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NIH's Clinical & Translational Science Awards Program will subsume GCRC and other programs


In a series of announcements, Requests for Applications, and special meetings, the National Institutes of Health announced in mid-October that the NIH General Clinical Research Centers (GCRCs) will be transformed through the new Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) and will cease to exist in their current form by 2010.

The National Center for Research Resources (NCRR), which is the cognizant institute for the GCRC Program, has said it will be flexible on a case-by-case basis with GCRCs during the transition period to give them time to plan and apply for a CTSA. GCRCs that compete successfully for the new CTSA will give up their separate M01 grants and integrate the funds into the CTSA U54 program. While institutions currently are allowed more than one GCRC award, they participate in only one CTSA U54.

MUSC's leadership has made a firm commitment to being a full player in the transforming opportunities provided by the CTSA Program, and has initiated a planning process to maximize the benefit to the institution and the faculty. In addition to the GCRK, key elements of the CTSA Program include an academic home with degree-granting program(s) in clinical research, a K12-style faculty development program in clinical and translational research, and additional training (degree and non-degree) programs for health professional students.

MUSC has an active GCRC, a thriving Master of Science in Clinical Research program, and a new Roadmap T32 training grant for medical and other health professional students in clinical and translational research. These major building blocks will be integrated into MUSC's CTSA plan, which is at an early stage. The following steps have been scheduled:

  1. MUSC will submit a CTSA Planning Grant (P20) application due March 27, 2006. Dr. Kathleen Brady, Program Director of the GCRC, will take the lead on this effort, with assistance from the Office of Special Initiatives and the Office of Research Development. The main objective of the planning grant, which is a 1-year $150,000 award, is to develop a strategic plan and a business plan for the transformative Clinical & Translational unit or entity. This grant would be awarded Sept. 30, 2006 for one year. MUSC leadership will initiate and support the planning process irrespective of the outcome of the P20 grant application.
  2. MUSC will submit a competitive renewal proposal for the GCRC award (M01) due Oct. 1, 2006. This will continue support of the GCRC for up to 3 years as it transitions into the CTSA initiative. Dean Reves will continue as PI of the GCRC, and Dr. Brady will lead this effort as GCRC Program Director, with assistance from the Office of Research Development
  3. MUSC will submit a competitive CTSA proposal (U54) in the timeframe of Fall 2007. NIH has said it will re-issue the RFA annually until it achieves a critical mass of approximately 60 sites by 2012. The shape and leadership of MUSC's proposal will be determined by the participatory planning process initiated as part of step 1 above.

The overall plan is to enlist broad-based participation throughout MUSC in evaluating this extraordinary opportunity and designing an appropriate, feasible, consensus approach as the basis for a successful U54 proposal to implement MUSC's Clinical and Translational Science Plan.

A presentation was made at the November 3rd meeting of the University Research Council. Several focus groups will be conducted to launch the P20 planning grant effort. The consensus is that this will be a complex, exciting, and challenging process.

For more information on the CTSA Program, please feel free to contact Dr. Kathleen Brady at bradyk@musc.edu, and also peruse the CTSA Requests for Applications:


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