The University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill has unveiled a $61 million clinical research grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to streamline patient access to new therapeutic discoveries, just two years after neighboring Duke University announced its own $52.7 million grant to join the program.
The two major North Carolina research universities are among 38 academic health centers nationwide to join the ranks of the NIH's Clinical and Translational Science Award consortium. The consortium aims to reduce the time it takes for laboratory discoveries to become treatments for patients, engage communities in clinical research efforts, and help train the next generation of clinical and translational researchers. It's led by the National Center for Research Resources, a branch of the NIH.
UNC's five-year grant will partially fund efforts by its new North Carolina Translational and Clinical Sciences Institute to engage communities across North Carolina in a continuous cycle of knowledge, discovery and dissemination of new ideas for delivering health care.
In October 2006, the Duke University Medical Center grant from the NIH supported establishment of the Duke Translational Medicine Institute.
The UNC program will involve other institutions statewide, including other UNC system campuses: North Carolina Central, North Carolina A&T State, North Carolina State and East Carolina universities, as well as UNC Charlotte. Other organizations such as RTI International and the North Carolina Area Health Education Centers program will also be involved.