History

The Ohio State University Board of Trustees voted to create a new entity, The Ohio State University Center for Clinical and Translational Science, to speed the translation of scientific discoveries into clinical therapies to improve human health for all. The late Dr. Rebecca Jackson, was named to lead the new enterprise based on her international recognition and outstanding leadership of numerous multi-center research collaborations. Her first task was to develop the application for a National Institutes of Health (NIH) Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) grant to fund the new endeavor.

The NIH awarded a $34-million, five-year CTSA grant to The Ohio State University and Nationwide Children’s Hospital to fund the CCTS. Among the largest research grants in the university’s history, the CTSA award was a team effort based on the clinical and translational research enterprise, training programs, informatics capabilities, trans-disciplinary collaborations and partnerships with private and public organizations.

The NIH renewed the CTSA grant to The Ohio State University for a second five-year funding cycle with Nationwide Children’s Hospital continuing as the pediatric institutional partner. CTSA funding via a U54 specialized center, TL1 trainee program and KL2 scholar program is combined with significant local resources to provide core resources, essential mentoring and training and opportunities to develop innovative approaches and technologies designed to re-engineer existing capabilities. Program support also fosters collaborations to improve the quality, safety, efficiency and speed of clinical and translational research.

The NIH awarded $25M to the CCTS to continue its work for an additional five years in clinical and translational science. This UL1 grant supported team science initiatives, workforce development and partnerships with private and public organizations. The CCTS also continues to partner with local communities to improve health outcomes in areas such as mental health, substance abuse, infant mortality and obesity.

The NIH awarded a new, seven-year $37.9 million UM1 award to continue to fund the center’s work. With a health equity lens, this new grant will focus on the development of innovative methods and approaches to address roadblocks in clinical and translational research, support workforce development, increase collaboration across academic and scientific disciplines and expand access to research technologies. The grant supports collaborative research across The Ohio State University, The Ohio State Wexner Medical Center, Nationwide Children's Hospital and new partners, the Ohio Primary Care Innovation Network (OPCIN) and Bon Secours Mercy Health. The (OPCIN) is a partnership between the Ohio Association of Community Health Centers (OACHC) and the Ohio State CTSI to help advance health equity by placing established clinical trials infrastructure in FQHC primary care settings to serve patients across Ohio who face a high burden of health inequities and remain underrepresented in research. Healthy State Alliance is a collaboration between The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, the CTSI and Bon Secours Mercy Health to improve the health of communities by tackling Ohio’s most critical health needs.

In autumn 2023, Dr. Julie Johnson was hired as director of the CCTS and contact PI of the most recent CTSA grant. To elevate the status of the CCTS across campus, and better align with strategic goals and Ohio State’s definition of center versus institute, the CCTS made a formal application to the university to be recognized as a university level institute with a change of name to the Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI). The change was approved by Ohio State’s faculty senate in April 2024.