Catalyzing Collaboration
The CCTS reaches across institutional boundaries to work synergistically with those who share the mission to improve the significant health disparities that disproportionately affect our region, including cardiovascular disease, obesity, metabolic disorders, and cancer. We are committed to collaborative innovation, to leveraging the unparalleled opportunities that exist to accelerate the pace and impact of biomedical discovery and its translation into improvements for human health and health care.
The CCTS Partner Network, which spans 11 academic research institutions in three Deep South states (AL, MS, LA), is the foundation of our collaborative efforts. We invite you to learn more about the unique strengths of each of our partners. Collectively, the Network represents a scale and synergy unique to our region; by working together, we increase our effectiveness at developing new knowledge, moving discoveries across the translational spectrum, training the scientific workforce, and improving the health of our communities.
An example of the power of partnership is found in the newly launched Southeast Health Alliance for Research (SHARe), a platform for catalyzing and supporting multisite studies and clinical trials across the Deep South region. SHARe aims to reduce the administrative burdens that slow time-to-activation and recruitment for projects that would benefit from the broader, more diverse pool of potential participants available across the CCTS Partner Network.
In our commitment to innovation, the CCTS engages additional partnerships as well, extending across the Hub to community organizations throughout the region, and beyond, and to other CTSA Hubs across the country. We invite you to learn more about our growing list of Collaborations.
Some of our collaborations are nascent. Nevertheless, we are confident the discoveries enabled by such teamwork will lead to health improvements benefitting our shared communities. Keep an eye on our new Activities page, which will highlight these activities.
All partnering institutions bring strong experience in the deployment, use and extension of i2b2, in federated query infrastructure, and in participation in the development of PCORnet-style data sharing. Together, the group has developed and is maintaining i2b2 and SHRINE instances with a common SHRINE ontology, focused on multiple testbed areas of care and has established a shared governance model to access from the data network.
Patient-reported outcomes (PROs) reflect the experience of health and healthcare as reported directly by the patient. There is increasing evidence that capturing PROs will be an essential component of quality measurement, quality improvement, and patient engagement in care and research. The Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) toolset is a PRO survey system that utilizes computer adaptive testing to provide precise measurements with a minimum number of questions, often shortening conventional PRO surveys by 10-fold or more.
As part of this Collaborative Innovation effort, the CCTS joins teams at Northwestern, University of Chicago, University of Illinois at Chicago, Case Western, and the University of Utah to develop, implement and evaluate a seamless integration of the PROMIS toolset into the Cerner electronic health record utilizing the SMART-on-FHIR standard.
The Neonatal Kidney Collaborative (NKC) is an alliance of neonatologists and pediatric nephrologists dedicated to improving outcomes in neonates at risk for acute kidney injury. NKC's mission is to improve the understanding and outcomes associated with kidney health in newborns globally. Its vision is to improve the lives of babies worldwide by performing high-quality clinical research, providing meaningful education to clinicians, enabling providers with safe/effective therapies, and advocating for neonates at risk for kidney disease.
Spearheaded by Dr. David Askenazi, the group has developed a robust infrastructure to support collaboration among an international network of neonatologists, pediatric nephrologists, obstetricians and pediatricians. The NKC is currently engaged in a variety of multi-center studies supported by this multidisciplinary approach.
Dr. Askenazi also works closely with Dr. Namasivayam Ambalavanan, MD, Director of the Translational Research in Normal & Disordered Development (TReNDD) Program, a collaborative group of investigators applying state of the art biological approaches to understanding human disorders of organogenesis.