(National Institutes of Health: Bethesda, Maryland) -- National Institutes of Health director, Elias A. Zerhouni, M.D., has announced the expansion of a national consortium that is transforming how clinical and translational research is conducted at academic health centers across the country. Translational research is the clinical application of scientific medical research. Ultimately, this consortium will enable researchers to provide new treatments more efficiently and quickly to patients. Funded through Clinical and Translational Science Awards, the consortium adds 12 more academic health centers to the 12 announced last October. When fully implemented in 2012, 60 institutions will be linked together to energize the discipline of clinical and translational science.

“As the consortium grows, we are fulfilling our charge to transform clinical and translational research,” says Zerhouni. “Through collaboration and leadership, these sites are serving as discovery engines that can rapidly translate research into prevention strategies and clinical treatments for the people who need them. The CTSA consortium also represents our investment in the future as it prepares the next generation of clinical researchers to meet tomorrow’s health care challenges.”

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