Recently, the National Institutes of Health began an initiative to re-engineer the clinical research enterprise, a key objective of the NIH Roadmap for Medical Research, with the goal of measurably improving population health. Specific goals include:
1. Improving the conduct of biomedical research across the country
2. Reducing the time it takes for laboratory discoveries to become treatments for patients
3. Engaging communities in clinical research
4. Training a new generation of clinical and translational researchers.

In 2006, the NIH established a national consortium of medical research institutions, funded through Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSAs) to meet and fund these goals. The CTSA grant program aims to stimulate and transform the nations clinical research enterprise so that it can improve the health of the American people in a broader, more multidisciplinary, more efficient manner. When fully implemented in 2012, the nationwide CTSA initiative is expected to provide $500 million annually to a network of 60 academic health centers.
In 2007 Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) and Meharry Medical College jointly received a CTSA to expedite the translation of laboratory discoveries to patients. More recently, VUMC submitted another grant application to the NIH for facility improvements to accommodate functions required by the CTSA. The physical area where researchers, physicians and patients currently interact at VUMC is known as the Clinical and Translation Research Center (CTRC). Our current CTRC was opened in renovated space in 1956 and has had very few renovations since that time.
A plan has been developed to create a new CTRC by expanding an existing campus building vertically. Consisting of 61,328 gross SF, the new facility will be almost three times the current aggregate size (21,715 SF) of the existing CTRC. The new location will not only consolidate several activities for more efficient use of resources, it will relocate the new CTRC into the center of gravity of Vanderbilts basic and clinical research enterprise; it will provide many new research capabilities, and it will accommodate the needs of a rapidly growing cadre of translational investigators at Vanderbilt and Meharry. Additionally, it will improve participant safety and provide the infrastructure needed to support the emerging collaborative research networks emerging across the CTSA national consortium.

During our presentation we will discuss:
The benefits and future of translational research and medicine
The NIH Facility Improvement (CO6) grant process
The primary components of our CTRC:
o Outpatient area with metabolic chambers, exam and treatment rooms, infusion area, human physiology and other diagnostic areas
o Inpatient area with private acute care rooms, isolation rooms, sleep study rooms and circadian rhythm rooms
o An investigational drug pharmacy
o Core Lab (wet lab) area for research
o A metabolic kitchen and dining area
o Staff and administrative support areas
o Education facilities commensurate with Vanderbilts mission as a teaching institution
The planning process for our CTRC including space programming and preliminary design
The expected notice of grant award (NOGA) for our CO6 grant is between October and December of this year. After NOGA, we will immediately begin the formal design process which could provide additional information for this presentation.