Georgetown-Howard Universities Center for Clinical and Translational Science (GHUCCTS)

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The Georgetown-Howard Universities Center for Clinical and Translational Science (GHUCCTS) is a primary partnership of Georgetown University (GU) and Howard University (HU), with 3 affiliated institutions: MedStar Health Research Institute (MHRI), Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), and the Washington DC Veterans Affairs Medical Center (DCVAMC). This application is for our second competitive renewal. The specific aims of GHUCCTS are presently: 1) To continue to improve the infrastructure that supports high quality, interdisciplinary clinical and translational research, both via inter-institutional collaborations among GHUCCTS institutions as well as multicenter clinical trials across the national CTSA consortium, with increasing efficiency; 2) To further establish GHUCCTS as a model of inter-institutional collaboration that leverages the strengths and attributes of its diverse participating institutions in order to maintain GHUCCTS as a regional CTSA hub with unique and synergistic strengths; 3) To leverage our location, expertise and the co-leadership of a minority-serving institution to design, implement and disseminate clinical and translational research that will have a high impact on populations with health disparities, particularly underserved groups in our communities who have been historically under- represented in clinical research studies, including people from diverse racial, ethnic, and cultural backgrounds, people with disabilities, older adults and Veterans; 4) To continue to provide new vibrant and innovative educational programs for multiple levels of trainees, faculty and staff that promote principles of team science, and to provide the high quality career development training and support for the clinical and translational investigators of the future; and 5) To continue to apply and develop innovative analytical and computational methods to speed and enhance translation. In achieving these specific aims and their corresponding strategic goals we will draw from and contribute to the collective efforts and mission of the National Center for Advancing Translational Science (NCATS), and the national CTSA consortium. In the first 8 years as a funded CTSA program, GHUCCTS evolved into a fully functional multi-institutional center that has transformed CTR across each of the GHUCCTS member institutions with growing inter-institutional and inter-disciplinary collaboration and mentorship. Enrollment of under-represented groups is high in our research studies, and have increased to levels that more than double the national CTSA hub mean in our training programs. We have designed a new core in collaboration with ORNL that leverages their novel technologies to address environmental determinants of health risk in the District of Columbia. We will continue designing and refining innovative GHUCCTS programs to train the clinical and translational scientists and leaders of the future, and to disseminate these educational programs across the full spectrum of students, trainees and healthcare professionals at our GHUCCTS institutions and the national CTSA network.