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• The Pilot & Collaborative Translational & Clinical Studies (PiCo-TraCs) grant program has funded 68 grants thus far using $2.4 million in funding and seventeen independent review cycles. Approximately 50% of PiCo-TraCS awards go to junior PI investigators, awards are distributed across all three ACTSI partner institutions, and span the spectrum of translational research topics.

• Clinical Interaction Network (CIN) protocols have almost tripled since 2007. The CIN continues to establish sites throughout Atlanta, currently totaling 25 – the newest sites include the Emory Eye Center, Emory Autism Center, Cystic Fibrosis Children’s Center, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta (CHOA) Emergency Department and the Grady Memorial Hospital Emergency Department.

• Renovations completed by the CIN to the Emory University Core Laboratory allow storage samples within the LIMS (Laboratory Information Management System) and laboratory and patient tracking connectivity between Grady, Emory Hospital, Emory Midtown, and CHOA.

• ACTSI’s Research, Education, Training, & Career Development (RETCD) program received a four-year $700,000 Howard Hughes Medical Institute Med into Grad grant to support the development of an Advanced Certificate Program in Translational Research for PhD graduate students in the biomedical sciences and engineering programs. The program is 16 credits and includes trainees from Emory, Morehouse School of Medicine (MSM), and Georgia Tech.

• Former and current KL2 scholars have created a joint MSM/Emory MSCR monthly Journal Club and teach a one-week Short Course in Clinical and Translational Research. Nearly 75% of the RETCD KL2 scholars have obtained NIH funding as a PI.

• Biostatistics, Epidemiology, & Research Design (BERD) and RETCD offer a short course in Biostatistics which provides an opportunity for clinical investigators, epidemiologists, applied statisticians, and research assistants to update their knowledge of biomedical research statistical methods.

• Studio Consultations were developed in conjunction with the Biomedical Informatics Program (BIP), BERD, and CIN to ensure ACTSI investigators receive focused biostatistics and biomedical informatics support, technical input, and professional advice as they begin a proposal.

• The Translational Technologies & Resources (TTR) program recently worked with Georgia Research Alliance to invest in a RainDance 1000 microdroplet generator to be housed in the Emory Genetics Laboratory ($248K), a Carl Zeiss PALM System to be housed in the MSM Molecular Imaging Core ($226K), an Affymetrix platform upgrade for the Emory Biomarkers Service Center ($30K), and magnetic resonance spectroscopic (MRS) data analysis software for the Emory Center for Systems Imaging ($12K). TTR also sponsors educational programming which promotes clinical and translational research and Technology Development Seed Funding.

• TTR launched the electronic Biomedical Interactive Resource Tool (eBIRT) to connect researchers to available technologies resources throughout Georgia.

• In its first full year of operation, the Clinical & Translational Research Program for Pediatrics (CTRPP) supported 173 research visits, 37 visits to additional ancillary research space at the Pediatric Clinical Interaction Site within Egleston Children’s Hospital, and 654 visits within the Emory Children’s Center.

• Expansion of existing synergistic partnership with Yerkes National Primate Research Center on informatics, animal models, and educational opportunities.

• The Community Engagement & Research Program (CERP) recently funded four community mini-grants. Grantees developed health education projects in targeted communities and worked with ACTSI faculty mentors. The partnership was instrumental in developing initial relationships between researchers and small community organizations.

• The highly successful and jointly (MSM/Emory) taught Community Engagement and Health Disparities in Clinical and Translational Research course is in its second year. Enrollment has nearly doubled and more community involvement has been added to the curriculum. CERP has also hosted four research-community workshops on the topics obesity, asthma, oral health, and chronic kidney disease.

• Ethics, Regulatory Knowledge, & Support (ERKS) Online Ethics Center now includes over 40 ethical dilemmas in scientific research and expert opinions. 
  The ACTSI convened IRB officials from seven Atlanta research institutions in a first-of-its-kind meeting. IRB reciprocity and collaboration is improving throughout Atlanta – formal IRB reciprocity agreements now exist between Emory and CHOA, Emory and Georgia Tech, and Emory and MSM.