WASHINGTON —
Children’s National Medical Center, in partnership with The
George Washington University Medical Center, has received a
prestigious Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) from
the National Center for Research Resources of the National
Institutes of Health.
This award, which totals $20 million over five years, is the
first CTSA given directly to a children’s hospital. The
Clinical and Translational Science Institute at Children’s
National will now join the nationally renowned CTSA consortium,
which is composed of institutions that work to transform the local,
regional, and national environment to increase the efficiency and
speed of clinical and translational research across the
country.
Many other CTSA member institutions have research tracks that
include pediatric research, but this collaboration will be the
first, in the history of the award, to focus specifically on how
scientific breakthroughs from the laboratory bench can be brought
more quickly and efficiently to the bedsides of young patients
locally and around the world. In addition, the institution’s close
proximity to the nation’s capital will bring basic science into
community engagement research and health policy applications,
making these discoveries accessible for those most in need.
“Both Children’s National and The George Washington University
have long invested significant resources in investigating and
understanding the health needs of the children and families of
metropolitan Washington,” said
Jill Joseph, MD, PhD, principal investigator of the CTSA and
Director of the Clinical and Translational Science Institute at
Children’s National. “The families of our area, and across the
country, have already benefited from what we’ve learned about
better clinical treatments and improved community education for
common diseases like asthma. We look forward to even greater
breakthroughs in providing that care, now bolstered by new research
collaborations with consortium institutions.”
“Expanding our translational research and development
activities, both within the different components at George
Washington University and with Children’s National Medical Center
will provide new educational opportunities for young investigators
and deliver cutting edge modalities for patients,” said Peter
Hotez. MD, PhD, co-principal investigator of the CTSA, GW
Distinguished Research Professor, and President of the Sabin
Vaccine Institute. “George Washington’s expertise in translating
research discoveries into biologics, coupled with the support of
the CTSA, will further expand our commitment to developing new
diagnostics and vaccines for the neglected infections of poverty
that affect children right here in our nation’s capital.”
The Clinical and Translational Science Institute was created in
2008 as a partnership between Children’s National Medical Center
and The George Washington University. Its work focuses on three
main areas:
- Diseases of childhood, such as cancer, birth defects,
developmental disabilities, asthma; - Childhood diseases that persist into adulthood, or adults
living with childhood diseases long term—for example
congenital heart disease, cystic fibrosis, and muscular dystrophy;
and, - Diseases of adulthood that begin in childhood and are worsened
or develop with age, such as hypertension, type 2 diabetes, and
obesity.
This NIH CTSA will help build the infrastructure to achieve the
Institute’s goals, which include:
- Designing effective, efficient, systems that encourage research
collaboration across disciplines, track effectiveness, and report
results; - Addressing health disparities and promoting diverse
collaborations among pediatric research teams; - Promoting multi-disciplinary team science, and growing
collaborations with community partners to tackle pressing pediatric
health issues; and, - Building better education and training for those interested in
translational and collaborative approaches to pediatric
research.
“We’re grateful to the National Center for Research Resources
for recognizing the importance of fostering research programs that
are designed to address health issues on multiple levels at once,
especially in pediatrics,” said
Mark Batshaw, MD, Chief Academic Officer at Children’s
National. “As we’ve learned through our collaborative models in
diseases like asthma, when it comes to pediatric health,
particularly in urban health settings, the team science model is
most successful at ensuring that families who need innovative
treatments can access them sooner.”
The national CTSA consortium aims to improve human health by
transforming the research and training environment to enhance the
efficiency and quality of clinical and translational research. The
Clinical and Translational Science Institute at Children’s National
is one of only nine awards given this year.
