Northwestern University Clinical and Translational Sciences (NUCATS) Institute

Director: Philip Greenland, MD

Deputy Director: William L. Lowe, MD

The Northwestern University Clinical and Translational Sciences (NUCATS) Institute was constituted in 2007 to support and promote clinical and translational research throughout the Northwestern University community.  The Institute is built on significant extramural funding from a National Institutes of Health (NIH) Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) as well as additional significant support from each of its participating institutions, including Northwestern University, Children’s Memorial Medical Center, Northwestern Medical Faculty Foundation, Northwestern Memorial Hospital, and the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago.  Six of Northwestern University’s Schools are involved in the NUCATS Institute, including the Feinberg School of Medicine, the Kellogg School of Management, McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science, the School of Communication, the School of Education and Social Policy, and the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences.  Philip Greenland, MD, senior associate dean for clinical and translational research at the Feinberg School of Medicine, directs the Institute, and William L. Lowe, MD, professor of medicine, is deputy director. 

Translational research is recognized as a high priority at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).  The NIH launched the CTSA program to drive the transformation of academic medical centers to streamline and facilitate translation of research findings into tangible health benefits.  Northwestern is one of 38 academic institutions nationwide to receive one of the prestigious 5-year Clinical and Translational Science Awards. Northwestern’s $30 million award funds a significant proportion of NUCATS Institute activities.  The NUCATS Institute provides infrastructure support, services, and resources for maximizing and leveraging interdisciplinary "bench to bedside" and “bedside to curbside” research throughout the participating schools and affiliated medical organizations at Northwestern.

The Institute consists of 5 primary centers, each focusing on a different aspect of clinical and/or translational research.  The Center for Translational Innovation provides pilot studies funding for early phase translational research projects. The Center for Clinical Research offers facilities for clinical research studies and other services to enable and streamline clinical research. The Biomedical Informatics Center provides informatics infrastructure including an enterprise-wide electronic data warehouse containing aggregated, de-identified medical record information to support clinical research.  The Center for Education and Career Development offers educational programs to advance clinical research and translational research careers and provides stipends for a number of clinical and translational scientists in their early career development.  The Community-Engaged Research Center builds bridges to research opportunities in the community, both the general public and the medical and healthcare communities.  The Office of Research Team Support provides services to enable team science to promote translation of research findings, and the Office of Evaluation and Tracking provides a means to evaluate the outcomes of the services and funding mechanisms supported by the Institute.
 

More information about the NUCATS Institute can be found at http://www.nucats.northwestern.edu/index.html.