: On behalf of the 18 Research Centers in Minority Institutions (RCMI), Charles R. Drew University submits this application to design and implement the RCMI Translational Research Network (RTRN or Network). The successful translation of research findings to address health disparities is limited by growing barriers between clinical and basic researchers. RTRN will foster collaborative translational research with a particular focus on key health disparity disease areas; establish a Data Technology Coordinating Center (DTCC) at Jackson State University (JSU) and provide innovative opportunities to share educational, research, and community resources. The Network seeks to transform institutional research culture across the Network members by promoting institutional incentives (e.g., promotion, tenure) for research efforts that produce tangible advances in health outcomes. To leverage the unique strengths of the RCMI community (7450 NIH funded projects) and achieve previously unrealized research synergies, RTRN will facilitate interactions between clinical and basic scientists working within different disease areas, create bridges between academia and community to accelerate the clinical efficacy of research advances, and foster the development of future leaders in translational medicine with a sensitivity to health areas disproportionately affecting disadvantaged populations. RTRN will initiate a multidisciplinary 'proof-of-concept' project addressing cardiovascular disease, the leading cause of death in the nation. The Network specific aims include:
Specific Aim 1 : Establish the Network. To integrate clinical, biomedical and behavioral researchers with providers and community leaders into novel geographic and ethnically diverse research partnerships aimed at improving patient outcomes identified as key national public health priorities;
Specific Aim 2 : Generate Translational Research. To create a system of research clusters which links collaborating members within cyber workspaces to promote intellectual exchange, generate innovative inter- and multi-disciplinary research, and facilitate the movement of scientific advances throughout the translational research spectrum;
Specific Aim 3 : Conduct Multi-site Research. To develop a robust multidisciplinary research component that facilitates the conduct of multi-site studies and encourages innovative translational approaches to basic mechanisms, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of diseases that disproportionately affect minority and underserved communities;
and Specific Aim 4 : Implement the Data Technology and Coordinating Center (DTCC). To implement a DTCC grounded in solid research design, biostatistics, clinical ethics, regulatory knowledge and data collection/management/analysis to provide coordinated support for each of the three major Network platforms-clinical and biomedical research and educational activities.
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