University of Buffalo Clinical and Translational Science Institute

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The Buffalo Translational Consortium (BTC), which includes the University at Buffalo (UB) health sciences schools, the major healthcare institutions in our region, four key research institutes and five influential community partners, have embarked on a comprehensive strategic plan to build a strong foundation for clinical and translational research in response to our community needs. Buffalo is the second most populous city in New York State and has a rich cultural history. The proportion of underrepresented minorities in Buffalo in 2018 (50%) parallels that projected for the US in 2050, making Buffalo a microcosm of what the US will look like in 30 years. A similar proportion of our population experiences health disparities. The vision for our CTSA hub is to perform innovative research across the translational spectrum to improve the health of our community and the nation. We will develop, test and share novel approaches to engage difficult-to-engage populations and reduce health disparities in our community, which represents a “population of the future”. Guided by our vision, the CTSA has catalyzed a transformation of our environment since our CTSA was first funded in August 2015 with remarkable growth in clinical and translational research. Further, in just the past year, the UB medical school has moved into a spectacular new building and our clinical partner, Kaleida Health, the largest healthcare system in the region, opened the new Oishei Children’s Hospital, both on the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus and connected to the Clinical and Translational Research Center devoted entirely to clinical and translational research that opened in 2012. This rapid and continuing trajectory of growth in healthcare and research in the region has resulted in a new 21st century Academic Health Center with healthcare, medical education and clinical and translational research on one campus in the heart of Buffalo, creating a foundation to enhance the impact of our CTSA even further. While launching our CTSA, we have prioritized participation in the national consortium through hosting and testing Innovation Labs as a team science tool, working with multiple hubs on initiatives to solve translational research barriers and sharing tools that we have developed with the CTSA consortium, including novel health informatics tools. Our CTSA has five ambitious but achievable aims, including: 1) Accelerate innovative translational research with teams that engage communities, regional stakeholders and the national consortium; 2) Train an excellent, diverse workforce to advance translation of discoveries; 3) Enhance inclusion of special populations across the lifespan and difficult-to-engage populations; 4) Streamline clinical research processes focusing on quality and efficiency with emphasis on multisite studies; 5) Develop, test and share biomedical informatics tools to integrate data from multiple sources to speed translation. Guided by our vision to perform research to improve the health of our community and the nation, we will continue our momentum to expand translational research, train our diverse workforce, streamline processes, engage our community, and actively contribute to the national consortium.