2010 Budget Statement

Building A Matrix For Clinical And Translational Research

The NCRR, through its stewardship of the IDeA, RCMI, and CTSA programs, is linking investigators and communities by supporting and encouraging collaborations for training, sharing of data, accelerating advances in research and clinical informatics, and dissemination of best practices for community engagement. For example, the University of Washington CTSA is partnering with academic institutions in IDeA states to create greater opportunities to reach underserved populations. CTSAs are also connecting with RCMIs: Emory University (Atlanta) is partnering with Morehouse School of Medicine; Vanderbilt University (Nashville, Tenn. is partnering with Meharry Medical College; and Weill Cornell Medical College (New York) is partnering with Hunter College.

Led by NCRR, the CTSA program is a partnership between the NIH and a national consortium of 39 academic health centers and research institutions to build academic homes for clinical and translational research. The CTSA program is designed to translate more efficiently the rapidly evolving knowledge developed in basic biomedical research into treatments to improve human health. Additionally, the CTSAs are training a new generation of clinical and translational researchers to excel in the interdisciplinary, team science environment.

The momentum of the national CTSA consortium continues to build as new connections are rapidly emerging within, across and beyond the consortium. In the last year, 15 new CTSAs joined the consortium, adding representation from five new states, additional pediatric expertise, and greater informatics capabilities. When the program is fully implemented, the NCRR expects to fund CTSA awards at 60 institutions at a total cost of $500 million per year. As the CTSA program increases in complexity and size, institutions are forming regional consortia to focus on shared goals with greater efficiency.

The CTSA institutions are using business principles and practices to improve the processes involved in translational research. Investigators and core facilities directors at the CTSA at Yale University are increasing efficiencies and reducing redundancies by using Web-based resources and systems to maximize the use of their core research facilities, which include imaging, informatics and genomics. Thanks to this integration, researchers now have improved access to sophisticated technologies and valuable expertise with less administrative burden.

The CTSA consortium has identified five strategic goals: 1) to develop strategies and resources to move laboratory discoveries into early clinical testing (T1 translation), 2) to reduce complexities and improve ways clinical and translational research is conducted, 3) to enhance training and career development of clinical and translational investigators, 4) to encourage consortium-wide collaborations, and 5) to improve the health of communities across the nation.

Fostering T1 Translational Research

The potential to accelerate research discoveries from the bench into early clinical studies (T1) usually requires preclinical studies, those studies that involve the appropriate animal models. Currently, researchers with expertise in animal models (including mouse, rat, and nonhuman primate models) are working with CTSA investigators on pilot projects that focus on cardiovascular disease, ovarian cancer, and other diseases. NCRR and its National Primate Research Centers are working closely with National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases and the NIH Office of AIDS Research to ensure that adequate numbers of animals and resources are available to meet the need for development of new AIDS vaccines.

NCRR's Biomedical Technology Research Centers are cutting-edge interdisciplinary centers that create transformative technological and computational infrastructure for biomedical research. The CTSAs are leveraging the expertise of investigators in these centers to conduct a wide range of translational research, from cell biology to clinical imaging.

Leveraging Partnerships to Benefit Biomedical Science

The CTSAs are realizing returns on their research discoveries by securing patents and licensing them. From 2006 to 2008, the CTSAs established more than 350 academic, public and private partnerships. To achieve its overall mission to speed the translation of scientific discoveries to improve human health, the CTSAs are establishing innovative partnerships with industry to accelerate the development of treatments, diagnostics and devices. For example, the CTSA at Scripps Research Institute is collaborating with Qualcomm to develop and clinically validate biosensors — tiny devices that measure body functions — and other wireless health care technologies. Similarly, the Oregon Health and Science University is partnering with Intel to apply wireless and mobile technology with various sensors to enable earlier detection and treatment of life-threatening events for diabetics and individuals at high risk of stroke.

Ensuring that the public is actively engaged in research and benefiting from research findings is a key component of the CTSA program. One example of ways CTSAs are improving the health of their communities is a collaborative effort in Houston, which is helping children in two inner-city neighborhoods make healthier lifestyle choices and reduce their risk of obesity. CTSAs in Chicago have joined forces to ensure active participation from their communities throughout all stages of research — from project design to results dissemination. Similarly, connections between the CTSA consortium and NCRR's Science Education Partnership Award program are growing, helping to inspire the next generation of researchers. As an example, the University of Pittsburgh CTSA and Science Education Partnership Award investigators hosted an outreach event for middle school students, featuring a mobile science laboratory.

Improving Research Informatics

NCRR continues to support informatics tools and resources to enhance research collaboration. For example, NCRR is funding a Biomedical Informatics Research Network coordinating center at the University of Southern California to enhance data sharing among the network's research centers and other researchers. Through an ARRA-funded initiative, NCRR will facilitate interdisciplinary collaboration and scientific exchange by developing tools and infrastructure that will help connect basic, clinical, and translational investigators and students with other researchers that share their interests or who could benefit from their expertise. NCRR also plans to support development of an animal models informatics resource to provide researchers with one-stop access to information related to animal models of human disease.

Expanding Research Capacity

NCRR is enhancing the capabilities of RCMIs to conduct clinical and translational science through the RCMI Infrastructure for Clinical and Translational Research Awards. Funding may be used for out-patient clinical resources, biostatistical support, core laboratories and patient-oriented research infrastructure. This award is a reorganization of previous RCMI programmatic activities and will enhance research capacity, improve collaboration between translational and clinical researchers, facilitate multidisciplinary training and career development and enable seamless interactions with CTSAs.

The IDeA program fosters health-related research and increases the competitiveness of investigators in 23 states and Puerto Rico. NCRR's previous investments in developing research capacity through its IDeA program have resulted in additional funding opportunities for investigators. For example, the University of Kansas recently received $9.6 million in grants from nonfederal sources for drug development efforts; the expertise that provided the foundation for this award grew, in part, from funding for a center of excellence in the IDeA program.

This snapshot of NCRR's programs and activities demonstrates our continuing commitment to advancing clinical and translational research. NCRR's budget request and its research projects are consistent with the President's multi-year commitment to finding cures for cancer and autism. By encouraging collaboration among our clinical and translational programs, NCRR is maximizing the nation's investment to translate research discoveries into improved treatments for patients.