It can take up to 15 years—and upward of $1 billion—to bring a lifesaving drug to market so it can actually be used. But 
translating discoveries into therapies swiftly is crucial to the progress of medicine.
At UTMB, multidisciplinary teams have been working for years on new applications of molecular biology to diagnose and treat severe asthma, new therapies for burns and new methods to fi ght aging-related muscle loss. And thanks to a new grant from the National Institutes of Health and implemented by UTMB’s Institute for Translational Sciences (ITS), we will be able to further support teams of researchers from diverse scientific disciplines to work together to move research discoveries and innovations into clinical practices that improve health.
The prestigious, five-year, $22 million Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) from the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences recognizes the accomplishments that the ITS has made since first receiving a CTSA in 2009. Since that time, the ITS has built upon its novel education programs, strengthened community partnerships and scientific advances.
The institute is a leader in the evolving fi eld of translational science and one of 62 currently funded by a CTSA.
“Our CTSA is unique because of its focus on maximizing the effectiveness of translational teams, which provide support and catalyze innovation to move science forward,” said Dr. Allan Brasier, ITS director and principal investigator for the CTSA.
Clinical and translational research puts an emphasis on engaging collaborative teams of investigators from diverse disciplines to tackle complex health and research challenges. The goal is to expedite creation of new medical tests, treatments and cures—propelling them from the laboratory to the physicians and the patients who need them.
“Multidisciplinary translational teams grew naturally here and have already made significant changes to the landscape,” said Brasier.
Over the next five years, the ITS and its partners will expand the success of multidisciplinary research teams, enhance education in translation and team leadership, address cultural barriers to translation and improve health outcomes in communities.
Using an innovative model developed in collaboration with UTMB’s Center for Addiction Research, Office of Technology Transfer and Center for Biomedical Engineering, the ITS also will enhance the process of taking technology to market.
The CTSA initiatives will be implemented by a team of more than 30 co-investigators from a dozen departments, led by Brasier; Elena Volpi, M.D., Ph.D., professor of Internal Medicine; Sharon Croisant, Ph.D., associate professor of Preventive Medicine and Community Health; and Mark Hellmich, Ph.D., professor of Surgery.
UTMB’s ITS is composed of 15 multidisciplinary teams formed around diverse topics, including severe asthma, burns injury and hypermetabolic response, aging muscle, hepatitis C and cancer, obesity and its metabolic complications, pediatric respiratory infection, and women’s reproductive health, among others.
“UTMB is committed to supporting science that meaningfully advances patient care, and I’m very pleased that the innovative approaches to research and research systems that are foundational for our CTSA have been recognized by this continued funding from the NIH,” said Dr. Danny O. Jacobs, executive vice president, provost and dean of the School of Medicine.
He added that this grant will benefi t our entire academic health center by raising the level of research, health care and training.
“Ultimately, major research breakthroughs that change the face of modern medicine could take place here,” he said. “And our communities will be stronger and healthier because of that.”
Translation, please!
The National Institutes of Health has made translational research a priority, forming centers of translational research at its institutes and launching the Clinical and Translational Science Award program in 2006.
So what exactly is “translational research”?
Translation is the process of turning observations in the laboratory, clinic and community into interventions that improve the health of individuals and the public—from diagnostics and therapeutics to medical procedures and behavioral changes.