National Institutes of HealthDepartment of Health and Human Services
Advisory Council
Biomedical Technology
Clinical Research
Comparative Medicine
Meeting Reports
Media Mentions
News and Events
NCRR Program Overview
Research Infrastructure
Visitor Information
Accessibility
Copyright
Disclaimer
FOIA
Privacy
Free NCRR Reporter magazine
WEB SHORTCUT: NCRR.NIH.GOV/INSTITUTIONS
Birmingham, Alabama
Principal InvestigatorLisa M. Guay-Woodford, M.D., University of Alabama at Birmingham
Website
The vision of the UAB Center for Clinical and Translational Science is to transform the university's environment by building productive and efficient interdisciplinary research teams through educational ingenuity, regulatory reorganization, resource coordination and methodological innovation. The mission is to develop a transformative infrastructure that spans the spectrum from preclinical research to bench-to-bedside translation to community implementation. This center builds upon a long-standing collaborative network that involves Historically Black Colleges and Universities and underprivileged communities in its region.
Using the community health advisor model, UAB CCTS investigators have a strong record of NIH- and CDC-funded community-based participatory research involving the Alabama “Black Belt,” one of the nation's most underserved areas. Further, in collaboration with Alabama's Historically Black Colleges and Universities, they have built an extensive network for training the next generation of health disparities researchers. The CCTS will provide the crucible to bring these activities to the next level. Through its innovative “One Great Community” component, the CCTS will support three community incubators (Urban Lay, Health Professionals, and University), as well as a Research Incubator to insure the bidirectional flow of information between the lay and the research communities that will generate new knowledge at the intersection between science and community needs.
Little Rock, Arkansas
Principal InvestigatorCurtis L. Lowery, M.D., University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) formed the Arkansas Center for Clinical and Translational Research (CCTR) to synergize clinical and translational research programs and revamp institutional research endeavors. CCTR unites UAMS' colleges and graduate school to establish an integrative center that transforms the pace, effectiveness and quality of translational research, resulting in better health for all Arkansans.
The goals are to educate tomorrow's physicians and scientists in collaborative translational science; develop partnerships with communities to assure that research benefits them and addresses their needs; champion innovation and collaboration in research and discovery to bring new technologies to Arkansans; and provide administrative structure that promotes productive interactions among basic science, clinical, health services and health policy researchers.
CCTR will foster the formation of a cross-disciplinary, multifaceted interface among the laboratory bench, patient bedside and broader community through an interactive network of scientists. The center will build on Arkansas' statewide telemedicine program to support community-based research efforts. UAMS is developing a new Division of Informatics to bring added value to Arkansas and represent a model program for research that extends to rural communities.
CCTR will facilitate the training of future clinical and translational investigators across health sciences and forge collaborations among researchers, community clinicians, clinical research networks, professional societies, industry and policymakers.
The ultimate goal of the Arkansas CCTR is to translate successful health care research projects directly to patient care delivery and assure that all Arkansans have access to the same state-of-the-art care -- no matter where they live.
La Jolla, California
Principal InvestigatorEric J. Topol, M.D., Scripps Research Institute
The Scripps Translational Science Institute (STSI) will emphasize three dimensions of translation: traditional bench-to-bedside, bedside-to-bench and back to bedside, and bedside to the community and practice of medicine. The vision of this program provides the appropriate amalgam of “integration and innovation,” and it capitalizes on particular strengths at The Scripps Research Institute, Scripps Health, and partnering institutions and by faculty members that have led to the development of the goals of the STSI.
Palo Alto, California
Principal InvestigatorHarry B. Greenberg, M.D., Stanford University
Spectrum: The Stanford Center for Clinical and Translational Education and Research will pursue a multidisciplinary approach to transform and integrate critical components of clinical and translational research related to human health across Stanford University's academic and clinical enterprise. The goals of the center are: to effectively convert basic discoveries into practical methods that will improve human health; and to prepare the next generation of research leaders to ensure that the translation of discoveries into benefits for human health continues into the future. This mission will be accomplished through a series of coordinated and synergistic transformative changes in their educational and mentoring programs, institutional governance structure, research support infrastructure, and the professoriate, which are all intended to promote clinical and translational research at Stanford and in the community.
The vision for the Stanford center is to transform the goals of the institution to incorporate the needs and priorities of the local community while continuing to promote research. To realize this vision, Stanford is creating an Office of Community Research to create and establish bi-directional information flow between the community and investigators, making the community a true partner in setting the research agenda and priorities. The Office of Community Research will serve as a single point of contact for community groups and Stanford investigators, with the goals that include enhancing understanding of local community needs and priorities and improving dissemination of key research results to the local community to promote health and improved clinical practice.
Los Angeles, California
Principal InvestigatorSteven M. Dubinett, M.D., University of California Los Angeles
The UCLA Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) is an academic-clinical-community partnership designed to accelerate scientific discoveries and clinical breakthroughs for improved health. The cultural and economic diversity of Los Angeles County poses challenges for health and disease research. The CTSI is creating transdisciplinary teams focused on these challenges and community health needs.
The UCLA CTSI mission is to create a borderless clinical and translational research institute that brings UCLA innovations and resources to bear on the health needs of Los Angeles. To accomplish its mission the UCLA CTSI has established five goals: 1) create an academic home for clinical and translational science that integrates the many strengths of UCLA and its partners; 2) build transdisciplinary research teams to translate discoveries for improved health; 3) transform educational and career development programs to promote the next generation of clinician investigators and translational scientists; 4) expand strong bidirectional academic-community partnerships to ensure that new scientific discovery is relevant to community needs; and 5) serve as a national resource for collaborative research through regional, statewide and national CTSA consortia.
The UCLA CTSI will reach underrepresented populations and develop translational strategies for health improvements nationwide.
Sacramento, California
Principal InvestigatorLars Berglund, M.D., Ph.D., University of California, Davis
The University of California, Davis (UC Davis) is proposing to create a Clinical and Translational Science Center (CTSC) that will transform its medical research enterprise into a highly effective “open” academic home for clinical and translational research by building on three key assets:
1) a long-standing commitment as a land-grant university to serve the geographically dispersed and ethnically diverse populations of inland and northern California with a health care system enabled by one of the broadest and most extensive telecommunications programs in the world; 2) the collaborative culture of UC Davis, which has one of the most extensive and interdisciplinary life science environments in the country; and 3) an established CTSC pilot facility -- the UC Davis Clinical Research Investigator Services Program (CRISP) that serves as the physical home for clinical and translational research, and for faculty training and career development. CRISP is a fundamentally important CTSC testing ground where many perceived CTSC barriers have been explored and solutions have been tested. Through CRISP, UC Davis has completed the planning phase for the CTSC.
In the structure of the UC Davis CTSC, considerable attention is paid to create an organization that is: 1) responsive and familiar to investigators; 2) flexible; 3) well linked to university leadership, to participating academic units, and to the community; and 4) focused on the goal of reducing barriers and facilitating the translation of research gains into medical practice. Key features are: an education program focused on “team science;” extensive collaborations across UC Davis colleges and centers; introduction of catalyst functions such as collaborative research facilitators and translational postdoctoral fellowships; dissemination through teletechnology; flexible use of resources for patient-oriented research; and a community engagement program emphasizing trust and respect.
The CTSC is under the leadership of two co-principal investigators, Drs. Berglund M.D., Ph.D., (P.I.) and Joseph M.D., Ph.D. (co-P.I.), supported by a team of directors and co-directors that oversees each of the nine CTSC programs, and a comprehensive committee structure, designed to firmly anchor the CTSC with institutional leadership, faculty, trainees, and the community. The UC Davis CTSC will be implemented through a carefully designed, collaborative plan, and the activity will be guided through continuous evaluations and corrections.
Irvine, California
Principal InvestigatorDan M. Cooper, M.D., University of California, Irvine
The University of California, Irvine Institute for Clinical and Translational Science (ICTS) is designed to identify, test and implement innovative ways to break down barriers that impede biomedical discovery. The overarching vision of the ICTS is to: 1) Nurture novel collaborations by building multidisciplinary research teams such as chemists and clinicians exploring breath biomarkers in the human “ventilome.” ICTS experts in the science of team science will work with investigators to identify and remove obstacles to successful collaboration. 2) Create new research tools by assessing new technologies for clinical investigators including: iophotonics and microdevices; ubiquitous computing for field research; approaches for qualitative and comparative effectiveness research; and metrics of human performance that link genomic information with dynamic disease phenotypes. 3) Share information by bringing together clinicians, hospital Information Technology staff and UCI scholars in the Center for Biomedical Informatics. Infrastructure for clinical data interoperability is embedded in the data warehouse; 4) Engage our community by championing new approaches such as PEER (Participant Experience Enhancement in Research), a program that views research volunteers as partners in the process of discovery. Research outreach and dissemination activities are targeted to a variety of timely healthcare issues, such as mitigating elder abuse and preventing sudden death in pediatric athletes. 5) Training clinical and translational researchers by sponsoring Crossing Boundaries, a set of degree and certificate programs along with mentorship interaction that tackles key issues in translational science.
Finally, UCI is working with regional academic centers to actualize the CTSA vision of collaborative translational science throughout Southern California.
