Welcome to the Clinical and Translational Science Collaborative
The Clinical and Translational Science Collaborative (CTSC) of Northern Ohio, a collaborative among Case Western Reserve University and its affiliated hospital systems, the Cleveland Clinic, MetroHealth, University Hospitals, and the Louis Stokes Veterans Administration Medical Center, Northeast Ohio Medical University, and the University of Toledo aspires to be a catalyst for high quality clinical and translational science and transformative research to positively impact the health of those in Northern Ohio and beyond.
Translational science focuses on the scientific and operational principles underlying each step of the translation process—understanding these processes, identifying effective approaches, and removing barriers speeds the adoption of best practices into community settings and helps bring more treatments to more people more quickly. For nearly 15 years, the CTSC, supported principally by NIH funding, has enhanced the quantity and quality of clinical and translational science among our partners by facilitating novel research paradigms, technologies, and training. Our CTSC has developed a new generation of researchers, enhanced collaborations among investigators, streamlined discovery by building partnerships among industry and community and organizational partners, and facilitated many successful entrepreneurial startups.
As we plan for the continued evolution of the CTSC, health equity takes center stage. A large body of evidence links social, economic and environmental disadvantages to poor health outcomes, which are reflected in stark differences in life expectancy, infant mortality, and rates of chronic conditions like heart disease and cancer for residents of different communities throughout our nine-county region. Minority groups are often underrepresented in clinical trials as well, meaning there can be insufficient data for understanding the effectiveness or safety of new drugs, procedures, or health interventions for different populations.
In the 2023-2030 grant cycle, our CTSC is focusing particularly on including the community in the process of clinical and translational research to better address health disparities and achieve equity. We will work to improve broad participation in clinical trials so that the results will be broadly applicable and can be widely accepted in the communities we serve and develop new strategies for implementation. We will train a robust, diverse work force at all levels (including community liaisons) who represent the community as well as academia. We are determined that everyone in Cleveland—and beyond—should benefit from advances in CTS in our programs and discoveries. In order to achieve this goal and improve health in all our communities, we are restructuring our CTSC activities for the upcoming funding cycle, redirecting our focus and goals around our community around the theme: “Catalyzing Linkages for Equity in Health,” or “CLE Health”.
The CTSC of Northern Ohio has created a solid foundation to ensure rigorous and innovative training of the clinical and translational workforce, to accelerate the translation of discoveries to patients, to improve the health of Northern Ohioans, and to provide scalable models for others throughout the nation. To realize its vision, the CTSC of Northern Ohio proposes to engage all C/T science stakeholders, the workforce, patients and community members to collaborate locally, regionally, and nationally, to
- understand the fundamental barriers to optimal recruitment of underrepresented groups in clinical trials and test and scale interventions aimed at breaking down these barriers to diversify study engagement,
- facilitate and expedite innovation in multi-center clinical and translational research by fully integrating community and stakeholder partners and ensuring that this research represents the experiences of all and results in health improvements for all,
- disseminate and implement novel and responsive research programs across clinical and community settings to advance access to health interventions that aim to promote health equity, and
- create and disseminate inclusive and high impact educational and training programs for translational research professionals of all disciplines and levels, both in clinical and community settings. As described below, individual modules within CLE Health will work to catalyze scientific discovery to increase health equity and improve health outcomes in our communities.
Commitment to collaboration and innovation in translational science remain top priorities as the CTSC implements its aims and builds the new iteration of the Clinical and Translational Science Collaborative of Northern Ohio.
The Clinical and Translational Science Collaborative of Northern Ohio is funded by the National Institutes of Health, National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) Program which supports a national network of over 60 medical research institutions — called hubs ― that work together to improve the translational research process to get more treatments to more patients more quickly. The hubs collaborate locally and regionally to catalyze innovation in training, research tools and processes. The CTSA Program is designed to develop innovative solutions that will improve the efficiency, quality and impact of the process for turning observations in the laboratory, clinic and community into interventions that improve the health of individuals and the public.