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MCW awarded $20 million Clinical and Translational Science Award

Grant to continue CTSI’s collaborative biomedical research in Southeastern Wisconsin

The Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW) has been awarded a five-year, $20 million Clinical and Translational Science Award from the National Institutes of Health. This competitive grant renewal will fund the work of the Clinical and Translational Science Institute of Southeastern Wisconsin (CTSI), a consortium of eight regional organizations whose mission is to advance the health of the community through research and discovery.

The CTSI was founded in 2010. Its eight members include BloodCenter of Wisconsin, Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin, Clement Zablocki VA Medical Center, Froedtert Hospital, Marquette University, MCW, Milwaukee School of Engineering, and the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee. Concordia University is an affiliate of CTSI. The makeup of the CTSI is unique nationally because of the engagement of academic institutions not affiliated with MCW.

Using innovative mechanisms, CTSI members work to translate research discoveries more quickly into preventive, diagnostic and therapeutic interventions for patients. Consortium members share resources, technology, knowledge and expertise to work towards those goals. The CTSI research portfolio includes more than 185 studies, with more than 47 collaborative research studies underway.

“In its initial years, CTSI has created a framework for collaboration that leverages the collective knowledge and resources of the region’s most powerful biomedical research entities,” said Reza Shaker, MD, CTSI director and the Joseph P. Geenen Professor of Gastroenterology at MCW. “From our translational research units to our data warehouses and well-established training programs, CTSI now is uniquely positioned to advance new technologies and treatments for patients and to improve health outcomes across Wisconsin and beyond.”

Fewer than half of all U.S. medical schools have received a CTSA award since the program’s inception in 2003.

“This extremely competitive award reflects MCW’s role as a national leader in building academic and research partnerships to address the community’s greatest health needs,” said Joseph E. Kerschner, MD, Executive Vice President of MCW and Dean of the School of Medicine. “The collaborations and partnerships fostered through the CTSI already have paid off in innovation and translation of new technologies and advancements.”

Some of those new programs and advancements include:

  • Development of new technologies for patient care and wellness, including a new DNA test for organ transplant rejection  and an Avatar program for virtual medical offices;
  • Formation of the Clinical Research Database Warehouse, which includes in excess of 1.3 million patients and allows us to participate in national outcomes research initiatives;
  • Research in special populations, including more than 15 research projects focused on veterans and housed in a translational research unit at the Clement Zablocki VA Medical Center; and
  • Creation of monthly CTSI radio program that demonstrates the value and the collective power of the CTSI.

“As a community, the CTSI partners have learned a great deal about our unique strengths and how to work together effectively to combine them,” said Shaker. “With this strong foundation, combined with the renewed resources from the CTSA grant, we can set our aim on even bigger goals.”

About the Medical College of Wisconsin

The Medical College of Wisconsin is the state’s only private medical school and health sciences graduate school.  Founded in 1893, it is dedicated to leadership and excellence in education, patient care, research and community engagement.  More than 1,200 students are enrolled in MCW’s medical school and graduate school programs in Milwaukee.  New regional medical education campuses are scheduled to open in Green Bay in 2015, and in Central Wisconsin in 2016, with each recruiting initial classes of 20-25 students.  A major national research center, MCW is the largest research institution in the Milwaukee metro area and second largest in Wisconsin.  In FY 2013-14, faculty received approximately $154 million in external support for research, teaching, training and related purposes, of which approximately $138 million is for research.  This total includes highly competitive research and training awards from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).  Annually, MCW faculty direct or collaborate on more than 2,000 research studies, including clinical trials. Additionally, more than 1,350 physicians provide care in virtually every specialty of medicine for more than 425,000 patients annually.

 

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