The Institute for Translational Medicine (ITM) has selected the 2025 recipients of its Implementation Seed Awards, spearheaded by the Parkinson School of Health Sciences and Public Health at ITM-Loyola.
The awards provide $25,000 in funding and mentorship for early-stage projects to catalyze researchers’ next phase of their implementation journey.
“The Implementation Seed Awards are designed to help promising ideas move more quickly from concept to real-world impact,” said Elaine Morrato, DrPH, MPH, ITM-Loyola site leader and national expert in implementation science. “By pairing implementation seed funding with mentorship, we’re supporting investigators as they tackle practical challenges in healthcare delivery and get their evidence-based solutions out to the people who need them most.”
The winning teams come from Loyola University Chicago and Rush University Medical Center. Their projects aim to solve practical problems in patient care, including improving how urologic concerns are evaluated and directed through a more efficient triage system, identifying safe and personalized levels of physical activity to help prevent joint injuries and slow the progression of osteoarthritis, and using music and wearable sensors to help patients relearn healthier walking patterns during orthopedic rehabilitation.
“We appreciate the support from the ITM to develop a new and innovative tool to assist individuals with osteoarthritis and community runners,” said Felipe Gonzalez, MD, from ITM-RUSH. “Understanding how people move and how much load they place on their bodies has the potential to reduce symptoms and even prevent orthopedic injuries. This is an important first step in a very promising line of research that may ultimately benefit millions of people.”
