UC Awarded $16.7M to Support Bench-to-Bedside Research Efforts

CINCINNATI—The University of Cincinnati (UC) has been awarded $16.7 million from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to continue to enhance its abilities in translating basic scientific discoveries from the laboratory bench to the patient’s bedside.

The four-year funding, awarded through the NIH’s National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) program, will be used to support programming within UC’s Center for Clinical and Translational Science and Training (CCTST).

Established in 2005 as a collaborative effort among UC, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center (CCHMC), UC Medical Center (UCMC/UC Health) and the Cincinnati Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center, the CCTST is a research resource and "academic home” for clinical and translational scientists and programs. In 2009, it received a five-year award of nearly $23 million from the NIH. 

"Continued funding for our CCTST is a tremendous recognition for the effective partnership that exists between the UC Academic Health Center, CCHMC, UCMC/UC Health and the VA. This validates that we are among the very top research institutions in the country,” says William Ball, MD, senior vice president for health affairs, dean of the College of Medicine and vice president for research at UC. "This grant renewal will allow us to further develop and enhance the way we move our discoveries from the laboratory to the patient’s bedside.”

The CCTST is co-directed by James Heubi, MD, professor of pediatrics and associate dean for clinical and translational research. Leadership for the CCTST includes Joel Tsevat, MD, professor of medicine and associate dean for clinical and translational research; Brett Kissela, MD, Albert Barnes Voorheis Professor and Chair of neurology and rehabilitation medicine; Jack Kues, PhD, professor emeritus of family and community medicine and associate dean for continuous professional development; and Christopher Lindsell, PhD, professor of emergency medicine and associate dean for clinical research.

"This new funding will enable us to build on the transformation accomplishments we’ve been able to instigate or serve as a catalyst for at the CCTST,” says Heubi. "We have a number of exciting opportunities to get involved in programs that will push the needle to improve the health of children and adults in Greater Cincinnati and across the United States.”

The CCTST serves UC, its Academic Health Center partners, affiliate institutions and the community by:

• Providing consultation to investigators on research design and implementation through Research Central.

• Providing support for young investigators (faculty and fellows) in clinical and translational research through help in preparing career development awards.

• Assisting young faculty in careers in clinical and translational research.

• Assisting faculty in preparing large multidisciplinary, multi-school and multi-institutional grants.

• Helping individual divisions and departments prepare training grant requests to the NIH.

• Spearheading efforts to write institutional training grants.

• Coordinating clinical and translational research.

• Coordinating the master’s degree in Clinical and Translational Research Training Program, which has graduated 74 scholars. A Certificate in Clinical and Translational Research is also offered.

• Outreach programs to train people in the community to be successful investigators, as well as working to support community-based participatory research.

The CCTST also coordinates the KL2 Research Scholars mentored career development award program for highly qualified MD, PhD or PharmD junior faculty pursuing careers in clinical and translational research.

In addition to funding assistance, the CCTST is working to track clinical and translational activity and create an environment for researchers that facilitates interdisciplinary collaboration. The center’s Research Central service provides investigators with consultations on their study design and execution of research projects.

Recent accomplishments include:

• Engagement in a statewide network to connect Ohio’s Practice-Based Research Networks.

• Working with partnering institutions in Ohio to develop a statewide process for Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval on multi-center trials.

• Working directly with investigators in the Greater Cincinnati area to reduce emergency department visits for children and adolescents with asthma.

• Directing through CCTST leadership the recruitment of Peter White, PhD, to chair the College of Medicine’s new Department of Biomedical Informatics and the Cincinnati Children’s division of biomedical informatics that led to integration of programs at UC and CCHMC including a PhD graduate program in biomedical informatics and expanded informatics services.

Heubi says the CCTST is working on a proposal to establish a Translational Innovation Center (TIC), which will support pediatrics-related multicenter trials nationwide at CTSAs and other centers. 

For more information about the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences CTSA program, visit www.ncats.nih.gov/ctsa. To read more about clinical and translational research at UC, visit cctst.uc.edu .