FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
 March 30, 2018

CONTACT:
For Tufts CTSI: Amy West, 617-636-6025; awest@tuftsmedicalcenter.org
For The Jackson Laboratory: Sarah Laskowski, Senior Public Relations Manager, 860-837-2102; news@jax.org


BOSTON
– Leaders from Tufts Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) and The Jackson Laboratory (JAX) today announced a new five-year collaboration to advance translational research, with the goal of helping bring the latest research into medical practice faster and more efficiently to improve patient care.

“Over nearly nine decades The Jackson Laboratory has made fundamental contributions to biomedical research, as a leader in both mammalian genetics and most recently, human genomics,” says Graham Jones, PhD, Tufts CTSI Associate Director and Director of Research Collaborations. “Building on existing relationships with the doctoral program in genetics at the Tufts Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Tufts CTSI is delighted to welcome JAX as a formal collaborator, where synergies in translational research will be exploited in emerging areas of immunology and oncology, among others.”

The JAX/Tufts CTSI collaboration will strengthen and expand research and training programs in clinical and translational science, including:

  • Research consultations and collaborations with faculty.
  • Internship/externships and collaborative research ventures for postgraduate fellows and career development scholars.
  • Development of joint training programs and educational platforms.
  • Expansion of PhD programs with the Graduate School.
  • Development and delivery of training modules via the Graduate School in rapidly emerging research areas such as CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing technologies.
  • Continued cross-registration between the JAX Genetics Program and the Graduate School.

Researchers affiliated with JAX will be able to access Tufts CTSI resources and services including research design and analysis, clinical studies infrastructure, pilot studies funding, and fellowships and trainee support.

“The opportunity to improve patient care by fast-tracking impactful, collaborative research is crucial to enhancing the way we approach medicine today,” said Kenneth Fasman, PhD, Vice President for Research at The Jackson Laboratory.  “We are thrilled to work toward that goal with Tufts CTSI, whose very mission embodies this work.”

Tufts CTSI, founded in 2008, is a member institution of the national Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSA) Consortium, funded by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), National Institutes of Health. Its mission is to identify, stimulate, and expedite innovated clinical and translational research, with the goal of improving the public’s health.

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About Tufts Clinical and Translational Science Institute

Tufts Clinical and Translational Science Institute (Tufts CTSI), established in 2008, supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), is dedicated to stimulating, supporting, and expediting innovative clinical and translational research, with the goal of improving the public’s health. Founded by Tufts University and Tufts Medical Center, it also includes other academic institutions (including all the schools of Tufts University, Brandeis University, Northeastern University; and RAND), the hospitals affiliated with Tufts University School of Medicine, community stakeholders, and various members of the health care industry. Tufts CTSI’s 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 funded by a Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) from the NIH National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, award number UL1TR001064.

About The Jackson Laboratory

The Jackson Laboratory is an independent, nonprofit biomedical research institution based in Bar Harbor, Maine, with a National Cancer Institute-designated Cancer Center, a facility in Sacramento, California, and a genomic medicine institute in Farmington, Connecticut. It employs 2,000 staff, and its mission is to discover precise genomic solutions for disease and empower the global biomedical community in the shared quest to improve human health.