The Oklahoma Shared Clinical and Translational Resources (OSCTR) forges partnerships between ten Oklahoma institutions, diverse Oklahoma practices (through the Oklahoma Physicians Resource/Research Network [OKPRN]), American Indian tribes throughout Oklahoma and Kansas (through the Oklahoma City Area Inter-Tribal Health Board), three tribal nations, an Urban Indian Clinic and Oklahoma communities, as well as with institutions in Arkansas and South Carolina to facilitate clinical and translational research (CTR) in IDeA states. The overall OSCTR mission is to serve as a catalyst for clinical research which improves health for underserved and underrepresented populations living in rural areas, to improve patient outcomes of these individuals, and to provide these resources to launch new independent IDeA investigator careers. The OSCTR will provide coordination and assistance to investigators in every aspect of clinical and translational research. The Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Research Design KCA (BERD) will build on the strengths of our OUHSC College of Public Health partnered with genetic epidemiology (OMRF), bioinformatics (OMRF, OU-Tulsa) and geographic informatics (OU-Norman) to provide unique consulting, training and methodology development. The Education, Mentoring and Career Development KCA will provide CTR training opportunities to individuals from medical professional students through faculty members using a complementary platform of didactic courses (including a functional Master's in CTR), enrichment experiences (summer CTR programs for students), workshops (week long immersion CTR training) and faculty development (faculty leadership program). The CTR Pilot program will provide seed-funding for novel translational and clinical research projects. The Clinical Resources KCA will build on historical clinical registries and repositories, including associated samples and clinical data from ethnically diverse subjects, to help launch CTR careers. It will also house our Special Population Unit, which has longstanding relationships with tribes that will increase American Indian involvement in new clinical research projects, and a clinical research unit. The Community Engagement KCA will focus on enhancing Oklahoma strengths in practice-based research consortium (such as OKPRN) and helping other Oklahoma programs and IDeA states apply successful approaches in their communities. A novel partnership with the OK State Health Department will help launch a health care cooperative extension approach to implement best practices throughout Oklahoma and Arkansas. The Management Core will provide Navigator Services to allow investigators from diverse locations to access CTR infrastructure.
Oklahoma and many of our partner states have serious issues with overall poor health ratings, poor outcomes with common diseases (such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, obesity, and arthritis) and underserved populations who are disproportionate afflicted by chronic health conditions. The OSCTR will provide clinical and translational research infrastructure which fosters clinically relevant discoveries, translates findings into improved health and launches the careers of junior investigators
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