Message from the Office of the Chancellor...

With great pleasure, we announce the launch of the Duke Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI).  This new academic hub has been created to accelerate the translation and implementation of scientific discoveries into health benefits for patients and communities.  The institute will be led by Ebony Boulware, MD, MPH, Vice Dean for Translational Sciences, Associate Vice Chancellor for Translational Research, Chief of the Division of General Internal Medicine, and co-Principal Investigator of the Duke Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA).

CTSI will also serve as the administrative home for Duke’s $47 million CTSA.  The CTSA is the NIH’s largest single investment in biomedical research, given to institutions to establish academic homes for clinical and translational research.  The goal is to address the development and implementation of national standards and best practices for the full range of translational medicine – from discovery science through clinical research and community health.

The CTSI replaces the Duke Translational Medicine Institute (DTMI), which has been discontinued as a formal institute.  The Duke Clinical Research Institute (DCRI), led by Eric Peterson MD, MPH, will continue as a separate, but collaborating unit. The Duke Clinical Research Unit (DCRU) will continue to be housed within the DCRI.

Building on efforts begun in 2006 by the DTMI, the CTSI will focus on leveraging the vast research resources across Duke University and facilitating collaborations that provide or enhance the infrastructure, education, and resources needed to take promising ideas from concept, through development and testing, and into patient care.  The institute will encompass faculty and staff working along the entire spectrum of translational science – from early research in the laboratory, through clinical trials in humans, to the successful implementation of new ideas in clinical and community settings. The ultimate aim is to engage people and resources at Duke and beyond in efforts to speed the movement of ideas into practices that improve lives.

A reception to celebrate the launch of the Duke CTSI will be held on Thursday, September 22 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. in the Great Hall of the Trent Semans Center.

For more information about the CTSI, visit www.ctsi.duke.edu.

Eugene Washington, MD, Chancellor for Health Affairs, Duke University, President and CEO, Duke University Health System

Nancy C. Andrews, MD, PhD, Dean, Duke University School of Medicine