History of YCCI

Since launching in 2006, the Yale Center for Clinical Investigation (YCCI) has made significant contributions to the coordination, efficiency, and dissemination of clinical research. A selection of the Center’s most impactful milestones is listed below.

Year	Accomplishment
2006	YCCI was established to provide infrastructure and training in clinical research.
2006	YCCI was among the first 12 institutions to earn a Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) from the NIH, embedding Yale at the forefront of advancing translational research nationally.
2006	The Junior Faculty Scholars Program was established by YCCI to support and train emerging investigators in translational science.
2007	YCCI Research Services was created to provide personnel expertise and research facilities for clinical and translational researchers.
2008	YCCI launched the Church Street Research Unit to augment its hospital research unit by providing investigators with an ambulatory setting for conducting low-risk outpatient studies.
2009	YCCI established the Master of Health Science Research Program to augment Yale Graduate School’s Investigative Medicine Program, which awards a PhD in investigative medicine to physicians training in either laboratory-based or clinically-based, patient-oriented research.
2010	The newly formed Cultural Ambassadors Program began to enlist local community leaders to help design and promote generalizable studies and to enhance participation among community members who are underrepresented in clinical research protocols.
2010	YCCI initiated the Help Us Discover recruitment campaign to facilitate enrollment in clinical trials.
2014	A new bi-directional interface was established between Epic and the OnCore clinical trial management system to support research billing (first in the U.S.) that enables the use of electronic health records for research; YCCI launched the Equity Research and Innovation Center, Multicenter Trial Management, and the MyChart research tab.
2015	YCCI developed an evaluation tool to track comprehensive metrics for Yale CTSA and more than 20 NIH centers.
2016	Yale School of Medicine launched a joint MD-PhD program with the University of Puerto Rico and in partnership with the Puerto Rico Science, Technology & Research Trust. The partnership expanded in 2017 to include clinical trials.
2018	YCCI signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the FDA Office of Minority Health and Health Equity.
2020	YCCI and its Cultural Ambassador Program led the research response to the COVID-19 pandemic and were instrumental in increasing the COVID-19 vaccination rate and participation in clinical trials by members of the New Haven community.
2021-25	Yale’s portfolio of NIH grants (RO1s) involving human subjects increased by 61% compared to 2012-16.
2024	YCCI initiated multiple operational changes that resulted in meaningful improvements in the activation times of research protocols and clinical research services.
2025	YCCI assumed responsibility for the expansion of clinical research across Yale New Haven Health to accelerate discovery of new preventative, diagnostic, and therapeutic interventions for the 3.6 million patients who annually seek care in the health system.
2025	The YCCI Scholars program during the period 2006-2025 trained 227 graduate students, medical students, fellows, and junior faculty. The graduates of the K-Scholar program have received 71 individual NIH K Awards, 201 NIH R01 awards, numerous Foundation grants, have published more than 10,800 papers, and obtained more than $1.4 billion in independent research funding. Remarkably, 99% of the program’s graduates have stayed in academic medicine or pursued research careers in the biotech or pharmaceutical industries.