The National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences recently published their biennial report and it contains numerous projects that have yielded measurable, significant advancements. The list below contains several points of inclusion of the CCTS Partner Network within the report (Note: ):
- NIH and CCTS Partner Tuskegee University developed a potential new type of immunotherapy that reprograms immune cells to fight cancer. The team included Tuskegee Site Lead Clayton Yates, PhD, CCTS 2020 Pilot Awardee Balasubramanayam Karanam, PhD, and CCTS Scholar Jason White, PhD. Their findings were published in the February 12th issue of Science Translational Medicine. The approach used in their research may also have potential for treating many other diseases. Learn more.
- The CCTS was pivotal in the rapid deployment of a national seroprevalence survey, enrolling over 11,000 individuals and collecting biospecimens and data, demonstrating a notable rate of undiagnosed COVID-19 infection and disproportionate effect on women and African Americans during the first 6 months of the pandemic. The initial results were published in Science Translational Medicine last year. Review the publication.
- The CCTS was a collaborator on several community engagement efforts highlighted within the report including CEAL (Community Engagement Alliance Against COVID-19 Disparities) and the NIH RADx Underserved Populations (RADx-UP) The CCTS Hub also participated in the convalescent plasma clinical trial, which included communities at greatest risk from COVID-19.
- The CCTS, with leadership by the Hub’s Hugh Kaul Precision Medicine Institute, joined the new Biomedical Data Translator Consortium in an effort to integrate multiple types of existing data sources, including objective signs and symptoms of disease, drug effects, and intervening types of biological data relevant to understanding pathophysiology.
- The CCTS played an instrumental role in the testing and early establishment of the National COVID Cohort Collaborative (N3C), providing an enclave of valuable clinical data that allows the research community to study COVID-19.
- Leveraging CCTS SPAN, Training Academy and other Center capacities, David Kimberlin, MD, leads the Congenital and Perinatal Infections Rare Diseases Clinical Research Consortium (RDCRC) as part of the Rare Diseases Clinical Research Network.
The report provides a moment to reflect on the incredible progress of the research community over the last few years and the CCTS thanks all of the investigative and clinical teams that have supported and continue to support these projects.
Written by Katie Bradford | June 27, 2022