Principal InvestigatorGary Steven Firestein, M.D., University of California, San Diego
The goals of the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) Clinical and Translational Research Institute (CTRI) are to: 1) provide an academic home for the discipline of clinical and translational science; 2) establish an integrated educational pipeline to train and support clinical and translational scientists; 3) develop a robust clinical research infrastructure that replaces silos with integrated research; 4) enhance bioinformatics capabilities that leverage unique UCSD resources; 5) develop novel technologies to improve research such as biomarker and imaging; 6) form a Translational Research Alliance with research institutes and industry; and 7) form a Community Alliance with community physicians and the general public to translate scientific discoveries into best practices, increase research into health care disparities, and involve the general public in biomedical science.
The CTRI will transform education in clinical and translational science by coordinating disparate programs, providing breadth of education from high school through predoctoral students and providing training to postdoctoral fellows and faculty. The institute also will transform the conduct of clinical research by providing guidance and support from initial planning through data analysis and sharing. The new structure will foster development of novel technologies to facilitate clinical research and provide support for the services and resources necessary to conduct clinical investigation and improve health. The CTRI will place a special emphasis on several areas of strength such as imaging, biomarkers, community outreach, and the translation of basic science discoveries to clinical science.
San Francisco, California
Principal InvestigatorS. Clay Johnston, M.D., Ph.D., University of California, San Francisco
Despite explosive gains in our understanding of the basic mechanisms of human disease, meaningful translation of this knowledge to the treatment and prevention of disease has moved slowly. To accelerate the pace at which discoveries in basic science can serve the health of our patients and community, the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) intends to establish a Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI). Its mission will be to create a comprehensive, integrated academic home that promotes research and education in clinical and translational science at UCSF, at affiliated institutions, and in participating communities.
Its goals are: 1) to support, enhance and integrate existing training programs, increasing the number of trainees from diverse disciplines and improving the quality of their training in clinical and translational research methods; 2) to support, improve, and integrate existing infrastructure to enhance the design and implementation of clinical and translational studies, fostering collaborations to achieve a diverse spectrum of high-quality, original research; 3) to enhance career development of clinical and translational researchers by providing mentoring and opportunities to catalyze original research, and by changing the academic culture to appropriately reward multidisciplinary collaborative work; and 4) to create a "virtual home" providing contemporary communications to simplify collaboration, to provide an optimal informatics matrix for conducting innovative research, and to nurture the growth of clinical and translational science.
To reach these goals, UCSF is transforming its clinical and translational research organization to establish 13 interrelated programs that will provide the training, services and opportunities needed. These programs are led by senior scientists drawn from diverse disciplines in each of UCSF's four health science schools -- dentistry, medicine, nursing, and pharmacy -- and its graduate division. The plans reflect input from more than 200 interested, energetic, and committed participants from throughout the community, including most of UCSF's academic leaders. These individuals worked collaboratively to ensure inclusion, transparency and flexibility in the design and planned implementation of the CTSI.
UCSF believes that this infusion of new energy and resources will create and sustain a rich environment for innovative research and drive the realization of UCSF's full potential to educate and to support the work of clinical and translational scientists. If so, biomedicine will be advanced and the health of our patients and the community will benefit.
Principal InvestigatorThomas A. Buchanan, M.D., University of Southern California
The vision of the Southern California Basin Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) is to improve the health of the diverse and underserved population of urban Los Angeles and gain knowledge to improve health in urban settings and large cities across the globe. There are four main goals for the CTSI: 1) build on many independent strengths to create an integrated academic home that places a high priority on clinical and translational science; 2) create new translational research teams and conduct projects that leverage the unique populations and partnerships to address the best scientific opportunities and most important health priorities of the local communities; 3) transform education and training to create a core group of people with a major career focus on clinical and translational research; and 4) implement and disseminate the findings to improve health in Los Angeles communities and advance translational research through regional and national networks and collaborations.
To achieve these goals, the CTSI is creating: 1) outstanding resources for active development of new research projects and teams; 2) a robust infrastructure to promote and support basic, clinical and community research; 3) cutting-edge methodologies for data acquisition, integration, management and analysis; 4) integrated training of basic, clinical and community researchers using distance education and a focus on research for the diverse communities; 5) a novel approach to sharing its findings using professional communications expertise; and 6) a professional evaluation group to track and evaluate the progress and impact.
Aurora, Colorado
Principal InvestigatorRonald J. Sokol, M.D., University of Colorado Denver
The University of Colorado Denver and its affiliates will use this award to speed biomedical discoveries from laboratories to the lives of citizens. The university and its partners will create an unprecedented statewide network of research, health care and community facilities. Working together, the new Colorado Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute (CCTSI) will turn biomedical findings into improved patient and community health. The CCTSI will coordinate the efforts of scientists, health care providers, and advocates from two research universities, six health care professional schools, five hospitals, a health care network, and more than a dozen community health programs.
The Institute's five goals are to: 1) convert laboratory discoveries into clinical use; 2) bring clinical advances into communities; 3) apply new technologies to deliver personalized medicine; 4) train future researchers; and 5) advance child and maternal health. A dynamic Partnership of Academicians and Communities for Translation (PACT) will facilitate exchanges between communities and academic programs that let scientists share discoveries with communities, but at the same time let communities tell scientists what medical and public health needs should be addressed. CCTSI will commit personnel and informatics resources to six diverse and well-developed community partnerships as the initial focus for launching this shared translational research agenda. Following initial testing in these communities, CCTSI will adapt successful models to the remaining PACT communities. Eventually, the PACT should have an impact on the health care of all of Colorado's more than 4 million residents and the 1,300 physician practices and 300 hospitals that serve them.
New Haven, Connecticut
Principal InvestigatorRobert S. Sherwin, M.D., Yale University
The Yale Center for Clinical Investigation (YCCI) was created to provide a “home” for training the next generation of clinical investigators. Key programmatic goals are to: 1) attract highly talented students and junior faculty across medicine, nursing, public health, biological sciences, and biomedical engineering; train them in the use of state-of-the-art research tools; give them the skills to work within complex research teams; and support their professional development; and 2) foster the translation of disease-related discoveries from the laboratory into the community by: stimulating the creation of interdisciplinary teams; making available state-of-the-art core facilities and expanded biostatistical and bioinformatics resources; establishing organizational and regulatory infrastructure for clinical studies; and forging a dynamic new partnership that will integrate community leaders, physicians and health centers. Participating institutions include the schools of medicine, nursing, public health, the Department of Biomedical Engineering, and graduate programs in biological and biomedical sciences.
The investigative medicine program (IMP) is central to YCCI's education and training efforts. It is a unique doctoral program that offers Ph.D. degrees in health sciences research to highly qualified M.D. fellows embarking on careers in translational or clinical research. IMP will be expanded with CTSA support to include nursing, public health, biological sciences, and M.D.-Ph.D. students. YCCI has also created a Society of YCCI Faculty Mentors who will participate actively in the training and nurturing of the students and junior faculty members identified as YCCI Clinical Scholars. Pilot and feasibility grants will be awarded for: 1) junior faculty; 2) interdisciplinary translational teams; 3) new technologies; and 4) community-based projects. YCCI will cluster research cores around common themes, including: imaging; specimen analysis; physiology; cognition and behavior; drug development; and cell therapy. A new office of research services will provide facilities for “one-stop” shopping for regulatory, biostatistical, bioinformatics, recruitment, and other support services. YCCI will have an office to coordinate the university's efforts to address health issues facing our community. The university's decision to immediately provide substantial support to establish the YCCI reflects its strong commitment to an innovative redesign of our clinical and translational research activities.
Washington, District of Columbia
Principal InvestigatorsJill G. Joseph, M.D., Ph.D., Children's National Medical CenterPeter Hotez, M.D., Ph.D., The George Washington University
The Clinical and Translational Science Institute at Children's National (CTSI-CN) offers a unique set of resources in translating discovery to improved health. The CTSI-CN will provide highly integrated, cost-effective, investigator-focused resources designed to overcome research barriers, promote collaborative research and provide research training in the area of children's health. With an emphasis on health disparities and childhood antecedents to adult diseases, this center will build upon its pediatric research strengths in areas such as rare diseases, asthma and neurodevelopmental disabilities to collaborate with a national network of 1,200 community health centers.
The specific objectives of the CTSI-CN are to: 1) provide state-of-the-art, flexible resources required by clinical and translational researchers; 2) promote multidisciplinary clinical and translational research (CTR); 3) strengthen CTR education and training for diverse trainees at all stages of career development; 4) promote demographic diversity and address health disparities; 5) incorporate effective and sustained collaboration with community partners; 6) ensure research efficiency; and 7) establish bidirectional collaborations with the CTSA network. The CTSI-CN will lend its unique perspective on pediatric health issues and urban health disparities to the already distinguished members of the CTSA network.
Some key features of the CTSI-CN are to expand CTR education and training, making it available from high school through mid-career; encourage community-based research at diverse locations; and overcome gaps in innovative research methodologies to support research.
Principal InvestigatorsJoseph G. Verbalis, M.D., Georgetown UniversityThomas A. Mellman, M.D., Howard University
The Georgetown-Howard Universities Center for Clinical and Translational Science (GHUCCTS) is a collaborative research center that includes two major universities and three affiliated hospital and research systems.
The specific aims of GHUCCTS are to accelerate improvements in human health by stimulating innovative, multidisciplinary and cross-institutional research among the GHUCCTS investigators; to support the careers of clinical and translational investigators through a variety of educational programs paired with focused mentorship; and to enhance local and national clinical and translational research in underserved populations, including minorities, the elderly, and those with disabilities.
