UT Southwestern Center for Translational Medicine

The Center for Translational Medicine (CTM) at UT Southwestern is a collaboration among 7 academic institutions, 5 health care systems, 6 teaching hospitals and the North Texas community. Our mission is to improve health in local and global communities through innovation and education. Over the past two funding cycles, our CTSA catalyzed innovation and transformed the culture and landscape of our program Hub. We have trained >1,000 members of the translational workforce, co-led the formation of the Accrual to Clinical Trials CTSA network and established new translational technologies, methods, and processes critical to the translational process at every level. We engaged our local communities early on in the design and conduct of clinical research. We also formed new collaborative research services and education, and training programs designed to address the top health challenges of our community and the nation. Through these efforts, the CTM has generated considerable momentum toward advancing translational science propelled by a highly collaborative environment that is hard-wired for Team Science and Community Engagement. Over the next 5 years, we will optimize the organization of our CTSA Hub for more efficient translation of biomedical discoveries into interventions that will ultimately result in the improved health of both our local populations and, in collaboration with the CTSA Network, the broader U.S. population. We will discover, develop, demonstrate, and disseminate new informatics and artificial intelligence solutions to challenging problems in translation at all levels. In collaboration with Hub partners and relevant national CTSA networks, we propose to develop new methods and processes to further the integration of research into practice at the point of care. Building on our success, we are now poised to achieve the five key objectives of the CTSA Program and the Center for Translational Medicine with the following Specific Aims: Aim 1. Produce a well-trained, highly skilled, effective and knowledgeable Translational Workforce. Aim 2. Inculcate Community Engagement and Team Science. Aim 3. Integrate populations across the lifespan and socioeconomic spectrum as active partners in clinical and translational research. Aim 4. Promote innovation and new scientific Methods and Processes. Aim 5. Develop innovative Informatics solutions to overcome translational roadblocks. Aim 6. Team Efficiency: identify and recruit individuals with a range of skills, experience and viewpoints forming effective and agile teams to accomplish our goals. Impact: With our dynamic research and training environment in place, our Hub will have a powerful and sustained impact on the field of translational science. We will make a major leap forward in the scope, efficiency, and quality of clinical and translational research for the benefit of our Hub and the national consortium. We will collaborate with the Center for Leading Innovation and Collaboration, the Trial Innovation Network, and the Center for Data to Health to bridge the gap between scientific discovery and improved health.