Howard University and Georgetown University, in close collaboration with MedStar Health, have received a renewal of the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) highly competitive Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA), providing nearly $28 million over seven years to advance clinical and translational research throughout the Washington, D.C., region and beyond.

The award supports the Georgetown-Howard Universities Center for Clinical and Translational Science (GHUCCTS), one of a select group of academic research partnerships nationwide recognized for excellence in clinical and translational science by the NIH’s National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences. 

For more than 15 years, GHUCCTS has brought together researchers, clinicians, students and community partners to accelerate scientific discovery, overcome barriers to translating research into improved health, strengthen the clinical research enterprise, educate future scientific leaders and improve patient and community health.

The center is led by Marjorie C. Gondré-Lewis, Ph.D., for Howard University, and Jason G. Umans, M.D., Ph.D., for Georgetown University. The consortium also includes MedStar Health, the Washington DC Veterans Affairs Medical Center and Oak Ridge National Laboratory. 

“This significant investment by the National Institutes of Health reaffirms Howard University’s standing as a Research One institution and recognizes the strength, rigor and growing impact of the research enterprise we have built,” said Howard University President Emeritus Wayne A. I. Frederick, M.D., MBA. “Our R1 designation reflects not simply the volume of research conducted at Howard, but our commitment to producing consequential scholarship and scientific discovery that improves lives. Through our longstanding partnership with Georgetown University and our collaborators, we are translating research from the laboratory to the bedside and into our communities, while preparing the next generation of scientists and health professionals. This award will allow us to build upon that important work and further Howard’s mission of developing solutions to some of society’s most pressing health challenges.”

“The Clinical and Translational Science Award is a testament to the strength of our research enterprise and the trust placed in us to expand and innovate,” said Andrea A. Hayes Dixon, M.D., FACS, dean of the Howard University College of Medicine. “Over the past 15 years, Howard University and Georgetown have built lasting research capacity together, helping accelerate scientific discoveries into better care for patients. Sustained federal investments of this kind help us build lasting capacity that continues to benefit our communities beyond the life of any single grant.” 

“Receiving a CTSA is both a tremendous honor and an important responsibility,” said Norman J. Beauchamp Jr., M.D., MHS, executive vice president for health sciences at Georgetown University Medical Center. “For more than 15 years, Georgetown University and Howard University, together with MedStar Health and our many collaborators, have demonstrated what is possible when leading academic institutions and health systems work together to advance discovery, educate future scientific leaders and improve health. This award reflects our shared commitment to discovery, education and service, and ultimately, to finding new and better ways to improve health and expand access to care.” 

Building on 15 Years of Research Collaboration

Since its launch in 2010, GHUCCTS has united its partners around four interconnected priorities: advancing innovative research, educating future clinical and translational scientists, engaging communities as research partners, and building collaborations that expand the reach and impact of scientific discovery. 

The new award will allow GHUCCTS to build on that foundation while expanding work in emerging areas including data science, artificial intelligence, precision medicine, dissemination and implementation science, and community-engaged research.

“The next chapter of GHUCCTS will build on a remarkable foundation while embracing new opportunities in data science, artificial intelligence and precision medicine,” said Umans, associate professor of medicine and associate vice president for translational science at Georgetown University Medical Center and scientific director of the basic and translational science laboratories at MedStar Health Research Institute.

“Our greatest strength will continue to be our ability to bring together scientists, clinicians, trainees and communities across institutions to solve problems that no one organization could solve alone,” Umans added. “Equally important, it allows us to prepare the next generation of scientists who will lead this work for decades to come.” 

“We look forward to this new and exciting phase of GHUCCTS to transform further the translational science landscape in the D.C. region,” said Gondré-Lewis, professor of neuroscience and associate dean for faculty development at Howard University College of Medicine. “GHUCCTS offers robust workforce development and education programs across the continuum of community members, students and faculty. We’ve integrated new dissemination and implementation science capability to extend the reach and impact of our work and will develop innovative artificial intelligence models for intervention in clinical practice.” 

A cornerstone of the consortium is its connection between scientific discovery and patient care. Through MedStar Health, investigators have access to one of the nation’s leading integrated health systems, helping accelerate the translation of discoveries into clinical practice and creating opportunities for research that directly benefits patients.

“Our longstanding partnership with Georgetown University has created an environment where scientific discovery and patient care continuously inform one another,” said Neil J. Weissman, M.D., MedStar Health chief scientific officer. “Together with Howard University and our GHUCCTS partners, we are able to connect researchers with patients across one of the nation’s largest healthcare systems, helping promising discoveries reach the bedside more quickly while generating new knowledge that improves care for future patients.”

Preparing the Next Generation of Researchers

The CTSA is complemented by continued NIH support for GHUCCTS’s T32 and K12 institutional training and career development programs. Together with new initiatives to train clinical research professionals and advance the discipline of research nursing, these programs provide a continuum of education, training and career development for the translational research workforce. 

Community engagement also remains central to GHUCCTS. Through community and participant advisory boards and partnerships with patients, community organizations and local leaders, researchers work to ensure studies address real-world priorities, strengthen trust and produce findings relevant to the communities they serve. 

The renewed award will support innovative research, workforce development, data science, community-engaged research and collaborative clinical studies across the consortium, helping GHUCCTS remain at the forefront of efforts to translate scientific discovery into better health. 

Research reported through this award is supported by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number UM1TR005465. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.