The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is engaged in a series of initiatives, collectively known as the "NIH Roadmap for Medical Research." One of the Roadmap's most prominent initiatives, the Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) Program, seeks to transform the local, regional, and national environment for clinical and translational science in the biomedical sciences, thereby increasing the field's efficiency, momentum, and impact.
Approved by the Board of Regents in December 2006, the Institute for Clinical and Translational Science (ICTS) is the epicenter of clinical and translational science at the University of Iowa and serves as the academic home for all CTSA funded clinical and translational science conducted here. It provides an area of great opportunity and future growth for clinical and translational researchers. The ICTS' unique overarching academic structure provides a multidisciplinary matrix for facilitating and supporting clinical and translational science throughout the University's colleges as well as the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics.
ICTS functions include:
- Stimulating new interdisciplinary clinical research programs to consolidate and improve the University's research infrastructure. Within the University, the ICTS brings together existing programs in the major domains of clinical research and their leaders. The ICTS facilitates the transfer of knowledge across these domains and into the community.
- Training highly motivated clinical research scholars for innovative careers in patient-focused research. The ICTS trains highly motivated clinical research scholars for innovative careers in patient-focused research. These training programs provide a diverse and comprehensive curriculum across a spectrum of clinical research fields and abundant opportunities for close supervision by mentors from the Colleges of Dentistry, Nursing, Pharmacy, Public Health, Engineering, Liberal Arts, and the Carver College of Medicine. Trainees are selected from a variety of clinical disciplines, including those traditionally underrepresented in clinical research such as radiology, pediatrics, clinical psychology, surgical sub-specialties, anesthesiology, and pharmacy. Training programs are also designed to reach health care providers in the community and nurse research coordinators at the University. As the only academic medical center in a largely rural state of 3,000,000, the University has built a number of clinical and educational outreach programs that have touched most Iowa families.
- Providing a useful and integrated foundation for data and knowledge management capable of supporting the advancement of clinical and translational research on a grand scale. The Biomedical Informatics function of the Institute provides the data- and knowledge-management foundation upon which the other functions will be built. The specific functions are to 1) develop a federated infrastructure capable of capturing, archiving and managing as knowledge resources all the various forms and media of the Institution's research outcomes, 2) provide secure dissemination of results to authorized individuals within the University for translational use, 3) provide for the secure dissemination of biomedical information to authorized individuals in extramural organizations, and 4) participate in the national initiative to integrate our work with that performed at institutions throughout the country.
- Providing engaging community programming driven by the principles of community-based participatory research. The Institute's community engagement activities, driven by accepted principles of community-based participatory research, create and nurture a wide range of research. The long-term goals of these activities include 1) decreasing disparities in clinical research participation by under served populations; 2) enhancing community trust in clinical and translational research; 3) identifying the research priorities and needs of patients; 4) engaging community providers in meaningful ways to conduct clinical research; and, 5) facilitating recruitment of research participants from the community.
- Strengthening the University's Research Infrastructure- The University of Iowa is classified as a "very high research activity" research university by the Carnegie Foundation. The Institute builds on the University's already strong infrastructure by facilitating key functions in the following areas:
- Participant and Clinical Interactions Resources: provides the physical setting and infrastructure for inpatient and outpatient clinical and translational research at The University of Iowa.
- Regulatory Knowledge and Support: monitors the safety of research participants, help investigators comply with institutional and federal research regulations, prepare safety plans and manage the regulatory process.
- Translational Technologies and Resources: provides investigators with access to and training in sophisticated, state-of-the-art technologies for clinical and translational research.
- Pilot and Collaborative Translational and Clinical Studies: provides financial support for pilot grants, encouraging the expansion of clinical and translational research into new areas and attracting scientists to the field.
- Development of Novel Clinical and Translational Methodologies: encourages individuals to make scientific advances and new technologies, while also encouraging patents and commercialization.
- Genetics and Genomics: helps accelerate gene discovery by providing analytic tools and expertise for convergent genomics, and by providing DNA-processing and genotyping services for the ICTS.
- Research Education, Training and Career Development: trains highly motivated scholars and participating staff for careers in clinical and translational research.
- Clinical and Translational Research in Pediatrics: focuses on bringing research from the laboratory to children in Iowa and around the world.
- Community Engagement: nurtures interactions between researchers at the University of Iowa and communities across Iowa and the nation.
- Biomedical Informatics: establishes and maintains information technology infrastructure to support clinical and translational researchers within the UI and across the national consortium.
- Biostatistics/Epidemiology/Research Design: helps Institute investigators select and implement appropriate research designs and statistical analysis methods for their individual projects.
ICTS administration will soon relocate to a newly refurbished 9,400 square foot space on 4SW General Hospital in the University of Iowa Hospital. This space is dedicated to administrative, faculty, and staff offices, as well as several large modernized conference/class rooms. ICTS also dedicates areas to bioinformatics which consist of approximately 400 square feet of data center space in MRC, and 4,700 DGSF located on second floor MRF. Renovation is also currently underway for a DNA freezer storage facility of approximately 1,100 SF, located in the Medical Laboratories at the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, B level.
The Clinical Research Unit (CRU) of the Institute for Clinical and Translational Science provides the infrastructure and physical setting necessary to perform both inpatient and outpatient clinical and translational research. The CRU has provided services to University of Iowa investigators for 45 years (originally as a GCRC and currently as part of a NIH-NCRR Clinical and Translational Science Award). This facility provides a 24-hours-per-day technical and nursing staff as well as a Flexible Nursing Service that aids investigators working in other parts of the hospital, including the Intensive Care Units, Radiology, and the Emergency Department. A dental component provides outpatient services for studies performed in the College of Dentistry. The CRU also supports investigators by assisting in study design and coordinating research activities, and aids in different types of interaction with research subjects, such as scheduling, gathering patient information, monitoring vital signs, collecting samples, and assisting with study protocols.provides inpatient and outpatient research clinics and laboratories.Other ICTS services available to CRU investigators include: translational technology resources (imaging; analytical laboratory; genetics and genomics; bone, pulmonary, neural, cardiovascular physiology cores; and research bionutrition services), biostatistics and informatics support, and assistance with regulatory compliance and safety plans. The Clinical Research Unit will move to a new 20,900 DGSF state-of-the-art facility, 2 Boyd Tower, in January, 2010.
