The AAMC Oct. 25 submitted comments to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) in response to a request for information on enhancing the Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSA) program. The letter addressed several aspects of the program, including:
- The importance of funding infrastructure at the level of the institution, including resources for technology transfer and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) applications, and core facilities for advanced instrumentation and data analysis.
- The success of the KL2 and TL1 clinical research training awards and their ability to affect institution-wide change, and the potential for improved information sharing between CTSA hubs.
- The necessity of strengthening community engagement activities through targeted increases in funding, and the importance of incentivizing CTSA hub involvement in the Community Health Needs Assessment and Implementation Strategy process.
- The need for greater flexibility in how institutions are able to propose and carry out research and training programs with CTSA funding, and the value of pilot projects for exploring new avenues of research.