NYU and NYU School of Medicine received a $29.4 million, five-year Clinical and Translational Science Award from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to establish a University-wide Clinical & Translational Science Institute (CTSI) in partnership with the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation (HHC). The funding is designed to train medical researchers, more rapidly advance science from the lab to the patient to the community and to allow researchers to explore mechanisms of health disparities and develop evidence-based approaches targeted at their reduction. With this grant, NYU, the NYU School of Medicine and HHC will become part of a network of 46 existing Clinical and Translational Science centers based at academic medical centers around the country.
“Our CTSI is truly innovative and will play a critical role in our shared goal of transforming medical research and reducing healthcare disparities in New York City and beyond,” said Robert I. Grossman, MD, dean and CEO of NYU Langone Medical Center. “This grant recognizes the extraordinary researchers and scientists at NYU and its School of Medicine and builds upon the historical partnership which brought together the academic excellence of our institutions and the clinical expertise and diversity of HHC.”
“NYU School of Medical and HHC have come together to establish the CTSI for the purpose of redefining clinical research through enhanced collaborations of research and clinical teams,” said Alan D. Aviles, president of NYC Health and Hospitals Corporation. “Together our institutions have set a course to foster innovation through our joint clinical and translational research and in the process to bring cutting-edge healthcare services to our patients and communities.”
Collaborators from clinical and basic science departments throughout the Medical Center and the Colleges and Schools of NYU are strengthening their alliance with eight HHC facilities to address the health problems facing New York and the nation in the 21st century. In addition to NYU School of Medicine, this collaborative effort will bring together the interests and talents of researchers among NYU’s active health-related and clinical schools including the School of Dentistry, College of Nursing, Wagner School of Public Service, Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, the Stern School of Business, the Silver School of Social Work, the Courant Institute for Applied Mathematics and the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences to bear on the pressing problems facing New Yorkers.
Robert Berne, NYU’s senior vice president for health, said, “This grant is not only a great achievement in and of itself, it is also another demonstration of the more than century-long successful affiliation with HHC and our sustained and successful drive for excellence at the School of Medicine and throughout NYU: excellence in research, in clinical practice, in education, and in leadership.”
The CTSI will be directed by Bruce N. Cronstein, MD, the Dr. Paul R. Esserman Professor of Medicine, professor of pathology and pharmacology, NYU School of Medicine, and co-directed by Judith Hochman, MD, the Harold Snyder Family Professor of Cardiology, NYU School of Medicine.
NYU Provost David McLaughlin said, “When scholars of distinction from different disciplines collaborate, the basic, applied, and translational research possibilities are powerful. That is why this grant is so impressive and such a source of pride for the University: it recognizes our researchers’ talent, collaborative imagination, and entrepreneurial spirit.”
The NYU-HHC CTSI will focus on three primary objectives:
- Leveraging the individual expertise and ongoing collaboration of NYU Langone Medical Center and HHC researchers to facilitate discoveries in the laboratory that can be moved quickly to the bedside and into the community.
- Supporting education, training and development of researchers who can conduct the investigations necessary to bring scientific advances to the public. Through the CTSI, established mentors will provide side-by-side partnerships with promising investigators, and training programs have been created to provide doctors with a strong foundation in basic research. Additionally, new scholarships have been created to assist aspiring scientists and physicians in receiving a Master of Science in Clinical Investigation.
- Enhancing ties between NYU-HHC researchers and the community to more rapidly identify health problems and apply the knowledge gained to promote the use of new developments and evidence-based medicine within communities, thereby reducing healthcare disparities.
Eight of HHC’s 11 facilities will participate in the initiative including: The South Manhattan Network (comprised of Bellevue, Metropolitan, Gouverneur and Coler-Goldwater), Woodhull, Coney Island, Kings County and Lincoln hospitals.
“I was proud to support New York University and the NYU School of Medicine’s application for this CTSA award from the National Institutes of Health to advance medical research to help reduce medical disparities. What’s particularly gratifying to me is the partnership between NYU and the City’s Health and Hospitals Corporation, utilizing HHC’s expertise and diverse populations at its eight participating facilities,” Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney said. “This kind of collaboration is, in a way, the very future of health science.”
“The CTSI is a very welcome addition to our medical research and treatment resources,” said New York City Council Member Dan Garodnick, who represents the NYU School of Medicine in the Council. “By helping researchers reduce disparities in health care across diverse communities, the CTSI will allow us to make important progress in improving the health of all New Yorkers. I look forward to the work that will result from this valuable collaboration.”
“This collaboration between HHC and NYU will bring together each partner’s expertise and strengths to create a dynamic center and deliver improved healthcare therapies to our community,” said Assemblymember Brian Kavanagh, who represents both NYU Langone Medical Center and Bellevue Hospital Center. “This new facility is a major step forward for our neighborhood and I look forward to continuing to support its progress.”
NIH Clinical and Translational Science Awards now support 46 medical research institutions sharing a common vision to reduce the time it takes for laboratory discoveries to become treatments for patients, engage communities in clinical research efforts and train the next generation of clinical researchers. For more information, visit http://ncats.nih.gov/ctsa.
The National Center for Research Resources, part of NIH, provides laboratory scientists and clinical researchers with the resources and training they need to understand, detect, treat and prevent a wide range of diseases. NCRR supports all aspects of translational and clinical research, connecting researchers, patients and communities across the nation. To obtain a copy of the NIH news release announcement please visit http://www.nih.gov/news/health/jul2009/ncrr-14.htm.
