UC Irvine Institute for Clinical & Translational Science receives $28 million NIH grant

Irvine, Calif., July 31, 2024 — The Institute for Clinical & Translational Science at the University of California, Irvine has been awarded $28,394,693 over seven years from the National Institutes of Health as part of its Clinical & Translational Science Awards Program.

Marking the fourth highly competitive and successful funding cycle for UC Irvine’s ICTS, the grant will be used to initiate and extend efforts to speed the transformation of scientific discoveries into medical advances for patients. The ICTS goal is to promote more treatments for all people more quickly.

“The awarding of this significant grant to the ICTS is a testament to the innovative spirit and collaborative efforts that define UC Irvine,” said Dr. Steve Goldstein, vice chancellor for health affairs. “This funding will enhance our ability to transform pioneering research into impactful treatments, benefiting patients in our community and beyond. By working within the integrative framework of our distinctive One Health model – which unites health disciplines to amplify their strengths – we are uniquely positioned to address complex health challenges and improve outcomes for all populations.”

Dr. Eric Vilain, ICTS director and associate vice chancellor for scientific affairs for health affairs, added: “With this award, the institute will continue to lead the development of innovative approaches to clinical research and training. It will also enable us to expand the reach of our work to diverse communities and to address health disparities and inequities, setting new standards for clinical research in our region and across the U.S. for a generation to come. This generous federal funding will sustain our pursuit of better healthcare for all.”

The Clinical & Translational Science Awards Program, under the auspices of the NIH National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, supports a national network of collaborative clinical research enterprises to improve the translation of research into medical treatments. Each funded center serves as a hub in the national network to increase the speed of translation, with the singular goal of fundamentally transforming the quality and efficiency of clinical science.

“A major goal of the ICTS is to ensure that UC Irvine is at the forefront of research that addresses the real healthcare needs and gaps in our community. To that end, we have partnered with Children’s Hospital of Orange County and the Tibor Rubin VA Medical Center in Long Beach. We collaborate with the Orange County Health Care Agency and with CTSA hubs across the University of California to ensure that our efforts are inclusive and reach the diverse populations we’re committed to serving,” said Dr. Dan M. Cooper, founding director of the ICTS and principal investigator for multiple Clinical & Translational Science Awards.

Since receiving its first Clinical & Translational Science Award in 2010, UC Irvine – through the ICTS – has dramatically increased the number of incoming grants, stimulated important scientific discoveries, and worked with community partners to identify and resolve health needs in the region. To date, the ICTS has rendered services or support to 1,423 investigators, helped generate 2,860 peer-reviewed papers published in major biomedical journals and been instrumental in securing $346 million in grants for UC Irvine researchers.

The ICTS also implemented a robust research program for UC Irvine medical students. Its Medical Student Research Program has benefited nearly 300 students, with more than 125 UC Irvine faculty mentors involved. The MSRP received two NIH training grants (awarded in 2020 and 2021) to fund medical student summer research and has since brought in over $300,000 to the university for students.

Each CTSA hub is required to find and support a set of innovative pilot research projects every year. Since 2010, the ICTS has delivered $2,637,227 from the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences to 99 projects, with a return on investment of $13 in subsequent grant money for every NCATS dollar awarded.

In its most recent five-year funding cycle, the ICTS played a leading role in producing an array of clinical research advances at both the regional and national levels.

The ICTS’s goals for the next seven years include:

• Advancing translational science and research by robust engagement of faculty, staff, learners and community stakeholders to reduce health disparities and inequities
• Embedding principles and practices of inclusive excellence in all hub activities
• Building a sustainable and responsive organization guided by key themes of quality by design, open science, rapid dissemination and implementation of biomedical discoveries, and strong interactions across the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences’ CTSA network

UC Irvine’s ICTS was the first medical research institution in Orange County to receive a competitive Clinical & Translational Science Award. Today it’s one of more than 60 organizations in the country benefiting from such funding. The ICTS website provides a comprehensive list of ICTS accomplishments.

About the Clinical & Translational Science Awards: Launched in 2006 by the NIH National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, the CTSA Program is designed to foster creative solutions to enhance the efficiency, quality and impact of the process for turning discoveries in the laboratory, clinic and community into interventions that improve the health of individuals and the public. To learn more, see https://ncats.nih.gov/ctsa/about.

UC Irvine Health Affairs is a $4.5 billion enterprise that includes the Susan & Henry Samueli College of Health Sciences, featuring schools of medicine, nursing, pharmacy and public health. It encompasses renowned research centers and institutes, and UCI Health, the only academic healthcare delivery system in Orange County. Ranked among the nation’s best by U.S. News & World Report for 23 years, UCI Health has over 13,000 licensed beds and serves 4.7 million residents across Orange and Los Angeles counties. With more than 15,000 faculty and staff, UC Irvine Health Affairs embraces a distinctive One Health approach that unites the health disciplines to amplify their combined strengths to provide patient-centered, team-based, data-directed, whole-person care and fulfill its mission: Discover. Teach. Heal.  For more information, visit healthaffairs.uci.edu.

About the University of California, Irvine: Founded in 1965, UC Irvine is a member of the prestigious Association of American Universities and is ranked among the nation’s top 10 public universities by U.S. News & World Report. The campus has produced five Nobel laureates and is known for its academic achievement, premier research, innovation and anteater mascot. Led by Chancellor Howard Gillman, UC Irvine has more than 36,000 students and offers 224 degree programs. It’s located in one of the world’s safest and most economically vibrant communities and is Orange County’s second-largest employer, contributing $7 billion annually to the local economy and $8 billion statewide. For more on UC Irvine, visit www.uci.edu.

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