Purpose
The purpose of this funding opportunity announcement (FOA) is to invite applications for the Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) Program hubs, which support high quality collaborative translational science locally, regionally, and nationally; foster scientific and operational innovation to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of clinical translational research; and create, provide, and disseminate domain-specific translational science training and workforce development.
Background
The development and implementation of clinical interventions that demonstrably improve human health is currently a complex, recursive, and inefficient process, that leads to delays of years or decades before discoveries in biomedical research result in health benefits for patients and communities. The National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) conducts and supports research in the science of translation, to discover the mechanistic and operational principles of the intervention development and dissemination process, thereby providing the scientific foundation for improvements in translational efficiency that will accelerate the realization of interventions that improve human health.
Specific Objectives
A CTSA Program hub is an integrated research and training environment for translational and clinical science, which catalyzes the development, demonstration, and dissemination of methods and technologies that dramatically improve efficiency and quality across the translational research spectrum. The academic health centers that make up the CTSA Program are referred to as “hubs” to indicate their central role in their local environments where they coordinate and collaborate with multiple “spokes” such as affiliated hospitals, clinics, and community health centers. Each CTSA Program hub functions as a local center of innovation in translational science and operations, the nature of which will build on local institutional strengths and in particular geographic/demographic needs. In aggregate, the diverse CTSA Program hubs form a network whole that is much greater than the sum of its parts, with hubs bringing complementary strengths to each other via the CTSA Program locally, regionally, and nationally. Thus, hubs must also have certain common capabilities in order to both serve as a field-leading center for translational innovation locally, and a participant in multi-hub collaboratives regionally and nationally. CTSA Program hubs should be agents of continuous improvement as they identify gaps and opportunities in the research process and develop, instantiate innovative solutions at their institutions, and share those solutions with the other CTSA Program hubs. This modus operandi will maximize the progress at both individual hubs and in translational science broadly, obviating duplication and leveraging each hub’s strengths to bolster the others and translational science as a whole. This network aspect of the CTSA Program will also facilitate innovation in multi-center research, harmonization of standards and best practices, enhance translational training through sharing curricula and online training modules/courses, and will provide opportunities for cross-hub and sector research training and career development opportunities, both within and outside of the CTSA Program. Realizing these synergies will also maximize the nation’s investment into the CTSA Program.