The Irving Institute for Clinical and Translational Research has been awarded a seven-year, $75 million Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) from the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
As a cornerstone of clinical and translational research across Columbia University Irving Medical Center (CUIMC), the Irving Institute drives translational science by supporting and advancing the full biomedical research enterprise of the University. The Irving Institute's infrastructure, education, services, and strategic support enable CUIMC investigators to move discoveries from bench to bedside more efficiently and with greater impact.
The grant will advance clinical and translational research by:
- Providing critical seed funding to expand novel approaches to clinical and translational science. Launching a first-of-its-kind pilot program to return individual research results to study participants using AI-assisted tools and community health worker support.
- Enhancing collaboration with local communities through the Stakeholders in Translational Research (STAR) Ambassadors and Community Health Workers programs, ensuring bi-directional learning and decision-making.
- Advancing CUIMC's AI and data science capabilities for research, including tri-institutional Data Lake House, federated learning infrastructure, clinical data phenotyping tools, and embedded clinical trial systems.
- Investing in training and professional development for investigators, from PhD trainees to senior faculty, and allied research personnel-with new programming in AI for research, team science, grant development, mentorship, and research leadership.
- Expanding Columbia's reach through the national CTSA network ensuring innovations are adopted, sustained, and scaled beyond our institution.
"This renewal enhances Columbia's capabilities to accelerate translation of basic discoveries and clinical trials into patient care," said Muredach Reilly, MBBCh, MSCE, director of the Irving Institute and vice dean for clinical and translational research at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons (VP&S). "Over the next seven years, we are especially focused on building the scientific tools and community partnerships needed to improve human health across the lifespan for the patients and communities in Upper Manhattan and our nation."
This year also marks the 20th anniversary of the Irving Institute. Founded in 2006, the Irving Institute was among the first 12 academic medical centers in the United States to receive CTSA grant funding. This is the fifth consecutive CTSA grant awarded to Columbia since 2006-with previous awards of $54 million in 2006, $38.9 million in 2011, $58.4 million in 2016, and $61.7 million in 2021-bringing total NIH CTSA Program funding to $288 million.
"The Irving Institute is instrumental in driving groundbreaking healthcare discoveries and training the next generation of scientific leaders," said James McKiernan, MD, interim dean of the faculties of health sciences at VP&S and executive vice president for health and biomedical sciences at Columbia University. "Sustaining this work for over two decades, and earning a fifth consecutive CTSA grant, reflects the caliber of the people and partnerships Columbia has built around translational science."
About the NIH CTSA Program
The Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) Program is led by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) at the National Institutes of Health. The CTSA Program supports a national network of medical research institutions that work together to improve the translational research process and accelerate research discoveries into health solutions.
Columbia University's Irving Institute for Clinical and Translational Research is supported by CTSA grant UM1TR006153.
