Ohio State receives $34M NIH grant

Ohio State receives $34M NIH grant

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Medical researchers at The Ohio State University, in partnership with Nationwide Children's Hospital, have received a $34 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to create a center to develop clinical and translational protocols that help identify and advance treatments for patients. The grant is one of the largest ever received by Ohio State.

The Ohio State University Center for Clinical and Translational Science will provide support services to Ohio State researchers while fostering collaboration with other medical centers that are grant recipients.

"By facilitating collaborations among university medical centers, this NIH grant assures swift and meaningful advances in patient care," said Ohio State University President E. Gordon Gee. "The approach will accelerate research outcomes at Ohio State and elsewhere, and I am delighted that we are a part of this consortium."

Under the direction of Dr. Rebecca Jackson, professor of internal medicine, an endocrinologist and associate dean for clinical research, the center will leverage expertise from 16 colleges at Ohio State, along with scientists and clinicians at The Ohio State University Medical Center and Nationwide Children's Hospital.

The grant award provides administrative support needed to develop improved methods for analyzing research data and managing clinical trials, allowing for greater community outreach, and creating partnerships in central Ohio and beyond.

"With this award, we are joining a consortium of elite medical centers in developing innovative methods and approaches to research that bring proven treatments more quickly to patients," said Dr. Wiley "Chip" Souba Jr., dean of Ohio State's College of Medicine and interim senior vice president and executive dean for Health Sciences and CEO of the Medical Center. "This award speaks to the quality of our research, training programs, interdisciplinary collaboration, and partnerships with public and private organizations."

By engaging faculty and staff from across Ohio State, the center is creating a collaborative network focusing on science, education, research design and implementation. Additional emphasis is being placed on training the next generation of researchers by utilizing innovative educational initiatives to build their clinical and translational skills, while supporting their career development.

"The opportunities provided by the CTSA are enormously exciting for Ohio State investigators as well as the community," said Jackson. "This grant allows us to develop and refine educational and research approaches in clinical and translational science to enhance the rapid translation of new information to improve human health."

Ohio State is one of 30 medical centers across the country receiving the NIH grant targeted to strengthening clinical and translational science that will lead to better patient care. Administered by the National Center for Research Resources, a component of the NIH, the Clinical and Translational Science Award program funds diverse and far-reaching approaches related to all aspects of research.

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The CTSA award marks the second major grant received by Ohio State in the past two weeks. A $24.9 million grant through the Ohio Research Scholars Program is earmarked for biomedical imaging projects and represents a partnership among Ohio State, Case Western Reserve University and Wright State University.