The external force generated by the imperative to create a Clinical and Translational Science Center (CISC) has begun to transform Harvard and its affiliated Academic Healthcare Centers (AHCs). These institutions, with their enormous intellectual, human subject, and fiscal resources, have a long history of administrative and financial independence and limited collaboration, especially in the disciplines of clinical and translational (C/T) research. The importance of CTSC recognition coupled with the opportunity to participate in the nationwide CTSA provided the leverage to induce Harvard University, the Medical School and its AHCs to commit substantial new funding that when combined with NIH dollars ensures the success of the Harvard CTSC. A powerful and completely unprecedented governance model, ceding final authority to the CTSC leadership, has been developed and endorsed by the leadership of the University and AHCs. A comprehensive gap analysis, summarized at the beginning of each Section, concluded that success would require us to focus on making information and infrastructure accessible and to bring investigators from diverse disciplines together. To this end, our CTSC is designed to: 1) enhance the ability of investigators to identify information and access resources and tools necessary to conceive and successfully complete C/T experiments;2) engage experts from many diverse areas in a team-based approach to address challenging questions in C/T research;3) involve academic disciplines not traditionally engaged in C/T research as well as members of industry in addressing translational challenges;4) provide novel advisory and facilitative human resources to lower the barriers to performing innovative, collaborative, and cross-institutional C/T experiments;5) educate the broader Harvard research community as to the opportunities, challenges, and goals of C/T research;6) improve the impact of C/T research on underserved populations and communities;and 7) ensure that opportunities in C/T research are equally afforded to all. Therefore, we will focus on the people doing the work and their training. We will provide them with the resources and consultation to identify relevant collaborators to perform successful C/T experiments. This new collaborative and trans-disciplinary environment, with new tools and new conceptual approaches, will catalyze translation that will result in substantive discoveries impacting the health of our patients and those at risk.
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