To accomplish these aims, the GHUCCTS team will integrate existing research and training programs with an innovative infrastructure to enhance practice-, laboratory- and community-based clinical and translational research. GHUCCTS will include a coordinated multi-institutional biomedical informatics infrastructure, an expanded clinical research operation with new community-based clinical research units, a new community engagement resource to support and enhance community-based research and expanded resources in regulatory knowledge and ethics. GHUCCTS also will support collaborative research projects, using the supercomputing and translational tools of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory to explore and develop novel translational methodologies.
Resource integration across the GHUCCTS institutions will be accompanied by a joint research education, training and career development program, including new master's degree and scholars' programs in clinical and translational science. GHUCCTS multidisciplinary and cross-institutional research will enable the Washington, D.C. community to benefit from the generation and application of new discoveries in clinical and translational science.
Gainesville, Florida
Principal InvestigatorDavid Robert Nelson, M.D., University of Florida
To speed the translation of basic science discoveries to early investigations in humans and the translation of clinical research into better medical practice and healthcare delivery, the University of Florida (UF) has invested in new research and training resources and restructured its traditional reporting, research and training operations to create the Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI). The institute will provide the intellectual home for clinical and translational research and training, integrating and synergizing the scientific and educational activities of 12 colleges, two academic and clinical campuses, two regional healthcare systems and Florida's 67 counties.
The CTSI aims to: 1) create an environment through which individuals from diverse disciplines can interact; resources, services and technologies can be identified and accessed; and local and regional barriers to collaborative research can be overcome; 2) train a workforce of clinical and basic science investigators, clinical trialists, laboratory technicians, study coordinators and other personnel required to establish and support multi- and interdisciplinary clinical and translational research teams; 3) enhance the quality and availability of cutting-edge technologies and novel research programs to accelerate discovery, development and application of diagnostic and therapeutic modalities; and 4) create opportunities for clinical scientists and Floridians to collaborate in advancing education and research into the causes, prevention, diagnosis, treatment and cure of human disease.
The CTSI will enable UF to transform how it conducts multi- and interdisciplinary clinical and translational research and training and how it engages citizens across Florida in community-based participatory research, education, health care and health care delivery.
Atlanta, Georgia
Principal InvestigatorDavid S. Stephens, M.D., Emory University
The Atlanta Clinical and Translational Science Institute (Atlanta-CTSI) is led by Emory University, along with partners Morehouse School of Medicine, Georgia Institute of Technology and Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. These institutions are already partners in healthcare, education, and cutting-edge, interdisciplinary research that will be propelled by the Atlanta-CTSI.
The established partnerships and diverse faculty enable the Atlanta-CTSI to combine strong clinical, translational, training and basic discovery programs at Emory with the health disparities, training and community outreach focus of Morehouse School of Medicine together with the engineering and bioinformatics achievements of Georgia Tech and the excellence in pediatrics of Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. Collaborations with the private nonprofit Georgia Bio organization and the Georgia Research Alliance, the state-sponsored academic-industry partnership, create additional synergies that foster and accelerate development and application of new and emerging technologies. Finally the Atlanta-CTSI creates dynamic community, public health, informatics, and population studies programs through partnerships and collaborations with Kaiser Permanente of Georgia (KPGA), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Atlanta Veterans Affairs Medical Center.
Evanston and Chicago, Illinois
Principal InvestigatorPhilip Greenland, M.D., Northwestern University
The Northwestern University Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute (NUCATS) is dedicated to facilitating, supporting, and promoting research that results in better medical treatments and improved health care. NUCATS is the physical home and central hub for translational research across the Northwestern University enterprise. The institute is composed of five centers, and participation spans several geographic locations, including the involvement of all four NU-affiliated hospitals and six NU schools located on two campuses: the Feinberg School of Medicine; the Kellogg School of Management; the McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science; the School of Communication; the School of Education and Social Policy; and the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences. Basic scientists, medical practitioners, community-based medical practitioners, and community-based organizations are working together with leaders in the fields of communications, education, business, and public health to eliminate barriers to innovation.
Chicago, Illinois
Principal InvestigatorJulian Solway, M.D., University of Chicago
The ultimate goals of the University of Chicago CTSA program are: 1) to train scientists and health care providers at the university, partner institutions and community to determine the molecular underpinnings of disease and disease predisposition in any individual patient; 2) to develop, test, implement, and make readily available to community residents personalized therapies directed toward those individual underpinnings; and 3) to do this in a way that is rigorous, valid, efficient, ethical, and respectful of our community's needs and values. In a robust alliance with ANL, IIT, and two large health care organizations, the UC CTSA will undertake three bold new steps that will transform clinical and translational research: 1) Creation of an Institute for Translational Medicine, a new University-wide structure to collect, integrate, and disseminate the intellectual, organizational, and resource infrastructure needed to promote and support multidisciplinary translational research collaborations; 2) Synergistic research interaction with a new Urban Health Initiative which, through partnership with community stakeholders, aims to improve community health care access and quality, to build health literacy and trust throughout the community, to enhance a translational research program informed by and responsive to the needs of the community, and so to reduce health disparities; and 3) Establishment of a new academic Committee on Clinical and Translational Science and of multiple novel training programs to encourage and develop careers in clinical and translational research, intended for high school students through university faculty and across the entire translational research spectrum. CTSA investigators will employ a systems medicine approach to leverage their particular expertise in social science, genetic medicine and integrative therapeutics.
Principal InvestigatorLarry Tobacman, M.D., University of Illinois at Chicago
The University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) Center for Clinical and Translational Science (CCTS) will fundamentally alter clinical and translational investigation at UIC and our partnering institutions. Harnessing our diverse backgrounds, interests and expertise, CCTS will catalyze collaborative thinking and innovation. The center will organize, finance and house the infrastructure, expertise and resources for clinical and translational investigators within a single academic home, crossing administrative boundaries to harness and enhance existing UIC resources.
CCTS' goals are to: 1) create and develop an academic home for clinical translational research at UIC that will provide a flexible, adaptable infrastructure to stimulate collaborative thinking, generative discourse and collective action, facilitating clinical and translational investigation. This will include establishing a robust pilot grant program, a Clinical and Translational Science Academy, a Web-based and geographic single point-of-access for investigators, and a matchmaking service to identify novel collaborations. 2) establish the research service infrastructure (six cores) to provide research support services; and 3) provide multifaceted educational experiences for pre- and postdoctoral trainees, junior faculty and established faculty who want to extend their thinking beyond current disciplinary boundaries.
The administrative reorganization represented by CCTS will lead to rationalization and integration of significant and mature UIC resources for clinical translational research. CCTS will add to these resources to produce not only something different, but something better for clinical translational researchers and trainees at UIC and at partner institutions.
Indianapolis, Indiana
Principal InvestigatorAnantha Shekhar, M.D., Ph.D., Indiana University School of Medicine
Indiana Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) will increase translational biomedical research and improve the health of the people of Indiana and beyond. The Indiana CTSI has developed enhanced educational programs to train translational researchers; a newly designed community engagement activity to produce effective and bidirectional community partnerships; a streamlined process for all available research infrastructure to accelerate translational projects; and a partnership with commercial and philanthropic organizations in Indiana.
The critical link connecting all of these efforts is the university's medical informatics program that enables all parties to interact in an easy, responsive and prompt manner. Thus, the Indiana CTSI brings together the research resources of the entire state. It will provide the national network of CTSAs with a statewide laboratory to experiment with innovative methods aimed at transforming research in biomedical sciences, health economy, health care delivery and health policy. It will create pilot projects, train translational researchers, foster community engagement, build research resources and technologies, and leverage the resources of the Greater Indiana Community.
Iowa City, Iowa
Principal InvestigatorGary E. Rosenthal, M.D., University of Iowa
The The Institute for Clinical and Translational Science at the University of Iowa includes 39 established University centers and institutes representing all 11 UI colleges. Examples include the UI Hospitals and Clinics' General Clinical Research Center; the Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center at the UI; the Law, Health Policy, and Disability Center; the Prairielands Addiction Technology Transfer Center; the Northern Plains Native American Health Disparities Center; and the Upper Midwest Public Health Training Center. Partnerships with the University of Arizona and Iowa State University add richness and diversity to the Institute's efforts.
The institute will energize strong UI research programs in areas like optical science, oral and maxillofacial implants, nanotechnology, and advanced imaging, and nurture newer initiatives like community-based research. The institute's statewide network of community practitioners, hospitals and health organizations will help identify areas for further study, improve public perception of clinical research, and make cutting-edge research, discoveries and treatments available to patients wherever they live. Looking even further ahead, the institute's master's and Ph.D. degree programs in clinical and translational science will prepare tomorrow's researchers. CTSA support will advance research at the UI in innumerable ways.
Kansas City, Kansas
Principal InvestigatorsRichard J. Barohn, M.D., The University of Kansas Medical CenterLauren S. Aaronson, Ph.D., R.N., The University of Kansas Medical Center
The University of Kansas Heartland Institute for Clinical and Translational Research (HICTR) is an academic home for clinical and translational research serving Kansas and the greater Kansas City region. The vision of the HICTR is to create a novel and transformative translational research enterprise from bench to bedside to community. Drawing on many years of experience reaching the frontiers of Kansas with educational, research, and health care programs, the HICTR supports scientists and actively involves the community so that discoveries and research findings are more rapidly brought to the point of care. The HICTR also promotes innovative public/private partnerships for developing new drugs and devices and integrates patient-centered health and health systems outcomes into evidence-based risk models that inform clinical care. Through these approaches, the HICTR is improving the health of all Kansans, especially those in rural and underserved communities.
The specific aims of the HICTR are to: 1) create a new academic home with innovative training programs for clinical and translational investigators; 2) provide an enhanced coordinated translational research infrastructure; and 3) actively engage the community in developing, testing, and disseminating research. The proposed infrastructure and educational programs of the HICTR address the challenges facing clinical and translational investigators by enhancing and integrating existing resources for easier access, developing new innovative resources and capitalizing on resources residing in research centers across the university and the region.
Lexington, Kentucky
Principal InvestigatorPhilip A. Kern, M.D., University of Kentucky
The goal of the University of Kentucky (UK) Center for Clinical and Translational Science (CCTS) is to transform the pace, effectiveness, and quality of translational research leading to novel discoveries that impact health care. The CCTS seeks to integrate research strengths of UK's scientists from disciplines focused on common diseases such as cancer, heart disease and diabetes and from such disciplines as pharmaceutical sciences and biomedical engineering, which are essential to development of novel drugs and medical devices. UK also has significant scientific strength in the study of risk-related behaviors such as smoking, alcohol, drug abuse and obesity -- all of which are major factors in the high rates of cancer, heart disease and diabetes in Kentucky and across Appalachia.
UK is a land grant university with 16 colleges, including engineering, agriculture, and six health science colleges, located all on the Lexington campus. In addition to integrating this UK expertise, the CCTS is collaborating with Marshall University, CTSAs at the Ohio State University, University of Cincinnati and regional academic institutions to form the Appalachian Translational Research Network. This network will engage investigators in clinical and translational science; foster collaborations, joint pilot studies, and mentoring; and develop strong programs in community-based participatory research.
CCTS and its partners will prepare the next generation of scientists, break down barriers to translational research, accelerate the pace of scientific discoveries and improve the health of citizens in Kentucky, the Appalachian region and the nation.
Baltimore, Maryland
Principal InvestigatorDaniel E. Ford, M.D., M.P.H., Johns Hopkins University
The new Johns Hopkins Institute for Clinical and Translational Research synergizes many existing translational research efforts across the Johns Hopkins schools of engineering, medicine, nursing and public health. The Institute will create new opportunities to partner with patient communities and for-profit organizations that are dedicated to moving new medical interventions into practice. Incorporating new partners for clinical research among community hospitals and primary care organizations will also be a priority. The Institute will provide comprehensive training programs for clinical and translational research that will be targeted for the full range of learners. Clinical and translational researchers will be supported by new programs in biostatistics; innovative methodology; patient recruitment; navigating through regulatory offices; clinical research management systems; bioinformatics; data safety and monitoring programs; building community bridges; research ethics consultations; and the Accelerated Translational Incubator Program (pilot program). New translational cores in drug, device and vaccine development, proteomics, genetics, and imaging will create new translational research teams. Basic science and translational science forums will be used to create and support new research teams that span the translational pathway.
Boston, Massachusetts
Principal InvestigatorDavid M. Center, M.D., Boston University
The Boston University Clinical and Translational Science (BU CTSI) Institute will integrate, connect, and expand research and programs across traditional academic departments and schools. The institute will act as a bridge between disciplines to facilitate interactions by incorporating multiple key programs that support the university-wide commitment to a home for translational research.
The CTSA grant will allow the Institute to build on existing strengths to create an environment linking faculty members, trainees, and university programs to speed the translation of innovations in medical science to improve maintenance of health and diagnosis and treatment of diseases and share these innovations with other university-based CTSAs. The BU CTSI environment also will support the bi-directional development and translation of ideas that begin in the clinic to the BU scientific community and back to identify new ways to improve health and delivery of health care services. Moreover, the institute will significantly enhance existing partnerships with Boston's community health centers, transforming the conduct of clinical and translational research by infusing it with community-based perspectives and needs.
Principal InvestigatorLee Marshall Nadler, M.D., Harvard University
Harvard Catalyst: The Harvard Clinical and Translational Science Center will alter the culture of clinical and translational research at Harvard by creating structured and effective methods to connect and support individual investigators and teams of investigators. The center will create managed approaches to focusing the skills of experts in diverse disciplines to find innovative solutions to challenging questions in clinical and translational research. It will deploy both new and old resources more effectively, lowering the barriers to the initiation and conduct of clinical and translational research within and across institutions.
In parallel, the center will build a structure to encourage initiation of new clinical and translational research projects and provide mechanisms for bringing together interdisciplinary and cross-institutional teams, opening the doors of the clinical and translational research enterprise to researchers and engineers with diverse backgrounds, skills, and resources. The center will educate the broader Harvard research community on the opportunities, challenges, and goals of clinical and translational research.
The overarching goals focus on the individual development of clinical and translational researchers and alignment of incentives with desired outcomes. Structured processes will be created that will enhance the ability of investigators to identify information, seek expertise, and access tools necessary to conceive and successfully complete clinical and translational experiments.
Principal InvestigatorHarry P. Selker, M.D., M.S.P.H., Tufts University
The Tufts Clinical and Translational Science Institute will build on long-standing traditions of multidisciplinary collaboration. The institute will leverage that history to produce ground-breaking translation research to bring therapies to patients more quickly. Among the endeavors the institute will undertake will be a program aimed at cultivating connections between researchers and community groups, transforming the research process by developing ways for these groups to learn about each other's needs, interests and perspectives. The program includes annual needs assessments with community partners to identify perceived health needs and research priorities. This partnership will facilitate the recruitment of diverse participants in research efforts to accelerate the adoption of evidence-based care into clinical practice settings. The emphasis on community involvement uniquely reflects both Tufts University and Tufts Medical Center's dedication to active citizenship and biomedical research by including multiple hospitals, community organizations, health plans, industry, and others in Massachusetts and nationally.
Worcester, Massachusetts
Principal InvestigatorJohn Lewis Sullivan, M.D., University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester
The University of Massachusetts Center for Clinical and Translational Science (UMCCTS), housed within the only public medical school in Massachusetts, will transform the conduct of clinical and translational research by providing an “academic home” for all university bench-to-bedside-to-population investigators. By recruiting leaders and establishing innovative research core facilities, we aim to: 1) accelerate early phase translational studies; and develop new therapies, devices, and interventions based upon UMass discoveries; 2) integrate unique networks of clinical research and healthcare delivery in Central New England and Massachusetts to build and expand clinical effectiveness research and implementation research capacity; and enhance patient and community outreach and participation in clinical/population-based research; 3) work collaboratively with all campuses and schools of the UMass system in developing programs, curricula, and faculty support systems that promote careers in clinical and translational research.
The university has established the UMass Advanced Therapeutics Cluster (UMATC), which includes the RNA Therapeutics Institute, the Center for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, and the Gene Therapy Center. The UMATC joins the Massachusetts Biologic Laboratories, Meyers Primary Care Institute and Commonwealth Medicine to speed discoveries in clinical and translational research.
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Principal InvestigatorThomas P. Shanley, M.D., University of Michigan at Ann Arbor
The Michigan Institute of Clinical and Health Research creates partnerships among the relevant units of the University, the NIH, external industry partners, and the community. The overwhelming majority of UM schools, colleges, and institutes are participating, including: the top-ranked Schools of Business, Dentistry, Medicine, Nursing, Social Work, and Public Health; the Colleges of Engineering, Pharmacy, Literature, and Science and Arts; the Division of Kinesiology; the Institute of Social Research; and the Life Sciences Institute. The University-owned Health System, which includes integrated outpatient and inpatient facilities, is contributing significantly to a strong partnership with the UM CTSA site. In addition to the grant resources, the institution is contributing substantial in-kind support, cost-sharing, support of pilot and recruitment programs, and renovation costs, a more than 1:1 match of NIH dollars. The University of Michigan CTSA program includes an Education Program that reaches a wide spectrum of audiences: from undergraduates to mid-career faculty, from basic scientists to population researchers, from staff to community members.
Rochester, Minnesota
Principal InvestigatorRobert Rizza, M.D., Mayo Clinic
The goal of the Mayo Clinic CTSA application is to present Mayo's vision for the integration and expansion of its innovative clinical and translational research activities, so that a highly functional academic home for clinical and translational research is developed at the Mayo Clinic. The Center for Translational Science Activities is founded on Mayo Clinic's long-standing excellence in and commitment to clinical and translational research, which includes the support of key infrastructure and a commitment to career development. To achieve this goal, Mayo will take a comprehensive approach to the key elements of the CTSA Request for Applications and focus on enhancing: 1) clinical research core resources that provide innovative tools to investigators; 2) career development and education programs that prepare the next generation of investigators; 3) compliance and regulatory affairs support that ensures patient safety and privacy, and customer service-oriented approaches to support investigative teams; 4) community affairs support to enhance participation, diversity and community support for clinical and translational research; 5) collaboration with industry and clinical practices to translate research discoveries into routine clinical practice; and 6) continued and expanded institutional support that includes an "academic home" for clinical and translational research. Mayo Clinic also proposes a consolidated governance plan that incorporates strong data-driven evaluation of each Center for Translational Science Activities element and the program as a whole. In principle, the CTSA program is consistent with the historical, conceptual, and philosophical underpinnings of Mayo Clinic, and this application clearly articulates how the overarching and transformative goals of the CTSA program can be met at Mayo. To summarize, the Mayo Clinic Center for Translational Science Activities will bring together all the resources of the five schools within the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, and more than 100 years of scientific and medical research expertise, to discover innovative new methods that will speed the translation of research results into therapies, tools, and patient care practices that impact all members of the local and national communities. This vision is entirely consistent with the stated mission of the Mayo Clinic to provide the best care to every patient, every day, through integrated clinical practice, education, and research.
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Principal InvestigatorBruce R. Blazar, M.D., University of Minnesota Twin Cities
The University of Minnesota (UMN) Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) creates an academic home to promote clinical and translational research. The CTSI is developing an ongoing alignment with major statewide healthcare organizations and insurers, electronic networks, special and rural community populations, the state department of health, and Mayo Clinic. As a result, the CTSI is in a position to have a strong impact on workforce training, healthcare outcomes and policy in Minnesota.
CTSI aims to improve health and well-being by accelerating discoveries into practice, from the scientist's laboratory to the patient's bedside. The UMN provides a full spectrum of research expertise and technologies to foster this acceleration.
The CTSI goals are to: 1) create an academic home and an adaptive, sustainable infrastructure to support clinical translational science research at UMN; 2) foster meaningful relationships and transparent interactions between UMN and our communities to improve health statewide; and 3) train and reward interdisciplinary clinical translational science teams at UMN and in our communities.
Increasingly integrated functions in university cores will support clinical translational science research trainees and junior faculty with learner-tailored curricula. Others will accelerate bench-to-bedside translation and commercial applications. The university's Biomedical Health Informatics initiative will provide networked clinical data and biospecimen resources while training future informatics scholars.
The CTSI vision is for an environment that transforms relationships in the health care community, forging a true partnership to facilitate discovery, translation and knowledge dissemination that identify and address changing community needs to have an ongoing positive impact on people's health.
St. Louis, Missouri
Principal InvestigatorKenneth S. Polonsky, M.D., Washington University of St. Louis
The CTSA at Washington University (WU) in St. Louis will be implemented by creating a new Institute of Clinical and Translational Sciences designed to conceptually and operationally reinvent and reinvigorate clinical and translational research and research training. The institute incorporates existing programs (GCRC, K12, K30, and T32) and WU's new BioMed 21 strategic initiative in multidisciplinary, collaborative research in genome sciences, biological imaging and clinical investigation. It also involves an unprecedented level of partnership with other academic, health care, community and scientific institutions in the St. Louis area. Partners include BJC HealthCare; Saint Louis University School of Public Health, Graduate School and Doisy College of Health Sciences; University of Missouri St. Louis College of Nursing; Southern Illinois University Edwardsville School of Nursing; and St. Louis College of Pharmacy; key organizations promoting community health as well as biomedical and pharmaceutical companies in the St. Louis area. The Institute of Clinical and Translational Sciences will oversee 15 key programs, each designated to facilitate the safe and ethical conduct of research in humans.
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Principal InvestigatorRichard S. Larson, M.D., Ph.D., University of New Mexico
The vision of the Clinical and Translational Science Center (CTSC) at the University of the New Mexico Health Sciences Center is to continue expanding and refining a transformative, novel academic home for essential clinical and translational health sciences discovery in New Mexico and the Mountain West region.
The UNM CTSC will integrate the efforts of community leaders and clinicians; basic, clinical and translational investigators; health care and research collaborators; and industry partners to advance meaningful human health discovery, and accelerate its applications in New Mexico communities.
With its numerous, diverse partners in New Mexico and the Mountain West region, the CTSC has the expertise, infrastructure and resources to: 1) synergize multidisciplinary clinical and translational research to catalyze the application of new knowledge and techniques on the patient-care front lines; 2) recruit, train, and advance talented, highly skilled investigators and research teams strong in cultural sensitivity, health disparity, and biotechnology; 3) create an incubator for innovative research, information technologies and research informatics; and 4) expand existing partnerships between UNM Health Sciences Center researchers, practicing clinicians and communities to speed the development of medical research.
Bronx, New York
Principal InvestigatorHarry Shamoon, M.D., Albert Einstein College of Medicine
The Einstein-Montefiore Institute for Clinical and Translational Research (ICTR) is founded on successful inter-dependent programs, comprised of pediatric and adult patient research facilities; core laboratories; and expanded clinical research training programs, including a Ph.D. in clinical investigation. Jointly supported by the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore Medical Center, the ICTR encourages the development of new methods and approaches to bidirectional clinical and translational research. One focus will be on the improvement of education, training and mentoring to aid new investigators in navigating the increasingly complex research system, while taking advantage of newly designed and improved biomedical research informatics tools. The ICTR actively engages the ethnically diverse communities of the Bronx, made up of 1.4 million people, collaborating with regional and affiliated institutions to expand research and training opportunities throughout the Bronx community. The ICTR builds upon existing clinical research programs, such as the Hispanic Community Health Study; on interdisciplinary centers in diabetes, cancer, liver, health disparities, neuroscience, transplantation and HIV/AIDS; and on an expanding base of translational research faculty in genetics, systems biology, and stem cell research, many of whom are housed in a new state-of-the-art facility. The ICTR will enhance community collaboration and participation in its research, as well as expand and develop partnerships with community organizations in the Bronx. During the past two years, the Clinical and Translational Science Award development process has involved a broad range of faculty from numerous disciplines (including medicine, dentistry, nursing, epidemiology, social work, and biomedical sciences) through these transformative partnerships.
New York, New York
Principal InvestigatorHenry Ginsberg, M.D., Columbia University
Columbia University Medical Center's (CUMC) CTSA program will transform the culture of clinical and translational research so that CUMC can develop and retain an outstanding cadre of senior faculty to lead the next generation of clinical and translational investigators. With enhanced support from the CUMC-Herbert Irving Endowment, which will increase from its present level of $15 million to $25 million, CUMC will accomplish this goal by creating the Irving Institute for Clinical and Translational Research (IICTR). The IICTR will be the academic and intellectual home for the next generation of clinical and translational investigators. The senior faculty will provide leadership and stature for the IICTR, and serve as mentors for both the junior faculty and IICTR trainees. The junior faculty, called Irving Fellows, will work with senior faculty to develop novel approaches to advancing multi- and interdisciplinary clinical and translational research. The Irving Fellows will be role models for the way multi- and interdisciplinary research should be conducted at CUMC. The resources provided by IICTR will include outstanding support and research in biomedical informatics, biostatistical and clinical trial design, bioethics, regulatory issues, patient-oriented research, and core laboratory resources. The Irving Fellows will be supported by CUMC and the CTSA, as will pilot and collaborative research grants awarded annually by the IICTR. CUMC has invested in the development of new space for the IICTR, including space for pediatric inpatient/outpatient research and the Center for Clinically Oriented Research Education that will be a home for trainees and faculty. CUMC will also develop a new off-campus research center to support community-based clinical and translational research, and education. As part of the CTSA program, CUMC has created an integrated educational program that includes a new multidisciplinary, patient-oriented research master's degree, a novel K12 scholars mentored research program in muti- and interdisciplinary research, and a pioneering multidisciplinary, patient-oriented research Ph.D. program. The goal of the IICTR and CTSA is to enable more direct utilization of research advances to benefit patients and the community.
Principal InvestigatorHugh Sampson, M.D., Mount Sinai School of Medicine
The goal of Conduits, the Institutes for Translational Sciences at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine is to establish a research paradigm that will: 1) facilitate bench-to-bedside translation of cutting-edge research; 2) create an academic home for clinical and translational investigators; and 3) supply the governance and resources needed to allow clinical investigators to benefit from Mount Sinai's Translational Research Institutes and potential collaborators.
To accomplish this, Conduits will redesign its research infrastructure to integrate research functions across departments, enhance and promote interactions between basic scientists and clinical investigators, and streamline administrative procedures for new clinical trials and dissemination of results. It will establish a Translational Discoveries Program to provide consultation, oversight and facilities for clinical and translational research. Conduits also will engage the community and its affiliates to translate health benefits to the public. And it will develop methodologies to improve trial design and reduce participant burden.
To recruit and retain clinical and translational researchers, Conduits will train and support new investigators in a multidisciplinary, doctoral degree-granting program in clinical and translational research. It also will develop a recruitment program and enhance career development. An innovative Experimental Therapeutics & Technologies Program will identify and develop novel clinical and translational research projects and connect basic and clinical researchers, caregivers and laboratories through an integrated network of information.
Conduits will create an effective, efficient and centralized research administrative structure. It will foster and reward interdisciplinary collaborations, educate and retain new clinical and translational investigators and enable translation of basic scientific discoveries into clinical practice. Conduits also will deliver to its diverse community new therapies and an improved standard of care.
Principal InvestigatorsBruce Neil Cronstein, M.D., New York UniversityJudith S. Hochman, M.D., New York University
To transform the way research is carried out at New York University (NYU) and enhance the quality and productivity of the research effort, NYU and the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation (HHC) will establish a Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI). The CTSI will aim to increase collaboration among clinical, translational and basic scientists across NYU to better determine the relevance and applicability of scientific advances to clinical problems. It will also strive to provide leadership, infrastructure and resources to support novel science and the rapid, efficient and safe application of scientific discoveries to the community. A third aim will be to support education, training and development of researchers who can conduct the investigations necessary to bring scientific advances to the public. Finally, the CTSI will work to enhance the ties between NYU researchers and the community in order to more rapidly identify health problems, investigate their scientific basis, apply the knowledge gained, promote use of new developments and evidence-based medicine by the community, and reduce health care disparities.
