risks of the 5G telecommunications supply chain, focusing on connected and automated vehicles and smart transportation systems. Outcomes will include a risk assessment tool and a comprehensive risk assessment model for 5G telecommunications disruption on road-side units and its impact on self-driving vehicles.

We are building the resilience and security of drinking water systems.

Recent cyber-attacks on our public water systems demonstrate the urgent need for enhanced cybersecurity. To address this, CIRI created the Cyber Secure Dashboard (CSD) to help businesses and enterprises, such as water systems, enhance their cybersecurity posture. CSD uses the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s (NIST) Cyber Security Framework (CSF), an easier and cheaper way for organizations to meet cybersecurity standards. CIRI is also developing a NIST CSF Profile for Public Water Systems, with support from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, to be integrated into the CSD tool.

We are collaborating with industry to boost emergency interoperability.

Public safety professionals, emergency managers, state and local government leaders, and other key stakeholders must be able to exchange actionable and timely information to meet their missions head-on.

Last month, S&T hosted an Industry Day to highlight another CISRR-funded effort—the Information Sharing Framework (ISF)—which is addressing interoperability gaps and establishing a mechanism for prioritized information sharing between first responders and emergency communications technologies during incident response. The outcome will be a framework for practitioners to design their systems to securely share data across systems.

We are strengthening physical security at major events.

As domestic terrorism concerns for our nation and infrastructure grow, there is a greater need to enhance crowded places security to keep civilians safe, particularly during special events. In February, S&T’s  Physical Security Program deployed the  Ready Armor Protection for Instant Deployment (RAPID) barrier at the 2024 NFL Honors Event, which protected the venue and attendees from potential harm from vehicle ramming or homemade explosives. Then, at the 108th running of the Indianapolis 500 race in May, S&T tested, demonstrated, and enhanced the  Deployable Expedient Traffic Entry Regulator (DETER) vehicle barrier, which protects critical assets and civilians from vehicle ramming attacks. S&T successfully gathered valuable data about RAPID’s and DETER’s durability and operation to further improve the security and resilience of future special events.

Visit our  Research and Development  pages for even more examples of S&T’s ongoing CI work and follow us on social media @DHSSciTech.

• Science and Technology
• Critical Infrastructure
• Infrastructure

• - Google Chrome

Intended for healthcare professionals

• Access provided by Google Indexer
• My email alerts
• BMA member login
• Username * Password * Forgot your log in details? Need to activate BMA Member Log In Log in via OpenAthens Log in via your institution

Search form

• Advanced search
• Search responses
• Search blogs
• News & Views
• Thanking patients for...

Thanking patients for their role in research is part of creating wider cultural change

• Related content
• Peer review
• Michael H Kanter , chair 1 ,
• Suzanne Schrandt , founder, CEO, and chief patient advocate , and senior patient engagement adviser 2 3
• 1 Department of Clinical Science, Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine
• 3 Society to Improve Diagnosis in Medicine

Acknowledging the participants who make research possible recognises their humanity and contributions to medical care, say Michael H Kanter and Suzanne Schrandt

Our ability to rapidly create new knowledge about covid-19 was only possible because of the many patients whose medical data were mined for research purposes and others who lined up to participate in clinical trials. Medical science cannot advance without such patients, but they are rarely even acknowledged in publications. These omissions are indicators of a medical and research culture that does not always solicit or consider patients' experiences as much as it should. We believe, however, that a greater recognition of patients' contribution to research would help to create a cultural shift in how patients are involved in research, leading to benefits for all.

A thankless experience

In 1973, one of us (MHK) was diagnosed with metastatic testicular carcinoma. His medical data contributed to at least five peer reviewed publications from 1973 to 1980. As was the custom, he did not receive any official acknowledgment for his role in the research. His physician received well deserved recognition for his work, subsequently becoming a leader in urologic cancer treatment. After treatment, MHK completed medical school and went on to author more than 100 articles in peer reviewed medical journals.

