FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 1, 2016
CONTACT: Jeremy Lechan, 617-636-0104, jlechan@tuftsmedicalcenter.org
BOSTON – Investigators at the Institute for Clinical Research and Health Policy Studies (ICRHPS) at Tufts Medical Center (Tufts MC) and Tufts Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) – a shared resource between Tufts Medical Center and Tufts University School of Medicine (TUSM), together with the Johns Hopkins University (JHU) School of Medicine’s Brain Injury Outcomes (BIOS) Division and the Institute for Clinical and Translational Research (ICTR), won a seven-year, $25 million award from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) to form one of only three new national Trial Innovation Centers (TICs) that will provide high-quality design and operational support to investigators conducting multi-center clinical trials.
The JHU/Tufts MC/TUSM TIC will be jointly led by principal investigators Daniel F. Hanley, MD, the Jeffrey and Harriet Legum Professor of Neurology and Director of BIOS, Daniel Ford, MD, MPH, the David M. Levine Professor of Medicine and Vice Dean for Clinical Research in the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, and Harry P. Selker, MD, MSPH, Executive Director of ICRHPS and Dean of Tufts CTSI. The JHU/Tufts MC/TUSM collaboration will provide Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) investigators with world-leading expertise in state-of-the-art trial design and execution of multi-site studies particularly in the areas of neurology and cardiology and will lead innovative projects in clinical trial performance metrics and adaptive and integrated trial design such as ‘efficacy to effectiveness’ (E2E, developed by Dr. Selker and the Tufts team) to maximize trial performance.
The three TICS (JHU/Tufts MC/TUSM, Utah, and Duke-Vanderbilt) together with a Recruitment Innovation Center (RIC) at Vanderbilt University and the 64 CTSA Program Hubs make up the NCATS Trial Innovation Network, which will support investigators with protocol development, implementing central institutional review boards (IRBs) and recruitment plans while also developing and disseminating sustainable innovative practices across the network. The Trial Innovation Network establishes a new model of collaboration in multi-site clinical trials by linking local resources at the 64 national NIH-supported CTSA Hubs and their over 500 affiliated clinical institutions spanning all domains of health care with the centralized expertise at the TICs and RICs. This will ultimately transform how clinical trials are conducted by providing a framework for excellence in clinical trial practice to allow new treatments and drugs to reach patients faster and in a more cost effective manner.
The Trial Innovation Network invites CTSA investigators to submit requests for support via their website (www.trialinnovationnetwork.org).
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About Tufts Medical Center and Floating Hospital for Children
Tufts Medical Center is an exceptional, not-for-profit, 415-bed academic medical center that is home to both a full-service hospital for adults and Floating Hospital for Children. Conveniently located in downtown Boston, the Medical Center is the principal teaching hospital for Tufts University School of Medicine. Floating Hospital for Children is the full-service children’s hospital of Tufts Medical Center and the principal pediatric teaching hospital of Tufts University School of Medicine. Tufts Medical Center is affiliated with the New England Quality Care Alliance, a network of nearly 1,800 physicians throughout Eastern Massachusetts.
About the Institute for Clinical Research and Health Policy Studies (ICRHPS)
The ICRHPS at Tufts Medical Center encompasses programs in clinical and health policy research, and provides a research culture and environment that facilitates cross-disciplinary studies. Its work spans the study of clinical features of disease; specific treatments and their optimal use; measurement of clinical, functional, and social outcomes of health care interventions; optimal use of clinical data and other evidence; comparative effectiveness; and the influence of socioeconomic, organizational, and policy factors on health and health care.
About Tufts Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI)
Tufts CTSI, a National Institutes of Health (NIH)-supported partnership among all the schools of Tufts University; Northeastern University, Brandeis University, RAND; Tufts CTSI-affiliated hospitals, and health care industry and community organizations, was established in August 2008. Its purpose is to accelerate the translation of laboratory and medical research into clinical use, widespread medical practice, and into improved health care delivery and health policy. It connects people to research resources, consultation, and education, and fosters collaboration with scholars of all disciplines and with community members, with the ultimate goal of improving the health of the public. Tufts CTSI is currently funded by the NIH National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, award number UL1TR001064.