The CTSI will link NYU and the HHC in a new venture designed to bring their resources to bear on the health problems facing New York and the nation in the 21st century. Combining strengths and synergies in research, patient care and community outreach, it will provide a new and innovative engine for translation of medical advances from the laboratory to the patient and from the patient to the community.
Principal InvestigatorBarry Coller, M.D., Rockefeller University
The Rockefeller University Hospital, originally a General Clinical Research Center awardee since 1963, has been the continuous “home” for clinical and translational science at Rockefeller since 1910. It has been the site of numerous landmark scientific and clinical contributions, and many of its trainees have gone on to become academic leaders. With the new resources available under a Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA), a core faculty of distinguished investigators, whose research spans the basic-translational spectrum and encompasses a broad range of scientific and medical disciplines, will integrate and expand Rockefeller University's scientific and educational programs in a new Rockefeller University Center for Clinical and Translational Science. The new center will transform clinical and translational research by encouraging new studies, enhancing and centralizing the support structures required to conduct studies with scientific rigor, and ensuring an absolute commitment to the protection of human subjects and participant safety. The key elements in the transformation will be: 1) a new governance structure reflecting the NIH cooperative agreement (U54) “assistance” mechanism; 2) creation of a new K12 Clinical Research Scholars Program offering master's and Ph.D. level degrees to complement the current Clinical Scholars Program; 3) infrastructure enhancements to facilitate the development and conduct of clinical protocols under the principle of good clinical practice, including biomedical informatics, biostatistics, bionutrition, research nursing, research pharmacy, participant recruitment and community engagement, and regulatory support and oversight from the clinical research (research subject advocate) support office; and 4) development of innovative and novel core methodologies related to dendritic cell therapy; vaccine development for HIV, hepatitis C, and malignancies; genetics/genomics; assessing the immune response; and metabolic phenotyping. The center will continue Rockefeller's tradition of focusing on the interface between scientific discovery, human pathophysiology, and novel diagnostic, preventive, and therapeutic strategies. It will partner with industry, when mutually beneficial, to achieve these goals. The center will be an active member of the national CTSA consortium, offering the consortium novel ideas and tools for conducting and evaluating clinical and translational research. It will eagerly adopt the best practices identified by the consortium and adhere to the standards set by the consortium.
Rochester, New York
Principal InvestigatorThomas Pearson, M.P.H., Ph.D., University of Rochester Medical Center
The University of Rochester Clinical and Translational Science Institute (UR CTSI) was created as the academic home for clinical and translational science, providing a centralized, integrated infrastructure. Under a system of governance in which the UR CTSI program director has authority over space, faculty, budgets and other resources related to the CTSI, the university has transformed the two distinct research fields of clinical and translational science into a single discipline. The goals of this discipline include the creation of new knowledge and techniques to diagnose, prevent and treat human disease, and the establishment of an environment that catalyzes their application to clinical practice in the community. The university achieves these goals through novel methodologies; pilot studies; upgraded biomedical informatics, epidemiology, research design, ethics, and regulatory support; community engagement; new technology and resource cores; new educational and training programs; an upstate New York consortium; and rigorous evaluation and measurement of performance outcomes. years of strategic planning paved the way for the creation of the UR CTSI. Institutional support provided a new 150,000-square-foot Clinical and Translational Science Building (CTSB) in which faculty conducting clinical and translational research are brought together with students and trainees in existing and new degree-granting programs; with supporting regulatory and administrative functions; and with faculty working in collaborative disciplines such as biostatistics, epidemiology and biomedical informatics. The director and co-directors of the UR CTSI integrate the clinical and translational science functions contained in the CTSB with those functions located at other campus locations, such as functional genomics and other translational resources. The UR CTSI has created two-way synergies with local community groups such as the school system, faith community, businesses, foundations and other upstate New York institutions. Further, the UR CTSI enables the sharing of data across disciplines and across institutions while ensuring the privacy and confidentiality of human subjects. In summary, by coalescing and integrating new facilities with enhanced infrastructure, community and state-wide partnerships, a strong foundation of existing research and training, and a fundamentally reorganized administrative structure, the CTSI has transformed the manner in which clinical and translational science is conducted at UR and contributes nationally to the forging of this discipline.
Principal InvestigatorJulianne L. Imperato-McGinley, M.D., Weill Cornell Medical College
The Clinical and Translational Science Center (CTSC) -- comprising public/private institutions on the Upper East Side of Manhattan -- is a unique and diverse biomedical complex, providing investigators with state-of-the-art resources for conducting clinical and translational research.
Weill Cornell Medical College of Cornell University, the lead institution, serves as conduit through which technological resources and educational programs are efficiently shared and managed. Neighboring institutions contribute significantly to the CTSC. Hospital for Special Surgery, a leader in investigating musculoskeletal and autoimmune diseases, is one of two medical institutions designated by NIH as a Core Center for Skeletal Integrity. Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center is a cancer center where state-of-the-art basic science research flourishes side-by-side with clinical investigation and treatment at Memorial Hospital. Cornell University Cooperative Extension, NYC, engaged in research addressing the needs of a changing New York for over 50 years, will be the linchpin for community outreach. Hunter College Gene Center's Research Center for Minority Institutions recruits and nurtures minority talent and has established an effective electronic network with minority scientists nationwide. Hunter College School of Nursing, training nurses from a diverse urban population, will participate in community outreach and education in underserved areas.
Durham, North Carolina
Principal InvestigatorRobert Califf, M.D., Duke University
Duke University established the Duke Translational Medicine Institute (DTMI) to: 1) create an institute that transforms how fundamental discoveries are translated into improved medical care by supporting creative translational research teams. The institute provides leadership and resources for original translational and clinical research, and it develops and performs studies regarding novel methods and approaches to translational and clinical science; 2) create an environment in which trainees at all levels, including medical and nursing school students, physical therapists, pharmacologists, house staff, fellows, graduate students, junior faculty and career transition faculty can be trained in translational and clinical research. The training is built on the principle that a rich clinical and translational research environment provides Duke University trainees with models and opportunities for success; 3) integrate translational and clinical science by fostering collaboration among Duke University's departments, institutes, centers and schools, using human resources supported by modern bioinformatics and a clinical research unit designed to integrate intensive measurements of biological processes; 4) and develop a community model for understanding how to translate the findings of research from bench to bedside, to populations using advanced informatics and health services delivery methods. The Duke University DTMI is founded on three entities, or pillars, including Duke University Translational Research Institute (DTRI), Duke University Clinical Research Institute (DCRI) and Duke University Center for Community Research (DCCR). These three entities bring together and expand existing programs, and are designed to emphasize the continuities along the spectrum of research that begins in a basic science laboratory and concludes with novel therapies that change outcomes for individual patients. These three pillars -- DCRI, DTRI and DCCR -- are administratively joined into the DTMI, which links with other key programs, including Duke University Comprehensive Cancer Center, Duke University School of Nursing, and Duke University Institute for Genome Sciences and Policy, thereby creating a comprehensive home for clinical and translational researchers. The creation of the DTMI is relevant to public health as it creates an environment that fosters speedier delivery of new interventions and healthcare practices to the community.
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Principal InvestigatorMarschall Runge, M.D., Ph.D., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill solicited input from over 300 faculty, administrators and other stakeholders, drawn not just from the university but across the state, to establish the Translational and Clinical Sciences (TraCS) Institute. The TraCS Institute is transforming the way research is performed in the state by partnering with communities to more rapidly and efficiently “translate” scientific discoveries into improvements in the health of citizens. The TraCS Institute has three simple goals: 1) prepare and empower faculty, health care providers and citizens to participate in all aspects of the process involved in translating good ideas into health advances; 2) provide the advice and resources necessary to design and execute the best research projects; and 3) ensure that the best discoveries and ideas evolving from these projects are rapidly used to solve important health problems in the state. The Translational Research Advisory Board, consisting of senior faculty from across the UNC System, partners with communities to identify and prioritize important health issues and calls for project proposals that address these priorities. The TraCS study section, which includes community members, prioritizes and helps improve project proposals contributed by over 40 units across campus and the state. A special TraCS program ensures that best ideas that result from these projects are implemented throughout the state to improve the health of citizens.
Cleveland, Ohio
Principal InvestigatorPamela B. Davis, M.D., Ph.D., Case Western Reserve University
This The Clinical and Translational Science Collaborative based at Case Western Reserve University includes three hospital affiliates of the School of Medicine, the Cleveland Clinic, University Hospitals and MetroHealth Medical Center. Together, these hospitals cover 90 percent of the medical care delivered in the seven-county area surrounding Cleveland, Ohio, offering a wealth of clinical research opportunities. In addition, excellent programs based in the Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing and the School of Dental Medicine, as well as those in the School of Medicine and its hospital affiliates reach into the community at many sites, some of which have become study sites in the CTSC. Together with the strong biomedical cores, the reach of these programs affords great opportunity for collaborative clinical research.
Columbus, Ohio
Principal InvestigatorRebecca D. Jackson, M.D., Ph.D., Ohio State University
The Ohio State University (OSU) has established the Center for Clinical and Translational Science (CCTS) to improve the quality of care for all patients in the community by creating a transformative clinical and translational science discipline that is at the core of the OSU academic culture. It supports a robust and integrated partnership between the OSU and Nationwide Children's Hospital and links these sophisticated health care systems as a laboratory for biological, clinical and behavioral research. By also working through affiliated hospital networks, a primary care network and extension offices in all 88 counties in Ohio, the CCTS accomplishes clinical and translational research through innovative collaboration with the community. As part of its community engagement plans, the CCTS has selected the Appalachian region of Ohio as an area of emphasis -- an area with some of the state's highest poverty rates. Expanding its community-based research programs to include unique partnerships with the Appalachia Community Cancer Network and Partners for Kids, a Nationwide Children's Hospital organization, provides clinical research opportunities to this rural community.
Cincinnati, Ohio
Principal InvestigatorsJames E. Heubi, M.D., University of CincinnatiJoel Tsevat, M.D., University of Cincinnati
The Center for Clinical and Translational Science and Training (CCTST) is transforming the research environment among the University of Cincinnati and its affiliated partners in the community and industry. The CCTST will coordinate and plan the overall direction of the university's research infrastructure and training opportunities; serve investigators' needs from project concept to completion; optimize skills and foster career development of both new and experienced investigators; and ensure that community input informs research processes, and that the university's discoveries are translated to the community.
Through Research Central, researchers will have easy access to centralized study design, biostatistical, bioinformatics, regulatory and community engagement support. The new Pilot & Collaborative Studies core will expand the pilot funding program at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center to the entire university. Greatly expanded educational offerings, including a new Certificate in Clinical and Translational Research, will be developed, building on the success of the Dean's Scholars in Clinical Research, as well as a master's degree in Clinical and Translational Research program.
Through the community engagement program, CCTST will further bi-directional research linkages with the local community, breaking down bureaucratic barriers by creating Institutional Review Boards that can coordinate community-based research. Expanding services, such as nursing/coordinator support and sample processing provided by the existing General Clinical Research Center and the Cincinnati Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, will promote patient-oriented research for populations in the community.
New translational technologies, including proteomics, drug discovery, imaging, nanomedicine, gene transfer and stem cell biology, and translational and molecular disease modeling, will be made more accessible to researchers.
Portland, Oregon
Principal InvestigatorEric Orwoll, M.D., Oregon Health and Science University
Biomedical research institutions in Oregon are prepared for a major expansion in clinical and translational investigation. The university has formed the Oregon Clinical and Translational Research Institute (OCTRI). The OCTRI has fundamentally changed biomedical research by creating a vibrant academic home for clinical and translational investigation. It will leverage existing strengths and remove barriers to the pace and growth of research. At the heart of the OCTRI is a robust partnership between Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) and Kaiser Permanente's Center for Health Research (KPCHR) that brings together a strong biomedical research university and an innovative practice-based research center associated with a large patient population. The collaboration provides unique opportunities for expansion across the spectrum of human investigation and sets the stage for major advances in human health. Transformation of clinical and translational research in Oregon is enhanced by: robust institutional support for the OCTRI, manifest by significant administrative change as well as the commitment of substantial financial and space resources; academic faculties at OHSU and KPCHR that fully support the OCTRI initiative and the development of a strong, multidisciplinary OCTRI leadership team; merging of resources to form a coordinated infrastructure for clinical and translational research; and strong ties to the community and the involvement of the region in the human research agenda. OHSU has identified three major goals for the OCTSI, and proposed far-reaching, explicit, and feasible approaches to achieve them. The university will: 1) create an academic home specifically devoted to the discipline of clinical and translational research; 2) nurture a new cadre of highly-trained, interdisciplinary investigators through a strong, diverse educational curriculum; and 3) create a “research commons” -- a coordinated infrastructure of core research tools that greatly expands research opportunities and provides a unified, effective means for their access. There are particular opportunities to accelerate progress in pediatric and child health, community based research, and human genetics.
Hershey, Pennsylvania
Principal InvestigatorLawrence I. Sinoway, M.D., Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center
The overarching goal of the CTSI is to revitalize the health science research and education enterprise at Penn State to better enable it to deliver on the promise of improved health. Throughout the university, the CTSI has broad support across colleges, campuses and partner organizations.
With strengths in relevant biological, social, and physical sciences and an organizational structure that encourages collaboration across units, the CTSI plans to: 1) bolster community alliances to strengthen trust, enhance awareness of disparities and ascertain needs; 2) cultivate new problem-driven interdisciplinary collaborations that go well beyond the traditional boundaries of biomedicine to address these needs, including partnering with industry; 3) share resources and promote their most proficient use; 4) capitalize on novel tools in information technology to collect, share, and mine data, and disseminate new knowledge; and 5) educate a new generation of investigators, health professionals and community leaders who are fluent across disciplines, aware of ethical principles, sensitive to the community's needs, and able to apply their skills in partnership with others.
Some of the key features of the Penn State CTSI are to expand biomedical informatics and develop new software solutions to study genetics, epigenetics and systems biology.
Jointly with its community partners, and through the CTSA consortium, the Penn State CTSI will serve as a collaborative engine that will drive research initiatives geared to enhance wellness and better predict, prevent and treat disease in the people it serves.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Principal InvestigatorGarret FitzGerald, M.D., University of Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Principal InvestigatorSteven Reis, M.D., University of Pittsburgh
As one of the nation's leading academic research centers, the University of Pittsburgh has embraced the opportunity and obligation to take the inherent risks associated with reengineering a successful research enterprise and to undertake a transformative initiative, resulting in the development and advancement of clinical and translational science as a distinct discipline in western Pennsylvania. The university demonstrated its commitment to transforming its culture, environment and structure to achieve this goal by forming the Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI). The CTSI serves as the integrative academic home for clinical and translational scientists across the university's six health sciences schools, Carnegie Mellon University, the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) and the region.
The CTSI primarily focuses on developing, nurturing and supporting a cadre of clinical and translational scientists by building on the university's existing clinical research training programs to establish a comprehensive program with activities ranging from early research exposure for high school students to advanced doctoral programs. Through “integration and innovation,” the CTSI excels in the development of new biomedical knowledge and the translation of that knowledge from the basic and preclinical research settings to individuals, communities and health practice. The CTSI Center for Clinical and Translational Informatics, which is developing translational research informatics tools for the NCI Cancer Biomedical Informatics Grid Initiative, infuses informatics tools into the entire lifecycle of clinical research studies and has developed an online collaborative research community. Innovative, interdisciplinary research initiatives have been developed through the 10 CTSI resource cores, and translated to health practice via a novel CTSI community partnership program and through centralization of UPMC's extensive clinical networks. The resulting transformations in the institution, scientists, research and health practice has improved health locally, regionally and nationally.
Charleston, South Carolina
Principal InvestigatorKathleen Theresa Brady, M.D., Ph.D., Medical University of South Carolina
The goal of the South Carolina Clinical and Translational Research Institute (SCTR) is to create a sustainable home at the Medical University of South Carolina to advance clinical and translational research as a distinct discipline and facilitate collaboration across other disciplines. The overall approach focuses on implementing advances in biomedical science to create opportunities for discovery; removing barriers to link knowledge, experience and expertise across disciplinary boundaries; providing training and mentoring experiences for clinical and translational researchers with diverse training and backgrounds; and fostering community engagement with a rapidly growing underserved population to improve health outcomes and research participation.
Joining the national CTSA consortium will accelerate progress by facilitating: 1) development and interoperability of biomedical informatics systems; 2) active exchange of best processes and practices in evidence-based medicine and community engagement; 3) advancement of clinical and translational science as a discipline and career path; and (4) shared knowledge, experience and collective influence in setting regional and national research agendas and health policy designed to generate the transformative results envisioned by the NIH Roadmap.
SCTR will bring together scientists, clinicians and the lay community to address diseases that commonly impact the citizens of South Carolina. SCTR will coordinate resources and expertise statewide in efficient, innovative approaches to research. Through SCTR, a new generation of researchers will be trained to work across multiple disciplines in collaboration with community members so that scientific discovery is relevant to the public.
Nashville, Tennessee
Principal InvestigatorGordon R. Bernard, M.D., Vanderbilt University
The Vanderbilt Institute for Clinical and Translational Research (VICTR) was created to focus on both bench-to-bedside, and bedside-to-practice translation. Vanderbilt intends to remove impediments and release investigators from administrative burdens, produce inspired personnel trained in the bidirectional process of translational research, foster innovation by stimulating contributions from collaborators, and enrich the translational research environment with extensive state-of-the art informatics tools as well as expert biostatistics support.
The CTSA funds also are being used to support a Community Engagement and Research program, which leverages the very strong ties of Vanderbilt to the community. Important to the overall success of the program is a focused partnership with Meharry Medical College. Also involved within Vanderbilt is the Institute for Medicine and Public Health as well as the schools of medicine, vursing, law, business, engineering, Peabody College of Education and Human Development, the College of Arts and Sciences, and the Kennedy Center for Research on Human Development.
