Christine Sorkness, UW ICTR Associate Director

Christine A. Sorkness, RPh, PharmD, is Senior Associate Director of UW ICTR and oversees functioning of the following ICTR Cores: Research Education and Career Development, Clinical and Translational Resources, Biostatistics and Biomedical Informatics and the Community-Academic Partnerships. In addition, the Scientific Review Committee leadership reports to her.

In her ICTR leadership role, Dr. Sorkness works with investigators to assure that they are properly guided to all resources of the Institute. She participates in the evaluative process of the ICTR, monitors the function and use of the Wisconsin Network for Health Research (WiNHR), a community-based clinical interventional research system, and also serves on the ICTR Management Team.

Dr. Sorkness’ background in clinical and translational research extends from drug trials to community-based clinical studies. A Professor of Pharmacy and Medicine, she is an active clinical pharmacist with extensive knowledge and expertise in the evaluation of therapeutic interventions, particularly in asthma. She has been a clinical investigator with the asthma and allergy research unit since 1979, directs a clinical research program and is a recognized expert in the creation and conduct of asthma protocols in a clinical study environment. She has extensive experience in the design, implementation, and management of multi-center, collaborative research protocols. In addition, she was a co-investigator on the K12 TEAM grant (which becomes part of ICTR in 2007) and was responsible for the curriculum and mentoring of two scholars.

Dr. Sorkness is an investigator with several NIH research networks (Inner City Asthma Consortium, Childhood Asthma Research and Education Network) and has developed many manuals of operations, including those for adverse events. She has extensive knowledge of regulatory processes such as NIH-DSMB and FDA IND reviews. Over the years, Dr. Sorkness has developed effective collaborative relationships with Project and Contract Officers at NHLBI, NIAID, other NIH Institutes, and HUD. Dr. Sorkness serves on the National CTSA Participant & Clinical Interactions Resources Key Function Committee.