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During the last year, the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC) has been steadily moving towards a brighter future.

In October 2006, UTHSC was awarded a one-year planning grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) through the Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSA) program, which is part of NIH's larger initiative, NIH Roadmap for Medical Research.

The grant for $185,000 is designed to provide institutions such as UTHSC the time and resources to prepare a full CTSA proposal, which will be submitted in late 2007 or in early 2008.

"A multidisciplinary team of researchers, clinicians and academicians has already begun to identify exemplary research activities and resources within UTHSC. Our goal is to develop a comprehensive, logical and achievable plan that will transform the entire clinical research enterprise. We plan to challenge traditional methods and structures," said Dr. James Dale, professor of medicine and molecular sciences and the principal investigator for the NIH award.

The CTSA program is a national effort to transform the local, regional and national environment for clinical and translational science. In short, the initiative hopes to speed the research process.

"NIH will choose 60 medical centers to do translational research with the goal of expanding the process from bench to bedside," said Leonard Johnson, PhD, vice chancellor for research at UT.

NIH plans to fund medical centers across the nation for the next four to five years.

"This CTSA program is a great opportunity for selected institutions and their affiliates to develop innovative proposals that can transform their clinical and translational science programs and resources," said UTHSC chancellor Dr. William F. Owen Jr.

For the past year, UTHSC has been involved in an intensive, strategic planning process that has involved all levels of staff and faculty. UTHSC is focused on a four-tier mission of education, research, patient care and community service with the goal of improving the health of Tennesseans.

UTHSC anticipates having a final strategic plan in place in the next four to six weeks.

UTHSC has three primary goals in order to become an interdisciplinary center of research excellence. The first is to translate scientific discoveries into clinical applications. The second is to educate professionals in translational science, and finally, to become a resource for advancing scientific discoveries into community healthcare. Dale further explained that the vision also includes studying racial and socioeconomic disparities, environmental and genetic associations, and the access to medical care.

"The CTSC will create an integrated research infrastructure that provides focused areas of expertise and core support services to address complex diseases, diagnostics, and therapeutics. By restructuring the existing research enterprise and removing academic silos, researchers, clinicians and educators can have a powerful impact on the most pressing healthcare issues of today and tomorrow," said Owen.

With Owen's arrival more than a year ago and the drive to become a CTSC, UTHSC is tracking toward an interesting future in 2007.

UTHSC's main campus in Memphis has six colleges; additional campuses are located in Knoxville and Chattanooga.


February 2007

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