Some of the more than 150 members of the Clinical and Translational Science Institute established by New York University, NYU School of Medicine, and New York City’s Health and Hospitals Corporation (top). Among the areas for which the grant provides funding are education and mentoring of scientists, clinical and translational research, and population sciences and community health. (Top and bottom right photos by Mike Weymouth; bottom left photo by Mitchell Funk/Getty Images)

Partnering for Progress

NIH Awards Grant to Fund University-Wide Clinical and Translational Science Institute

New York University and NYU School of Medicine have received a $29.4 million, five-year Clinical and Translational Science Award from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to establish a University-wide Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) in partnership with the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation (HHC), the largest public hospital system in the country. The funding is designed to train medical researchers, accelerate advances from the lab to the patient and the community, and enable researchers to study health disparities and develop approaches to reduce them.

With this grant, the University, the School, and HHC will join a network of 46 existing Clinical and Translational Science centers based at academic medical centers around the country. The scope of the CTSI network is vast: 9 schools and colleges, 15 major medical and dental facilities serving 2 million patients, 75 departments, and 200 laboratories. At NYU Langone Medical Center and HHC, potentially hundreds of researchers, physicians, and clinicians will participate.

The CTSI will be directed by Bruce Cronstein, MD, the Dr. Paul R. Esserman Professor of Medicine and professor of pathology and pharmacology, and co-directed by Judith Hochman, MD, the Harold Snyder Family Professor of Cardiology. In addition to NYU School of Medicine, this collaborative effort will pool the expertise of researchers among NYU’s health-related and clinical schools, including the College of Dentistry; College of Nursing; Wagner School of Public Service; Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development; Stern School of Business; Silver School of Social Work; Courant Institute for Applied Mathematics; and Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.

The CTSI embodies the vital role of research at NYU Langone, a key component of our mission as a leading academic medical center. It will support the education, training, and development of scientists so that they can conduct the investigations necessary to bring scientific advances to patients. By enhancing ties between NYU and HHC researchers and the community, it will help enable these scientists to identify health problems and apply their knowledge to promote new developments and evidence-based medicine within communities, thereby reducing healthcare disparities.

“This grant provides funding to support our initiatives in critical areas: education and mentoring in the conduct of clinical and translational research, population sciences and community health, bioinformatics and biostatistics,” notes Vivian Lee, MD, PhD, MBA, vice dean for science and chief scientific officer. “We are excited to have the opportunity to partner across the institution and HHC to bring new scientific discoveries into the clinics and our communities.”

“The CTSI will link NYU, ‘a private university in the public service,’ with HHC, a public agency devoted to outstanding care for all New Yorkers, in a new venture designed to bring their resources to bear on the health problems facing New York and the nation in the 21st century,” explains Dr. Cronstein. “It will transform the way we carry out our research, and also the way we train our researchers.” Dozens of established mentors will help foster a new environment of side-by-side partnerships with promising young investigators. Moreover, a fellowship program will introduce scientists to clinical research, and physicians can earn a master of science degree in clinical investigation.

The institute will focus on leveraging the individual expertise of and the ongoing collaboration between NYU Langone and HHC researchers; supporting their education, training, and development; and enhancing ties between these researchers and the community. Eight of HHC’s 11 acute care hospitals will participate: Bellevue, Metropolitan, and Gouverneur in Manhattan; Coler-Goldwater on Roosevelt Island; Woodhull, Coney Island, and Kings County in Brooklyn; and Lincoln in the Bronx.

“Our CTSI is truly innovative and will play a critical role in our shared goal of transforming medical research and reducing healthcare disparities in New York City and beyond,” adds Robert I. Grossman, MD, dean and CEO of NYU Langone Medical Center. “This grant recognizes our extraordinary researchers and scientists, and builds upon the historic partnership that brought together the academic excellence of our institutions and the clinical expertise and diversity of HHC.”