Programs and Initiatives

The Clinical and Translational Science Institute is part of the University of Minnesota's Academic Health Center, and has five core offices: 

• Office of Discovery and Translation: Supports researchers in the early stages of translational research by funding projects, offering consultations, and connecting investigators to translational technologies and experts. 
• Clinical Translational Research Services: Provides comprehensive services and support for planning, implementing, conducting, and analyzing clinical studies.
• Community Engagement to Advance Research and Community Health (CEARCH): Enables investigators and the community to collaborate on research by matching partners, providing expert consultations, funding projects, and offering resources, tools, and training.
• Biomedical Informatics: Drives the integration of clinical data across the University and Fairview, and gives researchers a one-stop-shop for the data, tools, and information technologies they need to accelerate their research.
• Research Education, Training, and Career Development (CTSI-Ed): Advances the research careers of faculty, staff, and students through education, training, and career development programming.

Key initiatives

Our efforts focus on meeting investigators’ needs, and creating an efficient, effective research infrastructure at the University. Here are a few ways we’re doing this:

• Clinical Data Repository: Houses the electronic medical records of more than 2 million patients, which can be accessed for health-related research, including grant applications, studies, participant recruitment, and more.
• StudyFinder: A recruitment-focused website that makes it easier than ever for the general public to find and connect with University health studies that need volunteers, to help researchers attract the participants they need for their studies.
• Research Toolkit: An online resource that houses research tools, templates, information, and guidance from a wide range of sources, to help investigators navigate the University research process.
• Child health research: An initiative led by Child Health Champion Mark Schleiss, MD, brings together community and University child health researchers to explore opportunities for collaborative research.

National collaborations

We regularly team up with other CTSAs to increase the efficiency and speed of clinical and translational research. Highlights of these joint efforts include:

• Midwest Area Research Consortium for Health (MARCH): This collaboration offers investigators a streamlined infrastructure for undertaking studies that are better served collectively, at multiple sites.
• Greater Plains Collaborative: Regional network of 10 leading medical centers that is creating a national data network, with the help of a $7 million grant from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI).