Contents
CTSAs in Focus
Updates on the Clinical and Translational Science Awards
CTSA Progress Report
In July, NCRR released the first CTSA Progress Report — Advancing Scientific Discoveries Nationwide to Improve Health — which highlights the innovations, collaborations and partnerships that emerged from the CTSA consortium from 2006 through 2008. The report illustrates how the CTSAs are enabling researchers to develop novel approaches that accelerate treatment and prevention strategies for both common and rare disorders. To read the full report, visit www.ncrr.nih.gov/ctsa/progress_report_2009.
Consortium Welcomes Seven New Members
In July, seven academic health centers received CTSAs, joining the University of Cincinnati as 2009 grantees. Growing to 46 CTSA institutions, the national consortium expanded to Arkansas, Florida and South Carolina. The CTSA network now includes awardees in 26 states. The program eventually will support about 60 CTSAs nationwide. The new institutions and principal investigators are:
- Medical University of South Carolina (Charleston), Kathleen Brady
- Mount Sinai School of Medicine (New York City), Hugh Sampson
- New York University School of Medicine (New York City), Bruce Neil Cronstein
- University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (Little Rock), Curtis Lowery
- University of Florida (Gainesville), Peter Stacpoole
- University of Illinois at Chicago, Theodore Mazzone
- University of Texas Medical Branch (Galveston), Allan Brasier
Learn more about the new awardees at www.ncrr.nih.gov/ctsa2009.
A New Look for CTSAweb.org
The consortium Web site, CTSAweb.org, now has a new look and more user-friendly navigation. User feedback guided site improvements, including more graphic elements and better content flow. New features include:
- Streamlined navigation menus organized around specific audience needs.
- New regional consortia pages.
- Links to Strategic Goal and Key Function Committee information.
- Graphic boxes to highlight consortium news, strategic goals and featured institutions.
- A communications toolkit refocused on the needs of consortium members, including a CTSA slide set, logo and banner.
- A new media resource page for reporters, editors and others.
Explore these features on the redesigned site at www.CTSAweb.org.
Web Resource Provides Drug Data for Alternate Uses
The CTSA Pharmaceutical Assets Portal, launched earlier this year, allows scientists to learn about compounds evaluated for specific diseases that might be used to treat other conditions. Kate Marusina of the University of California (UC), Davis, turned the portal concept into reality with an NCRR-funded administrative supplement. With these funds, an academic consortium of five CTSAs, led by the UC Davis Clinical and Translational Science Center (CTSC), developed the portal to give researchers access to a database of existing compounds that can be "repurposed" for use in other studies. According to UC Davis CTSC Director Lars Berglund, this new resource may accelerate the research process, allowing patients and their doctors to benefit from results sooner. Other consortium members include the University of Washington, the Oregon Health & Science University, the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Chicago. The team also partnered with industry to gather the initial data. For more information, visit www.ctsapharmaportal.org.
The Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) program created a national consortium designed to transform how biomedical research is conducted across the country. Its goals are to speed the translation of laboratory discoveries into treatments for patients as well as to train a new generation of clinical researchers. The CTSA program is led by NCRR. For more information, visit CTSAweb.org.
