NCRR Launches National Network to Connect Investigators
Based at Minority Institutions
Award Will Facilitate Multi-Site Collaborative
Clinical and Translational Research
The National Center for Research Resources (NCRR), a part of the
National Institutes of Health (NIH), announced today it will initially
provide $9.5 million over three years to launch a Translational
Research Network that will increase the opportunity for multi-site
clinical and translational research among minority and other collaborating
institutions throughout the nation. Investigators at these institutions
are focused on cancer, diabetes, renal disease, infant mortality,
HIV/AIDS, and cardiovascular diseases, diseases that disproportionately
affect minority populations.
Translational research conducted in the network will range from
those studies focused on applying discoveries generated during
research in the laboratory to clinical trials, and then to developing
and implementing best practices in disease prevention and intervention
in local community settings.
By providing computer-based tools for analyzing and managing clinical
research data, recruiting for clinical trials, and sharing information
with patients, the network will enable clinical and translational
researchers to collaborate more efficiently with each other and
their communities.
The principal investigator leading the network is Keith Norris,
M.D., an expert in kidney disease at Charles Drew University in
Los Angeles, Calif. Other participating institutions are Morehouse
School of Medicine, Atlanta, Ga; University of Hawaii, Honolulu,
Hawaii; Hunter College, CUNY, New York; University of Puerto Rico,
Medical Sciences Campus, San Juan, Puerto Rico; Meharry Medical
College, Nashville, Tenn; Howard University, Washington, D.C.;
and Jackson State University, Jackson, Miss.
“The network will allow investigators to pool resources and expertise
as they conduct high quality, collaborative, multi-center research
that will increase the productivity and impact of each of the individual
centers,” said Norris. “It also is designed to integrate clinical,
biomedical, and behavioral researchers with community health providers
and community leaders into novel geographic and ethnically diverse
research partnerships.”
The Data Technology and Coordinating Center for the network will
be located at Jackson State University in Jackson, Miss. The center
will provide a secure website, data management and data sharing
tools, staff, hardware, and software for collection, analysis,
storage, and exchange of clinical data for the multi-site studies.
The institutions participating in the network are part of the
Research Centers in Minority Institutions Program (RCMI). Funded
by NCRR since 1985, the RCMI program enhances the research capacity
and infrastructure at minority colleges and universities that award
doctorates in the health and health-related sciences.
In addition, the National Center on Minority Health and Health
Disparities, another component of NIH, will contribute to the funding
for the network.
“The infrastructure, particularly informatics tools, provided
by the network will allow RCMI investigators to leverage more effectively
the resources that are in place at their institutions to provide
greater opportunities for minority populations to participate in
NIH-funded clinical trials,” said NCRR Director Barbara Alving,
M.D.
The National Center for Research Resources (NCRR) provides laboratory
scientists and clinical researchers with the environments and tools
they need to understand, detect, treat, and prevent a wide range
of diseases. Central to this effort, NCRR leads the Clinical and
Translational Science Award (CTSA) program — a national consortium
of academic health centers that will transform the conduct of clinical
and translational research to ensure that biomedical discoveries
are rapidly translated into prevention strategies and clinical
treatments for rare and common diseases. Through the CTSA consortium
and other collaborations, NCRR connects researchers with one another,
and with patients and communities across the nation. For more information,
visit www.ncrr.nih.gov.
The National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities
(NCMHD) promotes minority health and leads, coordinates, supports,
and assesses the NIH effort to reduce and ultimately eliminate
health disparities. In this effort, NCMHD conducts and supports
basic, clinical, social, and behavioral research, promotes research
infrastructure and training, fosters emerging programs, disseminates
information, and reaches out to minority and other health disparity
communities. For more information, visit www.ncmhd.nih.gov.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) — The Nation's
Medical Research Agency — includes 27 Institutes and
Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services. It is the primary federal agency for conducting
and supporting basic, clinical and translational medical research,
and it investigates the causes, treatments, and cures for both
common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and
its programs, visit www.nih.gov.
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