Print“Translational research is the way in which we bring discoveries to patients.”
Research to speed the conversion of scientific discoveries into new therapies is getting a $200 million boost from the National Institutes of Health, which is providing five new grants to support translational research centers across the country.
The grants, awarded by the NIH’s Clinical and Translational Science Awards program, will support five new centers joining a consortium of 60 institutions in 30 states and the District of Columbia creating resources to advance the application of scientific discoveries to important health issues.
“Translational research is the way in which we bring discoveries to patients,” says Steven Dubinett, senior associate dean for translational research at the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles. The UCLA Clinical and Translational Science Institute, where Dubinett is program director, received an $81.3 million, five-year grant. "Lab investigators don’t necessarily have the expertise to translate their research into community interventions. People working together against common goals and pursuing team science are required to bring treatments to fruition.”
One project supported by the new funds focuses on linking research data repositories and leveraging electronic medical records to better design human clinical trials. Ultimately, other biomedical informatics projects could add to the complexity of that data.
UCLA is partnering with the Cedars–Sinai Medical Center, Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science, and the Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute at Harbor–UCLA Medical Center in its translation work. Five years on, Dubinett says he expects to see more bidirectional community engagement, not just those with research partners but community partners as well.
Other academic institutions that received grants include Pennsylvania State University, the University of Kansas Medical Center, the University of Kentucky, and the University of Minnesota.
June 17, 2011
http://www.burrillreport.com/article-nih_expands_support_for_translational_research.html
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