In July 2012, at the urging of Congress, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) commissioned a study by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) to evaluate the Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSA) program and recommend possible changes to its mission and operation. The IOM committee, which included input from a broad spectrum of internal and external stakeholders issued its report on June 25 (Read the full report).
In response, CTSI Director Clay Johnston, MD, PhD, notes: "The IOM report stresses that we must work nationally across institutions to have any hope of solving the major problems facing translation, and CTSI at UCSF gets this and is ready to roll. We accept the mandate outlined in the report, which among other things highlights the necessity of improved cross-institution collaboration, the value of leveraging the strengths of individual research institutions, and the importance of innovations leading to measurable improvements in health."
The report includes seven recommendations to build on the successes of the CTSA program, including:
- Strengthen the leadership of the CTSA program by NCATS
- Reconfigure and streamline the CTSA Consortium
- Build on the strengths of individual CTSAs across the spectrum of clinical and translational research
- Formalize and standardize the evaluation processes for individual CTSAs and the CTSA program
- Advance innovation in education and training programs
- Ensure community engagement in all phases of research
- Strengthen clinical and translational research relevant to child health
According to a statement by Christopher Austin, M.D., director of the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), which funds the CTSAs, the recommendations will be implemented immediately. Read the full statement from Dr. Austin here.