Tri-Institutional Tuberculosis Research Advancement Center (TRAC)

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Overall Abstract: We propose a Tri-Institutional Tuberculosis (TB) Research Advancement Center (TRAC) at Weill Cornell Medicine, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and Rockefeller University. The three institutions are adjacent to each other on a Tri-Institutional (Tri-I) campus in New York City. The purpose of the proposed Tri-I TRAC is to pool the expertise and resources of an outstanding team of 20 senior TB investigators at the three institutions to expand the number of investigators in the field of TB research and to promote innovative multidisciplinary TB research. The senior investigators have diverse expertise spanning biochemistry, basic microbiology, mycobacterial genetics, human genetics and immunology, drug discovery, international clinical trials, and implementation science. A major focus will be supporting New Investigators (NIs), who we define as senior post-doctoral fellows or junior faculty members who seek an academic career and have not yet received an R01. We also will recruit New to TB (N2TB) Investigators, who are R01 experienced investigators in other scientific disciplines who bring their expertise to study TB. The TRAC will have four Cores. The Administrative Core will provide leadership, financial oversight, communication, and program evaluation. A Developmental Core will fund 6 Developmental Project Awards annually of $50,000 each to support NIs and N2TB investigators. Institutional support from Weill Cornell Medicine will fund two of these awards each year which will be designated for under-represented minorities and women scientists. The Clinical Core will build upon long-standing collaborations primarily in Haiti and also in Tanzania. The Basic and Clinical Science Cores will provide NI and N2TB recipients of Developmental Project Awards mentorship, technical expertise, and scientific resources unique to TB research including access to TB animal models, genetically modified mycobacterial libraries, and biobanked clinical samples. The Basic and Clinical Science Cores will also facilitate sharing of technology and resources between senior TB investigators in order to initiate new lines of collaborative translational TB research. Other activities including an annual symposium, a technology workshop, and travel to international TB clinical sites will bolster the pipeline of new TB investigators and generate an environment conducive to multidisciplinary collaboration. There will be no overlap with other NIH research grants, centers, or institutional cores. The TRAC will leverage these existing resources and synergistically expand the number of TB investigators and foster new innovative lines of collaboration. Our goal over 5 years is to have 25 NIs successfully compete for a TB related NIH R01 and transition to independence and to attract at least 5 N2TB investigators to TB science. Half will be women and at least 20% underrepresented minorities. We will also initiate new lines of collaborative translational research to address the five NIAID priorities in TB science with the ultimate goal of improving TB diagnostics, prevention, and treatment and ending morbidity and mortality from TB world-wide.