UC Davis Health has received a prestigious seven-year, $40 million award from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to continue and expand its Clinical and Translational Science Center (CTSC), a critical bridge between research and patient care.
The funding comes from the NIH’s Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSA) program. The initiative speeds up the process of turning basic scientific discoveries into tangible clinical treatments, diagnostics and preventive interventions that improve public health.
UC Davis Health is one of more than 60 leading medical institutions across the nation to receive a CTSA award, and has received continuous funding since 2006, when it was one of the 12 original program hubs.
“This award recognizes nearly two decades of building a system that moves promising ideas out of the lab and into clinical care,” said Ted Wun, the director and contact principal investigator (PI) of the award. Wun is also the chief of hematology and oncology at UC Davis Health and serves as a co-principal investigator of the California Cancer Reporting and Epidemiologic Surveillance program.
“Our goal is simple but not easy: Train and help researchers, clinicians and communities work together to develop and deliver better treatments faster,” Wun added.
With the renewal, UC Davis will expand its efforts in several key areas, including:
- Increasing access to clinical trials at UC Davis Health
- Enhancing training programs and career development to fill critical gaps in the research workforce
- Strengthening community partnerships
- Developing new tools and approaches to speed the translation of research innovations into practice