Clinical and Translational Science Award

Posted 6/17/2008

Center for HOPES to coordinate tracking and evaluation for $34 million NIH grant aimed at improving the patient care process.

 

The Ohio State University College of Public Health will benefit from a $34 million grant awarded to Ohio State and Nationwide Children's Hospital by the National Institutes of Health.

The grant is one of the largest ever received by the university and will be used to build The Ohio State University Center for Clinical and Translational Science, a research center that will help streamline the patient care process.

wewers"Faculty from the College of Public Health will be actively involved in the implementation of the CTSA Award," said Mary Ellen Wewers, professor and associate dean for research in the College of Public Health's division of Health Behavior and Health Promotion. "This award will engage the public, including communities and health care providers in the prioritization, participation and evaluation of clinical and translational research.

"The College of Public Health has a long history and tradition in all of these important areas."

Wewers will lead the community engagement core initiative. Other faculty in the College of Public Health also will play key roles.

"Faculty members will work as part of the Biostatistics Core and be responsible for research design and statistical analyses of the studies and experiments," Wewers said. Faculty in the college's Center for Health Outcomes, Policy & Evaluation Studies will coordinate and be heavily involved in the overall evaluation of the award's outcomes.

The new center will leverage expertise from 16 colleges at Ohio State, along with scientists and clinicians at The Ohio State University Medical Center and Nationwide Children's Hospital.

The grant award provides administrative support needed to develop improved methods for analyzing research data and managing clinical trials, allowing for greater community outreach, and creating partnerships in central Ohio and beyond.

By engaging faculty and staff from the College of Public Health, and across Ohio State, the center is creating a collaborative network focusing on science, education, research design and implementation. Additional emphasis is being placed on training the next generation of researchers by utilizing innovative educational initiatives to build their clinical and translational skills, while supporting their career development.

Ohio State is one of 30 medical centers across the country receiving the NIH grant targeted to strengthening clinical and translational science that will lead to better patient care. Administered by the National Center for Research Resources, a component of the NIH, the Clinical and Translational Science Award program funds diverse and far-reaching approaches related to all aspects of research.

"An important goal of the CTSA is to promote public trust in clinical and translational research," Wewers said.

****

The OSU College Public Health is an integral part of the most comprehensive health sciences campus in the nation. The college was created in February 2007 when the University Board of Trustees elevated us from a school to a college. First established in 1995 as part of the College of Medicine, we are the first and only accredited school of public health in the state of Ohio. Specializations within the college include biostatistics, epidemiology, health behavior and health promotion, environmental health sciences, health services management and policy, veterinary public health and clinical investigations. The college is currently ranked 21st in public health graduate schools by US News & World Report. Its Master of Health Administration program is ranked 12th. The College of Public Health makes a difference in the health of the public, advances knowledge through multidisciplinary research and education, and reaches out with knowledge, service and leadership to Ohio and the world.