With firsthand experience of both carrying out research and receiving intensive medical care, he knows how much more arduous his experience was when he was a patient participating in a study, instead of a physician carrying one out. Patients can often be going through some of their most difficult moments in life when they participate in medical research, experiencing the pain, discomfort, and uncertainty that accompanies illness and treatment. Yet researchers rarely acknowledge the patients without whose involvement their work is impossible. We distinguish here between two types of involvement: patient engagement refers to patients serving as advisers or consultants on research teams and patient participation refers to those whose data are used or who take part in research activities. In the former, patient partners are publicly recognised as valuable team members in such endeavours; in the latter, patients are almost never acknowledged for their role.

Depending on the type of research being conducted, patient participants may not even be consented. They bear the risks, however, of potentially unsafe or ineffective care practices or treatments and of their personal health information being identified. More recently, interest has grown in research that applies artificial intelligence and big data analytics to retrospective data. 1 Although this trend has raised substantial concerns and discussion about patient privacy, possible exploitation, and ways for patients to directly benefit from the use of their data, acknowledging patient contributions in any resulting publications has received less attention.

Researchers usually receive compensation for the time they’ve spent conducting studies and credit for their publications as listed authors, which can advance their careers. Patient participants in studies receive none of these benefits. Indeed, for patients included in medical records research, for example, they are often unaware of its existence or their participation and thus unable to even take pleasure in knowing they have helped others or contributed to scientific knowledge.

A changing landscape

In many areas of research, we are making progress towards a patient engagement revolution. Patients have increasingly sophisticated roles and influence on research as partners, advisers, and principal investigators or co-investigators. They join research teams in varying capacities, from helping design recruitment protocols and materials to data collection and interpretation, with some serving on data safety and monitoring boards and committees. The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute, the first funder to require partnerships with patients and other stakeholders in research planning, conduct, and dissemination, 2 has been joined by many others. These engaged patients often do receive some sort of official acknowledgment for their roles. 3 However, despite their expanding engagement in research, patient participants (those who have their data used or who are research participants) still remain largely unacknowledged.

Recommendations from the International Council of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) on the conduct, reporting, editing, and publishing of scholarly work recognise the importance of acknowledging group contributions that fall short of authorship criteria, but do not mention patient participants. 4 Expanding examples of group contributions to include patient participants may prompt the hundreds of medical journals adhering to ICMJE recommendations to encourage authors to do so.

At a time when there is growing recognition of the input of patients to research and when many are stepping forward as active partners, this silence in papers on the contribution of participants is a jarring anachronism. All patients deserve acknowledgment for any part they play in knowledge generation. Since patient participants will understandably be anonymous as individuals, it can take the form of a simple note of gratitude and recognition. For several years, for example, the Southern California Region of Kaiser Permanente has included the following acknowledgment in research publications based on patient data: “The authors thank the patients of Kaiser Permanente for helping us improve care through the use of information collected through our electronic health record systems.”

Thanking patients in publications is more than a tickbox exercise: it acknowledges that they are human beings and partners in research and medical care, not merely datapoints or passive recipients.

Over time, acknowledging patients in publications could also help to change the culture of research in medicine. It may sensitise researchers to ethical concerns when technology companies or health systems stand to profit financially from the use of patient data. It can also increase patient centredness among researchers and institutions, keeping the participation of these individuals in research at the forefront of researchers’ minds, and spurring them on to increase engagement and involve patients and families as active partners in research. It can also prompt researchers to think of the more substantial ways in which they can thank patients for their participation—for example, by finding ways to send all participants the study results where possible. Although a simple thank you or acknowledgment may seem like a small gesture, we think it is part of creating wider cultural change that will usher in more engagement of patients and more patient centred research.

Competing interests: None declared.

Provenance and peer review: Not commissioned; peer reviewed.

• ↵ Copeland R, Mattioli D, Evans M. Inside Google's quest for millions of medical records. Wall Street Journal. January 11, 2020;B1.
• ↵ Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI). Authorizing legislation. Available at: https://www.pcori.org/about-us/governance/authorizing-legislation
• Schroter S ,
• ↵ International Council of Medical Journal Editors. Defining the role of authors and contributors. Available at: http://www.icmje.org/recommendations/browse/roles-and-responsibilities/defining-the-role-of-authors-and-contributors.html#three