Richard D'Aquila, MD, Howard Taylor Ricketts, MD, professor of medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases and senior vice dean for clinical and translational research;
The Northwestern University Institute for Clinical and Translational Sciences (NUCATS) has received $55 million in funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to accelerate the development, evaluation and implementation of improved medical interventions.
The seven-year grant is the largest ongoing research grant at Northwestern University and continues a tradition of NIH funding that has existed since the institute was founded in 2008.
“Clinical and translational research does not occur in a vacuum, and it takes dedicated researchers and the public to advance human health,” said Richard D'Aquila, MD, Howard Taylor Ricketts, MD, professor of medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases and senior associate dean for clinical and translational research. “With the generous support from NIH and Northwestern University, we will work with an outstanding coalition of community and health system partners to help build a better framework for implementing innovations and discoveries in a more inclusive way.”
Dr. Sarah Becker, Alice Hamilton Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences;
Co-led by principal investigator D'Aquila, Sarah Becker, PhD, the Alice Hamilton Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, and Clyde Yancey, MD, MSc, chair of the Department of Medicine and Magerstadt Professor of Cardiology, the institute remains a hub of Northwestern research activity.
“The exceptional collection of faculty and staff stewarding this iteration of NUCATS is a testament to the transformative thinking of the Institute's leadership,” said Eric G. Nielson, M.D., vice chancellor for medicine and Lewis Landsberg dean. “This funding will enable us to further our mission to improve human health by investigating mechanisms for translating discoveries into real-world treatments.”
Awarded by the NIH National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, this grant will fund activities that foster a culture of inclusive excellence and better leverage all existing talent while effectively applying discoveries to translational science for diverse populations. The Institute is also positioned to incorporate implementation science methods into its work across the translational science continuum to improve public health and meet the needs of all.
Clyde Yancey, MD, MSc, chair of the Department of Medicine and Magerstadt Professor of Cardiology in the School of Medicine;
“Implementation science helps accelerate and facilitate the incorporation of evidence-based practices into routine clinical care,” said Becker, who is also director of Northwestern's Center for Dissemination and Implementation Science (CTSA). “Northwestern is a national leader in this field, and the NUCATS Institute will be a model CTSA hub that advances comprehensive, innovative and actionable solutions to the evolving challenges that impede scalable public health progress.”
Yancey's research in cardiology and health disparities focuses on optimal treatment of heart failure. His seminal contribution was showing that hypertension is the leading cause of heart failure in Black people, not ischemic heart disease, the most common cause in non-Black patients. His groundbreaking research has shown how to optimize treatment strategies for Black patients, including the first FDA-approved therapy for Black patients.
“Diversity in the biomedical workforce is more than representation; rather, it's about excellence, diverse ideas, and unique strategies that enhance our ability to deliver health care to entire populations,” said Yancey, who also serves as associate dean for diversity and inclusion. “By intentionally addressing inequities, we can understand and overcome persistent systemic constraints that harm underrepresented and underserved populations, which in turn impair the best health for all. We are committed to responsibly and courageously leading the path to inclusive excellence and belonging.”
As one of more than 60 sites funded by NIH Clinical and Translational Science Awards, the NUCATS Institute is now tasked with adding generalizable knowledge about how to most effectively accelerate new ideas and interventions to impacts that improve health for all. NIH calls this new mission “conducting clinical and translational science,” distinguishing it from its previous mission of providing resources for all clinical and translational research.
“A core tenet of translational science is understanding the common causes of inefficiencies and failures in translational research projects. Working with Northwestern's Office of Innovation and New Business and other partners, one additional area of our focus is to more effectively help academic innovators move their lab discoveries from clinical trials to commercialization,” Dakila said.
Northwestern University and its affiliated institutions, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago and its Stanley Mann Children's Research Institute, Shirley Ryan AbilityLab, and Northwestern Medicine, comprise the NUCATS Institute. Clinicians and researchers from each affiliated institution are faculty at Northwestern, and the affiliated institutions operate jointly and share a significantly growing academic medical center campus, where the teaching, care, and research activities of faculty and trainees foster a learning health system. The affiliated institutions also have an extensive network of regional sites/providers, facilitating community outreach. The NUCATS Institute will continue to serve as the glue that connects translational research across the four hub components and advances translational science.
The new CTSA activity is funded by NCATS grant UM1TR005121.
