The New Harvard Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA): Opportunities and Challenges

At Harvard University and elsewhere in the United States, the success of clinical research is dependent upon such factors as investigator training, infrastructural support, and the availability of research subjects.  In some cases, researchers with many sources of assistance at their disposal are unable to take full advantage of the resources available to them because these resources are fragmented.  In 2004, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) launched the Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) program in an attempt to help academic institutions integrate resources pertinent to clinical and translation research.  The goal of a CTSA is to create an academic home for clinical and translation science.

In 2008, Harvard University was one of 14 academic health centers to receive for the first time a CTSA from NIH.  This CTSA replaced the NIH funding that Harvard used to receive in order to support four general clinical research centers (GCRC’s).  Now, instead of having four GCRC’s, Harvard has one Clinical and Translation Science Center (CTSC), known as the Harvard Catalyst.  The overarching goal of Harvard’s CTSC is to help researchers “overcome barriers within and beyond Harvard that constrain [clinical and translation science],” to use words spoken by Harvard president Drew Gilpin Faust in her inaugural address. 

The Harvard Catalyst is designed to assist clinical researchers who encounter challenges involving anything from ethics to informatics.  Thanks to the CTSA, the program is also able to offer small pilot grants to new investigators working on interdisciplinary projects.  The average value of a pilot grant is approximately $50,000, and so far, the pilot program has generated a lot of interest.  Hopefully, Harvard’s CTSC will increase the speed and efficiency of clinical and translation research at the university.

  

Forum Blog

Post a comment / start a discussion on the Forum Blog regarding this Forum.