Yale’s status as a funded CTSA site opens several additional opportunities for external funding through National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS). Through the NCATS’s Division of Innovation, the NIH institute and division that oversee all CTSA funding, Yale investigators can now apply for new research opportunities available only to universities with funded CTSA hubs. As part of this program, Robert Sherwin and the Yale CTSA have already been awarded three of these grants; in addition, new opportunities will continue to become available.
The first supplement is a multicenter project in collaboration with Washington University and Rockefeller University. The project focuses on sharing Yale’s lessons learned leveraging Epic, the electronic health record, and OnCore, the clinical trial management system, tocsupport clinical and translational research. The project is led by Allen Hsiao, MD, Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Chief Medical Information Officer at the Yale School of Medicine and Yale New Haven Health. “I am eager to lead this project, and collaborate with others to think about how the electronic health record, which has already done so much to improve patient care around the country, can also be used to support research and ultimately create new therapies that will benefit future generations of patients,” said Hsiao. Yale project collaborators include: Lisa Stump, MS, RPh, FASHP, Senior Vice President, Information Systems and Chief Information Officer, Yale School of Medicine and Yale New Haven, Health System; Kevan Herold, MD, Professor of Immunobiology and Internal Medicine, YCCI Deputy Director; Tesheia Johnson, MBA, MHS, YCCI Deputy Director and Chief Operating Officer of YCCI and Associate Director for Clinical Research for YSM; and Rhoda Arzoomanian, MSM, BSN, RN, Associate Director of YCCI and Yale Cancer Center.
Assistant Professor of Laboratory Medicine Richard Torres, MD, MS, has received the second grant, a diversity supplement that will foster his research in much the same way as the CTSA program’s Junior Faculty Scholar Awards. Torres will receive a two-year funding supplement that will support 75 percent of his work dedicated to launching his research career. He conducts research at the intersection of engineering and medicine, and in his laboratory he seeks to apply new innovative new techniques to important clinical laboratory problems. His research interests include translating technological developments in optics and machine learning into practical approaches to problems in diagnostic pathology. Dr. Torres’s mentor, Chair of the Department of Laboratory Medicine Brian Smith, MD, proposed Torres for this supplemental award. “It was clear from the extraordinary work Rick has done up until now that he was a very strong candidate for this award,” Smith says. “We are proud of his accomplishment, and anxiously await the new, innovative work this award will likely spur as his career continues to develop.”
The third supplemental grant focuses on innovative approaches to facilitate a single IRB review for multi-site research across the range of research funders and IRB models. The project is led by Tesheia Johnson, MBA, MHS, YCCI Deputy Director and Chief Operating Officer of YCCI and Associate Director for Clinical Research for YSM; Rhoda Arzoomanian, MSM, BSN, RN, Associate Director of YCCI and Yale Cancer Center; and Linda Coleman, JD, Director of Yale Human Subjects Research Program. Yale project collaborators include: Lisa Stump, MS, RPh, FASHP, Senior Vice President, Information Systems and Chief Information Officer, Yale School of Medicine and Yale New Haven Health System; Allen Hsiao, MD, Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Chief Medical Information Officer at the Yale School of Medicine and Yale New Haven Health; Kevan Herold, MD, Professor of Immunobiology and Internal Medicine, YCCI Deputy Director; Pamela Caudill, Senior Associate Provost for Research Administration; Howard S. Hochster, MD, Professor of Medicine (Medical Oncology); Associate Director for Clinical Sciences, Yale Cancer Center; Clinical Program Leader, Gastrointestinal Cancers Program, Smilow Cancer Hospital; Disease Aligned Research Team Leader, Gastrointestinal Cancers Program, Yale Cancer Center; and Thomas Carpenter MD, Professor of Pediatrics (Endocrinology) and of Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation and Clinical Professor of Nursing; Director, Yale Center for X-Linked Hypophosphatemia; Medical Director, Hospital Research Unit. The project managers include Helen Seow, PhD, YCCI and Monika Lau, MEd, HRPP. The project also includes several external partners from the technology and commercial IRBs space.
Current open opportunities
YCCI is pleased to pass on details of several open grant opportunities and CTSA administrative supplements. Some of the RFAs require multiple CTSA centers. If you do not already have collaborators for your projects at other institutions, this is an area in which YCCI can help. In addition to these awards, there are other resources available through the CTSA, such as the clinical trials innovation network, that are intended to facilitate multicenter studies.
If you are interested in applying for these awards or would like additional information on the CTSA local or national resources, please contact YCCI.
Collaborative Innovation Award, Clinical and Translational Science Award
- U01—$500K–$1M directs / year for 5 years (Requires 3 CTSA partnerships)
- Total award max: $5M plus indirects
- Upcoming deadlines: March 8, 2018; July 11, 2018
- PAR-15-172 https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PAR-15-172.html
Administrative Supplements to Enhance Network Capacity for the CTSA Program
- Admin Supplement—$300K directs / year for 2 years (Requires 2 CTSA partnerships)
- Total award max: $600K plus indirects
- Upcoming deadline: March 1, 2019
- PA-16-328 https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PA-16-328.html
I am so excited to be a part of leveraging our EHR to support innovative science.
Lisa Stump, MS, RPh, FASHP
Limited Competition: Exploratory CTSA Collaborative Innovation Awards (R21)
- R21—$300K directs for up to years (Requires 2 CTSA partnerships)
- Total award max: $300K plus indirects
- Upcoming deadlines: November 29, 2017, March 29, 2018, July 30, 2018
- PAR-16-343 https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PAR-16-343.html
The Yale CTSA can nominate two candidates in each of the categories below. To ensure that we identify the best candidates, we welcome all nominations. Each nomination should include a summary of why the nominee would be a suitable candidate, along with NIH bio-sketches of the nominee and their primary mentor. We ask that all nominations be submitted to us by December 15. Once selections are made, YCCI will assist the selected candidates in preparing the applications, which are due by February 1, 2018.
Promote diversity in health-related research
Research supplements to promote diversity in health-related research (https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PA-16-288.html).
The diversity supplement is designed for individuals from groups underrepresented in the biomedical sciences, including racial and ethnic minorities; persons with disabilities; and individuals from economically and educationally disadvantaged backgrounds.
Funding: The supplement will provide up to $100,000/year for salary plus fringe. Additional funds of up to $10,000 may be requested. Costs may not exceed $150,000 in direct costs.
Promote re-entry
Research supplements to promote re-entry into biomedical and behavioral research careers (https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PA-16-289.html).
In general, the duration of the career interruption should be between one and 8 years. Examples of qualifying interruptions include a complete or partial hiatus from research activities for child rearing; an incapacitating illness or injury of the candidate, spouse, partner or a member of the immediate family; relocation to accommodate a spouse, partner or other close family member; pursuit of non-research endeavors that would permit earlier retirement of debt incurred in obtaining a doctoral degree; and military service. Candidates who are managing a clinical workload full time and are not conducting research activities are eligible to apply. The aim of these supplements is to encourage such individuals to re-enter research careers within the missions of all the program areas of NIH.
Funding: The requested salary and fringe benefits for a re-entry candidate must be in accordance with the salary structure of the institution, consistent with the level of effort. An additional amount up to $10,000 may be requested. A proposed budget should include only funds requested for the additional supplement activities.