UMN Receives Major Health Grant

The University of Minnesota has been ranked as a top research facility for several decades. The health department at the U is continuously working on ground breaking research, conducting studies, and performing experiments to further advance the status of the University’s research position. 

The University of Minnesota’s Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) recently was awarded roughly $42.6 million in renewed National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding from the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences’ Clinical and Translational Science Award Program (CTSA). 

This is a phenomenal award for the University of Minnesota Health services and it is the largest federal research grant. It will allowfor clinical and translational research to continue for the University and Minnesota as a whole. 

The primary research done by the Clinical and Translational Services is to discover ways for Minnesotans to increase life longevity and overall life satisfaction. The Clinical and Tranlational Science Institute has stated that they will use this money to train a diverse workforce, streamline methods and processes to increase research capacity both locally and nationally, engage communities and stakeholders to improve the process of translation and delivery of healthcare, and to contribute to the University of Minnesota’s CTSA network.

Similarly, the CTSA program provides the University with a national network of nearly 60 medical research institutions that also possess CTSA funding. These institutions can work together to further advance the ways in which clinical and translational research is conducted, providing for faster and more effective research to take place across the nation.

Since 2011, when the University of Minnesota received their first grant from CTSI–$22 million–nearly 170 research projects have been conducted, resulting in more than 650 publications and six start-up ventures. These projects include rural Minnesota heroin and opioid challenge, a diagnostic tool for rapid infections, and policy changes to help Minnesota woman and their families. The Clinical and Translational Science Institution hopes that this renewed grant will allow for them to further their pursuits resulting in more groundbreaking research and projects in the upcoming years. 

According to Allen Levine, vice president of research, having the center funded by CTSA will allow for the University to future build their clinical research profile and impact. Not only does this grant exemplify the profound research institution status that the University of Minnesota possesses, but it allows for the University to further expand their ventures and research into new cures and treatments for different diseases.