LOS ANGELES, July 24, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- The National Center for Research Resources (NCRR), a major center within the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has awarded a new grant to establish a Translational Research Network (RTRN) that will increase the opportunity for multi-site clinical and translational research among minority and other collaborating institutions throughout the nation. The principal investigator of this multi-institutional collaboration is Keith Norris, M.D., FACP, FASN, Vice President for Research, and an expert in hypertension and kidney disease at The Charles Drew University. The NCRR will provide $9.5 million in the first phase of a $16 million grant to launch the network. Investigators at these institutions are focused on cancer, diabetes, renal disease, infant mortality, HIV/AIDS, and cardiovascular diseases, diseases that disproportionately affect minority populations.
"The infrastructure provided by the network," said NCRR Director Barbara Alving, M.D., "will allow RCMI investigators to leverage more effectively the resources that are in place at their institutions to provide greater opportunities for minority populations to participate in NIH-funded clinical trials."
Dr. Norris leads a network that includes 18 institutions that are part of the Research Centers in Minority Institutions Program (RCMI), funded by NCRR since 1985 as well as several major research intensive universities such as Duke, Emory, Vanderbilt and UCLA. The Data and Technology Coordinating Center will be located at Jackson State University, Jackson, MS, and will work closely with the Duke Clinical Research Institute to provide a secure website, data management and data sharing tools, staff, hardware and software for collection, analysis, storage, and exchange of clinical data for the multi-site studies. The partnering RCMI institutions with medical schools that will focus on clinical trials include the University of Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii; Morehouse School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA; University of Puerto Rico, Medical Sciences Campus, San Juan, Puerto Rico; Meharry Medical College, Nashville, TN; and Howard University, Washington, D.C.
"The network," said Norris, "is designed to integrate clinical, biomedical, and behavioral researchers with community health providers and community leaders into novel geographic and ethnically diverse research partnerships, increasing the productivity and impact of each individual institution to contribute to improving the nation's health."
Dr. Susan Kelly, President of The Charles Drew University stated she is proud one of her faculty will direct this network that will enable clinical and translational researchers (those who take basic research findings to patient's bedside and then on to the community) to collaborate more efficiently and effectively with each other and their communities.
"This NCRR award exemplifies the academic excellence that our students, supporters and community have come to expect from us," said Bart H. Williams, Board Chairman of The Charles Drew University.
For more information about The Charles Drew University visit http://www.cdrewu.edu.
ABOUT THE CHARLES DREW UNIVERSITY:
The Charles Drew University is a private non-profit educational institution located in the Watts-Willowbrook area of South Los Angeles. The University has trained over five thousand college, graduate and post-graduate students since 1971 and has emerged as a national model for educating highly trained and committed physicians and other healthcare professionals who provide quality care to medically underserved communities. Research shows both that its students become more committed to the mission as they progress through their educational experience, and that 10 years after graduation 70% of Charles Drew University trained physicians are still working in underserved communities, a rate three times the national average. Charles Drew University is also widely regarded for its innovative research to eliminate health disparities. For more information, visit http://www.cdrewu.edu.