The NIH Roadmap Initiative seeks to strengthen the clinical and translational research enterprise by creating an integrated clinical and translational research program for the United States. Our proposal seeks support for planning the establishment of a new Clinical and Translational Science Department (CTSD) at the University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS). The mission of the CTSD is to provide a """"""""seamless home"""""""" for clinical investigation that provides consolidated resources to: 1) recruit, educate, and train physicians, nurses, and biomedical scientists in rigorous clinical investigation; and 2) to accelerate the movement of laboratory discoveries from bench to bedside to community practice by fostering a culture of collaboration among clinical investigators, healthcare professionals and basic research scientists. ? ? This planning grant will allow us to engineer a plan of strategies with measurable outcomes that take full advantage of the strong institutional commitments of UMMS and its clinical partner UMass Memorial HealthCare (UMMHC) to position us to apply for a future Clinical and Translational Science Award from the NIH. Our key objectives are to:1) assess the strengths and weaknesses of current clinical and translational research at UMMS and develop a plan to establish the CTSD; 2) develop a plan to establish cohesive governance for the CTSD that integrates across our several Schools, Departments and Hospitals; 3) develop a leadership model that identifies barriers to translational research, assesses how to address such barriers and actively promotes collaboration between basic and clinical scientists; 4) develop novel ways to move laboratory discoveries into the clinic and into community practice, and to evaluate the successes and failures of the mission of the CTSD; 5) develop comprehensive training and education programs in clinical research directed at graduate MD, PhD, MD/PhD and nursing students; post-doctoral MD and nursing students; junior faculty in the medical and nursing schools; and continuing education to support all key personnel involved in clinical and translational research; 6) devise approaches for the development of an institutional culture which fosters clinical and translational research and the careers of clinical and translational scientists. ? ? ?
