New Jersey is uniquely suited as the host to a unique consortium of shareholders committed to the rapid and effective translation of basic biomedical discoveries into new tools for prevention, diagnosis and treatment of disease. It has a dense and diverse urban population, one of the largest biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries in the world, a government committed to new innovations and technology and a community with a strong legacy of advocacy for biomedical advances. The New Jersey Center for Clinical and Translational Sciences (NJCCTS) will tap into these unique resources, bringing together scientists, clinicians, industry, community and the State to forge new and novel alliances that will transform the process of clinical/ translational research in our State and country. We will work as teams, determining needs, directing research to fulfill those needs and cooperating to anticipate and remove the traditional impediments to success. We believe that this paradigm shift from a supply-driven to a user-driven prioritization of research goals will transform the way we accomplish the translation of basic scientific discoveries into cures. Importantly, as part of the process, we will train the teams of the future, so that what seems novel and innovative to us today will be common practice for the next generation. ? ? As part of the planning process, we propose to: 1) Develop the administrative structure that will support and nurture the growth of the NJCCTS, assemble and empower its shareholders, define its research directions, and define the critical attributes required for the Director of this unique and novel consortium; 2) Design a core curriculum that will provide the training necessary to develop a novel team approach to clinical/translational research. 3) Develop the hub of the NJCCTS, a research core facility that will nurture young and/or new clinical/translational investigators, provide an entry point for industry collaborators, and act as a central """"""""matchmaker"""""""" - facilitating collaborations, identifying resources and moving projects through the pipeline. 4) Establish a Faculty Development Committee to devise a plan to ensure that team scientists are appropriately incentivized and rewarded and 5) Craft a web-based information system that will allow for seamless interactions among our partner institutions and with the national CTS consortium. ? ? ?
