Madeline Uretsky Named February’s Distinguished Staff of the Month at the Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine
By Amanda V. Cabral, BU CTE Center
Congratulations to our Research Program Manager Madeline Uretsky for being named February’s Distinguished Staff of the Month at the Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine! Check out the interview below to learn more about Madeline and her role and work at the Boston University CTE Center.
Can you explain your role and responsibilities at the BU CTE Center?
Over the last seven years, my role at the CTE Center has evolved from undergraduate intern to research assistant, senior research assistant, research coordinator, and now, research program manager. Much of my current role involves frequent communication within and across clinical, pathological, data, and social media/development teams for the UNITE study. I am responsible for requesting and curating medical records for UNITE and supervising the norming of neuropsychological tests and processing of MRIs received from medical records. I also lead recruitment efforts, tissue requests, and prepare documentation for a multi-center NIA R01, a project on ethics in sports participation in collaboration with CU Anschutz Center for Bioethics and Humanities, and the SPRINT cohort. In addition to conducting and coordinating over 200 family interviews and brain donations, I train and oversee the team of research assistants who conduct these semi-structured interviews with brain donor families and coordinate 24/7 brain donations. Finally, I co-founded and lead the BU ADRC and CTE Center Women’s Network, a professional development group, and assisted in the implementation of crisis intervention training for the Center.
What is your favorite part of your position?
My favorite part about working at the CTE Center is working with and getting to know our generous and resilient brain donor families. Why did they decide to donate? What will I learn from them? How can I help them through this process? They are the foundation of everything that we do, and I am forever grateful for them.
Which accomplishments are you most proud of?
It’s always a special feeling when one of the research assistants, who I’ve trained, feels competent enough to coordinate their first brain donation on their own. I enjoy witnessing and rejoicing in their accomplishment after months of hard work, confidence building, and emotional vulnerability.
What are some opportunities you have had in this role?
Some of the most meaningful opportunities in this role have been engaging with various communities and groups about our work through speaking engagements, including at the Boston Community Leadership Academy in Hyde Park, New Bedford Science Café, Union of British Columbia Performers (UBCP) annual stunt community meeting, in undergraduate and graduate courses at BU, Simmons University, and Union College, and at webinars and academic conferences.
What advice would you give someone who wants to work in a position like yours?
Don’t wait for opportunities to come. Be willing to learn and figure things out on your own. Reach out to research assistants and postdocs at various labs even if there aren’t open positions listed on their websites. Talk to everyone.
Check out the Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine’s feature on Madeline here.