Rutgers team receives $29 M. grant from National Institute of Health

A research team led by Rutgers has been given a $29 million grant from the National Institute of Health (NIH) to develop treatments for patients based on their laboratory and clinic results, according to TAPinto. 

The grant, which will cover five years of research, was awarded to the Rutgers Institute for Translational Medicine and Science (RITMS), as well as Princeton University and the New Jersey Institute of Technology. All of the schools will also be contributing financially to the program, which increases the total amount of funding given to $45 million, Rutgers officials said in a statement.

The term "translational science" refers to using the observations taken in laboratories, clinics and settings in the community to create interventions to improve people's health. This involves diagnosing the patient, medical procedures, behavioral interventions and other measures, according to the article. 

“The ultimate goal is bringing more evidence-based treatments to more patients more quickly,” said Reynold Panettieri, vice chancellor for Translational Medicine and Science and director of RITMS.

The award they were given is part of the Clinical and Translational Science Awards Program (CTSA). The program funded by the award will be named the New Jersey Alliance for Clinical and Translational Science (NJ ACTS). 

Rutgers, along with its two partner schools, will be working to build new infrastructure for research across New Jersey. The purpose of the infrastructure will be to give patients access to the most current methods of care in clinical trials. Data will also be analyzed as part of the program, which will be used to see if there are trends in the health of the population. 

Research units involved in the program include the Adult Clinical Research and Pediatric Clinical Research Unit at Rutgers' Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and centers based at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, Rutgers School of Dental Medicine and Rutgers Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute. 

Brian Strom, the chancellor of Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences (RBHS) and executive vice president of the University's health affairs, said the program would not have been possible without a combination of resources from the other universities, as well as funding from a partnership with RWJBarnabas Health.

"It indicates to the world and to New Jersey industry that New Jersey is now in the big leagues of academic clinical research,” Strom said.