NIH Announces New Awards to Transform Clinical and Translational Research

October 12, 2005—The National Institutes of Health (NIH) unveiled the Institutional Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSAs) program, which is intended to energize the discipline of clinical and translational research at academic health centers across the country.

“We are truly at a crossroads in medicine,” NIH Director Elias A. Zerhouni, M.D., said. “The scientific advances of the past few years, such as the completion of the Human Genome Project, dictate that we act now to encourage fundamental changes in how we do clinical research, and how we train the new generations of clinician scientists for the medical challenges of this century.”

The purpose of the CTSA program is to encourage the development of the discipline of clinical and translational research by providing the resources for the creation of a defined academic home. The program allows for local flexibility so that academic health centers can determine whether to establish a center, department, or institute, or another interdisciplinary structure, depending on their local and regional circumstances.

“This program will give research institutions more freedom to foster productive collaboration among experts in different fields, lower barriers between disciplines, and encourage creative, new approaches that will help us solve complex medical mysteries,” said Dr. Zerhouni. “Ultimately, patients will be better served because new prevention strategies and treatments will be developed, tested, and brought into medical practice more rapidly.”

In addition, the CTSA grants are designed to encourage institutions to propose new approaches to clinical and translational research, including new organizational models and training programs at graduate and post-graduate levels. Moreover, the program will foster original research in developing clinical research methodologies, such as clinical research informatics, laboratory methods, other technology resources and community-based research capabilities. Among the potential benefits to patients are: new medical monitoring devices that they can use in their own homes; improved methods for predicting the toxicity of new drugs in specific individuals; and, a seamless and safe experience for those who participate in clinical trials.

NIH plans to award four to seven CTSAs in fiscal year (FY) 2006 for a total of $30 million, with an additional $11.5 million set aside to support 50 planning grants for those institutions that are not ready to make a full application. NIH expects to increase the number of awards annually, so that by FY 2012, 60 CTSAs will receive a total of approximately $500 million per year. The CTSA Request for Applications (RFA) calls for submissions by March 27, 2006. Initial awards are expected to be made by October 2006.

More information about the CTSA Program, CTSA RFA, and CTSA Planning Grants are available online.

If you have questions, or need more information, please contact Jeff Coughlin, ASH Government Affairs Manager, at (202) 776-0544 or jcoughlin@hematology.org.