June 2020

Letter From the JCTS Editor

A Momentour Time

This year has brought a number of critically important and urgent issues to the forefront. We are still as a nation struggling to contain the coronavirus infections as well as to develop effective therapies, and every day thousands of our fellow citizens are infected. At the same time, the tragic events in Minneapolis and other places have brought the long-standing issues of racial injustice, equality and diversity to the forefront. While these issues have been simmering throughout society for decades, now is the time to tackle such issues head-on and they resonate deeply throughout the country and the world.

The issue of racism and injustice is something all of us must confront in our everyday life. Their impact on health is very clear, not least seen as the mortality from coronavirus is far higher among African Americans than in other population groups. This further underscores the already stark need to focus our attention on issues contributing to health disparities and the necessity to ensure that care is provided according to need. The importance for all scientists, including clinical and translational researchers, to be firmly embedded in society and to work closely with their communities to help resolve such burning disparity issues is obvious.

As the CTSA programs have matured, their Community Engagement programs have become critically important tools, both as scientific engines for change as well as a partnership forum with diverse communities. It is rewarding to see that many of the manuscripts submitted to JCTS relate to such studies and we warmly encourage further contributions. JCTS is uniquely well positioned to serve as a platform to identify solutions to reduce disparity and to engage elements throughout society in developing solutions for this deep-rooted problem. In this context, I want to highlight the June issue of the journal which features our inaugural thematic issue, focused on Implementation Science. Although times are challenging and there is much suffering, there is also hope that the passion and craving to reduce racial injustice that is vocalized throughout society will catalyze deep and profound changes to make society better and to lead to improved health for all. 

Lars Berglund, M.D., Ph.D.

Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Clinical and Translational Science (JCTS)

Upcoming Webinar

Join the Evaluation SIG on Wednesday, July 8 at 12:00 pm EST for a free live webinar entitled Current Trends in Qualitative Methodology for Translational Science Research and Evaluation.

In this one-hour webinar, five experts will demonstrate the application of current qualitative methods to evaluate clinical and translational science programs, organizations, and enterprises.

This session was originally scheduled for Translational Science 2020 and is co-sponsored by the ACTS Evaluation SIG and the American Evaluation Association (AEA) Translational Research Evaluation Topical Interest Group (TRE TIG).

Interested in participating? Register for the session here.

SIG Spotlight: PACER

Partners for the Advancement of Community Engaged Research (PACER) was established when the Key Function Committees were disbanded and Community Engagement Key Function Committee participants decided to continue working together under the rubric of the Association of Clinical and Translational Science. PACER brings together community and academic researchers to explore topics and issues important to building community-academic research partnerships and to improve public health through research. PACER meetings provide dissemination opportunities about community engaged research, metrics, and evaluation as well as a foundation for networking and collaboration among individuals and groups variously engaged in clinical and translational research.

PACER meets monthly via Zoom teleconferencing for these purposes and holds an annual in-person meeting in conjunction with the ACTS scientific conference. The group includes more than 150 partners representing more than 75 institutions across the country, and it is led by Co-Chairs Drs. Linda Cottler (University of Florida) and Milton “Mickey” Eder (University of Minnesota). In its five-year history the group has hosted a total of 41 presentations being archived on the PACER SIG Community on the ACTS website. Recently the group also began to work collaboratively on scholarship, focusing on a manuscript in development.

If you would like to join the PACER SIG, contact Linda Cottler or Mickey Eder.

Lasker Clinical Research Scholars Program

The National Institutes of Health, in partnership with the Lasker Foundation, is pleased to announce the 2020-21 Lasker Clinical Research Scholars Program. The program supports clinical researchers in the early stages of their careers, to promote their development to fully independent positions. Lasker Scholars are appointed as independent, tenure-track level investigators in the NIH Intramural Research Program for 5 years, followed by 3 years of funding at an extramural research  institution (up to $500,000 direct costs per year) or continued appointment in the intramural program.  Candidates must have a clinical doctoral degree and a professional license to practice in the United States, and cannot already have obtained tenure at a research institution. The application deadline is August 28, 2020.

More information can be obtained at the Lasker Scholar website, or by contacting Dr. Chuck Dearolf at LaskerScholar@nih.gov.

Journal of Clinical and Translatioanl Science

Volume 4 / Issue 2 of the Journal of Clinical and Translational Science is available online!

JCTS's mission is to provide a forum for the rapid communication of topics of interest and relevance to the large and diverse community of clinical and translational scientists with the goal of improving the efficiency with which health needs inform research and new diagnostics, therapies, and preventive measures reach the public. The Association for Clinical and Translational Science has partnered with the American Physician Scientists Association (APSA) and the Clinical Research Forum (CRF) to support the growth and development of JCTS.

Submit your article today to be featured in future issues of JCTS! Please also visit the JCTS website for information on our themed issue related to Design, Development, Evaluation, and Dissemination of Team Science Interventions in Clinical and Translational Research.

News From the Hill

June 25, 2020

Ahead of the July 4th recess, Congress outlined a bold agenda to advance a number of timely legislative priorities before adjourning for the protracted summer recess in August (the ceremonial start of campaign season). In this regard, the leadership of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees presented a schedule to mark up the pending Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 appropriations bills. The House intends to mark up all spending bills and even move to floor consideration of some measures. The Senate presented a plan to markup ten of twelve annual spending measures, holding back the Department of Homeland Security bill and the bill to fund the Department of Veterans Affairs due to the fact that they touch on some politically divisive policy issues. While it is unclear if Congress can keep this timeline, the work on the spending bills that is done now will ultimately set the table for final appropriations measures at the end of the year.

See the full newsletter on the ACTS Advocacy page

Translational Science Today

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