supervision. A new report says NIH should have increased monitoring of clinical programs and award Translational science as Clinical and Translational Science Institute of the University of Pittsburgh, which operates a mobile laboratory to demo
University of Pittsburgh
the National Institutes of Health (NIH) needs to take a greater leadership role in the management of a 7-d'année-old program designed to translate the basic research into clinical therapies, according to a report released today by the National Academies Institute of the United States of Medicine (IOM).
The program, called Price Clinical and Translational Sciences (CSTC), funds 61 centers in universities across the United States. The IOM report states that these centers lack well-defined, measurable steps to assess their success and chances of renewal. Consequently, some CTSAs try to do too much and end up with mediocre results when they should rather specialize in areas where they are strong and work with other CTSAs to compensate for their shortcomings.
"We saw when we studied the CTSAs that some of them are unique to certain things and that all are really trying to meet a lot of areas of expertise, and it became really impossible to them to do something good, "says Sharon Terry, vice president of the report and president and CEO of Washington, DC, health promotion nonprofit genetic Alliance." We are essentially recommending that, no, we do not require all 61 to be good at everything. instead, allow specialization ... and share their expertise. "
Christopher Austin, director of the National Center for the Advancement of Translational Sciences (NCATS), which manages the CTSA, said today that the NIH may not be able to continue to support 61 centers mounting medium budget pressures. "The program is going to be the right size to fit the budget we have now," he said.
The report calls for the creation of a steering committee NCATS-CSTC to set measurable parameters for successfully managing a project "innovations Fund" to stimulate collaboration within and outside the NIH, and direct collaboration between CTSAs. "Leadership will come NCATS with the CTSAs, rather than the CTSAs is trying to provide this kind of leadership," said Terry.
In addition, IOM recommends that NCATS dissolve what he calls too convoluted hierarchy of committees within the CTSA consortium and rationalize its committee structure; KL2 refocus its training grants and TL1 on teamwork, leadership and soft skills; ensure that community engagement remains an integral part of CSEC projects; and double down on the program's commitment to children's health.
Austin said in a statement that it supports the recommendations and with the help of a working group, will begin implementation immediately.
scientific CSEC that Science Insider spoke with were generally satisfied with the report. Joan Lakoski, assistant vice chancellor for education of popular science, health sciences, at the University of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania, and chemical biology professor at the Institute for Clinical and Translational Science University, said that "in the long term, it will be in everyone's interest to have closer integration [with NCATS leadership]".
CTSAs receive funding for 5 years, after which the program will be renewed. The CTSAs budgets based on the previous NIH support, and the scale and scope of the requested project. So far, the budgets of the centers ranged from $ 4 million to $ 23 a year. The program began with 12 centers in 06 and has grown steadily. Its 2012 budget was $ 461 million, but the total down to about $ 435 million this year because of the sequester cuts from across government.
Last year, CSEC NCATS migrated from its previous home in the defunct National Center for Research Resources. Daniel Ford, head of the Johns Hopkins Institute for Clinical and Translational Research in Baltimore, Maryland, says he will welcome a greater role for NCATS. "I think we do not understand that there is a need for strong leadership and identifying goals and where we want to go," he said.
0 Komentar