Houston, Texas
Principal InvestigatorDavid Dugald McPherson, M.D., University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston
The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHSC-H) has established a Center for Clinical and Translational Sciences (CCTS) at the Texas Medical Center (TMC) in Houston. Participating faculty and trainees in the CCTS include those from the UTHSC-H component degree-granting schools, including its Medical School, School of Public Health, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, School of Health Information Sciences, School of Nursing, Dental Branch, and Brown Foundation Institute of Molecular Medicine (IMM), as well as collaborating faculty/facilities of The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center (MDACC), which also is located in the TMC. The academic “home” for the CCTS is housed in 11,422 square feet of recently renovated space at the UT Medical School, which is physically joined to Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center and serves as its partner and primary teaching hospital. The CCTS “home” administers all aspects of the CCTS; and provides space and resources for faculty and trainees, along with expertise in study design, biostatistics, regulatory issues, ethics, bioinformatics, funding of pilot and feasibility studies, provision of resources, protected time for clinical and translational faculty and trainees, and interactions/collaborations with the various communities and industry. For participant and clinical interactions resources (PCIR), the CCTS has subsumed the UTHSC-H General Clinical Research Center (GCRC) at Memorial Hermann, the satellite UTHSC-H GCRC at Brownsville, Texas, and, in part, the MDACC Clinical and Translational Research Center, to enhance research productivity and efficiency. In its educational component, the CCTS has subsumed, in part, the current Center for Clinical Research and Evidence-Based Medicine, which has developed and currently provides formal classes, mentoring, and a Master of Clinical Research (MCR) degree at UTHSC-H, and an active NCRR K30 award at MDACC. Also proposed in the original application was a novel T32 application offering combinations of master's and doctoral degrees in community health sciences, biomedical sciences and/or biomedical informatics -- primarily for pre-doctoral students -- and a K12 application for post-doctoral trainees and junior faculty. The CCTS also has subsumed core translational laboratories, including a genotyping/sequencing core, a biomarkers core offering DNA microarray, RT-PCR and proteomics services, an immune monitoring core, an MRI core, and a biobanking core. A CCTS “think tank” composed of highly accomplished translational and clinical investigators, basic scientists and educators, and community representatives, have come together as an “engine for innovation” to bring forward and recommend the application of novel and emerging scientific information, methods and technologies to research into human health and diseases across specialties, disciplines, and communities.
San Antonio, Texas
Principal InvestigatorRobert A. Clark, M.D., University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio
The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio has established the Institute for Integration of Medicine and Science as the home for the Clinical and Translational Science Award. The Institute's mission is to spur integration of clinical and translational research, education, training and career development across all schools and among partner organizations in South Texas. The institute will bring existing and newly developing resources and intellectual capital to bear on clinical and translational research for the improvement of human health. Meaningful two-way community participation has promoted buy-in from all stakeholders and will remain a key principle.
Institute partners have brought together major talent and a broad array of resources to create synergies that add value to all participating organizations, residents of the region, and the CTSA network. Distinctive features of the institute include: thriving partnerships with key public and private organizations; major investments in research resources and infrastructure; one of the world's largest primate research colonies; the largest cadre of military health care and biomedical research operations in the U.S.; and a 46,000-square-mile service area populated by predominantly Hispanic residents. This area includes some of the country's poorest people and has high rates of health disparities, providing an opportunity, challenge and obligation for this institute to make a significant impact on human health.
The primary vision is to work closely with all partners to translate the results of the academic- and community-based research for the direct benefit of the regional population.
Galveston, Texas
Principal InvestigatorAllan R. Brasier, M.D., University of Texas Medical Branch
The University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) at Galveston, through its Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA), seeks to facilitate translational research as a rigorous discipline, develop translational research training programs at all levels in the graduate continuum, effectively conduct and bridge step one translational research to steps two and three, and interface productively with the national CTSA consortium. In particular, this CTSA helps UTMB to build teams of researchers with diverse skills who can work effectively toward positive health outcomes. These teams also serve as exemplary learning environments for the next generation of translational investigators. Training activities include a Clinical and Translational Scholars program, an Academy of Mentors, a seminar series and team training workshops.
The CTSA is administered by UTMB's Institute for Translational Sciences (ITS), which facilitates many aspects of translational research and support at the University, enhancing researchers' ability to quickly and effectively translate basic science discoveries into improvements in human health. ITS' operations are guided by three overlying principles: 1) proactively identifying new team-oriented research opportunities; 2) prioritizing trainee involvement in a team-based culture; and 3) integrating systems biological approaches into translational research. Through the CTSA, the ITS has organized 12 “key resources” -- combinations of university core laboratories and intellectual resources, integrated by a single point of investigator/trainee contact. Key resources are designed to respond to the needs of investigators and trainees and to break down communication, technology and regulatory barriers, thereby transforming how UTMB conducts patient-oriented research.
Dallas, Texas
Principal InvestigatorMilton Packer, M.D., University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas
The North and Central Texas Clinical and Translational Science Initiative is led by the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School at Dallas and includes schools of allopathic and osteopathic medicine, dentistry, nursing, pharmacy, public health, engineering and computer science, which have already formed relationships supported by a Roadmap K12 award. A Department of Clinical Sciences, which is supported by faculty from all participating schools, serves as the academic home for the CTSA site. Existing infrastructure and support include: a substantial financial commitment of participating institutions to the initiative; more than 200 established clinical and translational investigators who act as faculty and mentors; and a large and medically diverse patient base cared for by established hospitals.
Salt Lake City, Utah
Principal InvestigatorDon McClain, M.D., Ph.D., University of Utah
The University of Utah Center for Clinical and Translational Science will build on the university's strengths in genetics and bioinformatics to translate promising bench science into practices that improve human health. The center serves as an academic home for clinical and translational research, developing innovative health services for the community and health researchers, providing seed funds to initiate clinical and translational research projects, and training a new generation of clinical and translational investigators.
The center and its partners are increasing the visibility, volume and quality of participatory research by connecting investigators at the university with other health care institutions, clinical practitioners, public health personnel, patients and research participants. As the sole academic health sciences center serving Utah's rapidly growing racial, ethnic and culturally diverse population, the center will support the empowerment and representation of underserved populations as stakeholders in translational research. The center also links research activities across systems that together provide health care coverage to 80 percent of Utah's population as well as patients in surrounding states.
Richmond, Virginia
Principal InvestigatorJohn N. Clore, M.D., Virginia Commonwealth University
Effective delivery of research that moves from the bench to the bedside to the community requires a transformation of research practice at every level. To accomplish this, Virginia Commonwealth University has established the VCU Center for Clinical and Translational Research (CCTR), a comprehensive matrix center that supports VCU's efforts to strengthen ties with affiliates and community partners to better share resources and respond to community health needs. The VCU CCTR facilitates new partnerships and initiatives, extending the university's research base of federal, private and industry sponsors. Combining VCU's existing resources with those of the CTSA award, the VCU CCTR supports novel research methods in three areas of strength: substance abuse, women's health and rehabilitation science; pilot funds support innovation and community engagement research in these areas. Through the VCU CCTR, researchers benefit from centralized management, Web-based data sharing, training and access to a rich array of resources, including biostatistics, ethics, research study and regulatory support. In addition, students can pursue a transdisciplinary education through the center's M.S. and Ph.D. degree programs in clinical and translational science.
Seattle, Washington
Principal InvestigatorMary L. Disis, M.D., University of Washington
The Institute of Translational Health Sciences represents a consortium of six University of Washington (UW) health science professional schools with multiple partners that cover 12 performance sites, involve 67 scientific key personnel and connect researchers to over 150 centers. In addition, the Institute of Translational Health Sciences integrates major research and clinical institutions across a five-state region: Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana and Idaho (WWAMI) via ongoing clinical and research collaboration pathways that are part of the WWAMI program led by the UW School of Medicine.
A unique feature of this CTSA site is its community engagement plan which considers diversity across race, ethnicity, culture, rural and urban locations, geography, health status and health service delivery with a targeted program for Alaska Natives and American Indians. The Institute of Translational Health Sciences supports an integrated ethics program, linking adult and pediatric medical centers and the community. An additional unique feature is the site's advanced capability for therapeutic product development and clinical testing that will enhance future health care throughout the region. The Institute of Translational Health Sciences will foster new health sciences interactions across the sites through a variety of technology, education and research support cores. The institute guides, supports and facilitates translational research efforts that focus on expanded information collection, sharing and analysis, innovative scientific technologies, and critical support services aimed at accelerating health sciences research.
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Principal InvestigatorReza Shaker, M.D., Medical College of Wisconsin
The goal of the Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) is to create a borderless, collaborative environment for biomedical researchers, healthcare providers, educators, citizens and industry to work together synergistically and translate discoveries into better health for our citizens. The CTSI has constructed a unique academic community partnership, building on the long collaborative history among the major academic and healthcare institutions in Wisconsin.
To accomplish this transformation, CTSI is: 1) developing a distinct "academic home" for the discipline of clinical and translational science, which transcends intra- and interinstitutional barriers, empowers experienced leadership to have the authority and resources to promote, facilitate, coordinate and foster the continuum of translational research from bench to bedside, to clinical practices, and to our communities; 2) increasing the number of investigators participating in clinical research through innovative programs; and 3) engaging clinical practices and the community in research that enhances public health. To train clinicians and basic scientists in the emerging discipline of clinical and translational science, CTSI has launched a Ph.D. program in basic and translational research and a Master of Science degree in clinical and translational science and is developing a Ph.D. program in Clinical and Translational Health Sciences for health professionals.
Madison, Wisconsin
Principal InvestigatorMarc K. Drezner, M.D., University of Wisconsin - Madison
The University of Wisconsin - Madison, through its Institute for Clinical and Translational Research (ICTR), addresses how to translate biomedical discoveries into practices that improve health. The ICTR has taken a new approach to research by producing interdisciplinary research scientists who can address health problems along a continuum -- from basic laboratory investigations through clinical trials in patients and into population health studies in communities. The institute provides researchers with an array of tools and creates feedback systems to ensure that research is relevant and addresses the health care needs of populations in Wisconsin.
The institute serves as the hub of a network that fans across the university and extends around the state. People based at five schools on campus and several hospitals in Madison are involved as are experts at academic campuses on all points of the Badger State compass. New and existing statewide partnerships have been enhanced. Physicians and public health workers in towns and communities throughout the state are essential players.