Focus on Urban Health - Keck School of Medicine of USC ...

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F E AT U R E• $ 5 6 . 8 M i l l i o n F O R A D V A N C I N G U R B A N H E A LT HPutting Urban Health FirstLike other members of the Clinical andTranslational Science Award consortium,the Los Angeles Basin Clinical andTranslational Science Institute (CTSI) iscommitted to strengthening connectionsbetween scientists in the lab andclinicians who interact with patients.But what makes this CTSI distinct is theunique patient demographic it serves.“While we are trying to support abreadth of health concerns, we havealso framed our CTSI to focus on diversepopulations, specifically highly urbaninner-city communities. That is whatsets us apart from other centers,” saysMichele Kipke, Ph.D., professor in thedepartments of Pediatrics and PreventiveMedicine at the Keck School of Medicineof USC and associate CTSI director forcommunity engagement.Some of the issues that affect urbancommunities include:• Communicable diseases• Mental health• Obesity• Health care access and quality• Risky behaviors• Environmental hazards“The goal is to eliminate the disparitiesthat exist between these populations andthe general population,” Kipke adds.For example, the following translationalprojects have already been supportedby the CTSI:1Health Problem: Relationship betweenchildhood obesity and leukemia.Opportunity: To understand whyoverweight children respond lessfavorably to leukemia treatmentthan non-overweight children.Translational Goal: To identify a drug targetthat could enhance the effectiveness ofleukemia therapy for overweight children.2Health Problem: The disparities in healthoutcomes between sickle cell anemiapatients in Los Angeles and patientselsewhere.Opportunity: To identify the barriers tohigh-quality care for patients with sicklecell disease in Los Angeles.Translational Goal: To improve access to careby providing policy makers with informationon how to reduce the barriers to care.3Health Problem: The relationship betweenair pollution and the prevalence of chronicdiseases in urban communities.Opportunity: To develop technology thatassesses individual ozone exposure for use instudies of air pollution and chronic disease.Translational Goal: A new research tool thatmeasures individualized ozone exposure.Keck School of Medicine diabetesresearcher Enrique Trigointerviews patient Susana Rodriguezas part of a study onthe genetics of beta cell failurein Mexican-Americans.medical research inmany disease areas andconditions, includingcancer, mental illness,neurological disorders,cardiovascular disease,diabetes and obesity.Funded by Clinicaland Translational ScienceAwards, members ofthe consortium share acommon vision to reducethe time it takes for laboratory discoveries to becometreatments for patients, to engage communitiesin clinical research efforts and to train clinical andtranslational researchers.“It’s a very competitive process to get funding atthis level. We’re excited to have this opportunityto bring different people, departments, schools andinstitutions together to improve health,” says ThomasA. Buchanan, M.D., principal investigator and directorof the CTSI. He is also associate dean for clinicalresearch at the Keck School of Medicine of USC.USC competed for the award against 38 otherinstitutions. Only nine institutions received grantawards this year, and the NIH has stated that itplans to implement a maximum of 60 Clinical andTranslational Science Awards overall.The broad interdisciplinary scope of the programand the community-wide participation producedwhat Puliafito calls “an extraordinarily strong grantapplication.” The application received a score of 12 ona scale of 10 to 90, where 10 is a perfect score.USC set itself apart from the competition byarticulating the institute’s commitment to serving adiverse and urban population and forming unique localPhoto by Philip Channing“The outcome of the Clinical and Translational Science Institute isexpected to be better health and wellbeing for the people ofCalifornia – a direct link to the goals of The California Endowment.We are pleased to partner with USC and other health andcommunity organizations in this innovative approach totranslating research findings directly into better health formembers of our urban community.”– Robert K. Ross, M.D., President and CEO, The California Endowment“We’re thrilled to partner with the CTSI in expanding theboundaries and possibilities of biomedical research. The movingimage, whether in the form of film, television, animation orinteractive media, is an incredibly powerful tool for reachingpatients and doctors in the community, and influencingattitudes, beliefs and behaviors toward healthier lives.”− Elizabeth Daley, Ph.D., Dean, USC School of Cinematic Arts10KECK MEDICINE | Winter 2011 Issue
F E AT U R E•partnerships. “We positioned our CTSI as not only an institute focused on healthresearch, but also as a partnership among some of the largest providers of healthcare in Los Angeles. We are working collaboratively with others on campus and offcampus, using L.A. as a real world laboratory to address issues that are important tothe community here,” Buchanan says.FA S T E R PA C E The CTSI’s ultimate mission is to connect basic scientists to clinicaland community researchers and practitioners to accelerate the pace at whichlaboratory discoveries are translated into practice.“It can take 20 years for the knowledge of a new discovery to get into generalpractice,” says Michele Kipke, Ph.D., associate CTSI director for communityengagement and professor in the departments of Pediatrics and PreventiveMedicine at the Keck School of Medicine. “That’s just too long if you think of howquickly science evolves. What was effective 20 years ago is antiquated now.”While the CTSI has already been successful at launching community researchand interdisciplinary projects on a small scale, large-scale funding from the new NIHaward will open the doors to development of a premier clinical and translationalinstitute with the potential for a very large impact on health research and care.“The Clinical and Translational Science Award provides the funding we need toexpand to full capacity,” says Buchanan.The CTSI has four main goals for this award. The first is to create an integratedacademic environment that promotes and supports clinical and translationalresearch. Eight schools – Medicine, Pharmacy, Engineering, Social Work, Law,Education, Cinematic Arts and Dentistry – are actively involved in the institute,as well as USC University Hospital and USC Norris Cancer Hospital. The CTSIprovides a variety of resources and services that support interdisciplinary researchand translation to clinical care.The second goal of the CTSI is to develop new translational teams and projects.Using priorities aligned with the Keck School of Medicine strategic plan and the healthneeds of the surrounding community, the institute is developing and providing pilotfunding to interdisciplinary teams to conduct basic, clinical and community research.Some interdisciplinary projects are currently under way. For example, leveragingtalent from the health sciences, engineering, cinema and informatics, facultymembers have developed an interactive computer game that helps autistic childrenbetter interact on an emotional level, one of the deficits of those with the disorder.“We’re not only developing innovative treatments, but also creating interactiveways (beyond what a health sciences enterprise would typically do) to achieve ourgoals,” says Carlos Pato, M.D., associate CTSI director for research development andchair of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Keck School.The third goal of the CTSI is to expand USC’s network of professionals conductingclinical and translational research. Resources are being applied to training new basicCTSI PartnersAcademic PartnersUniversity of Southern California• Keck School of Medicine of USC• USC University Hospital• USC Norris Cancer Hospital• USC School of Cinematic Arts• Herman Ostrow School ofDentistry of USC• USC Rossier School of Education• USC Viterbi School of Engineering• USC Gould School of Law• USC School of Pharmacy• USC School of Social WorkChildren’s Hospital Los AngelesDoheny Eye InstituteClinical PartnersLos Angeles County Health SystemKaiser Permanente of SouthernCaliforniaCommunity Clinic Associationof Los Angeles CountyCommunity PartnersHealth FoundationsFaith CommunitySocial ServicesPolicy MakersElected OfficialsLay CommunityFor a complete list ofcommunity partners, seekeck.usc.edu/ctsi/community“The Community Clinic Association of Los Angeles Countyis excited to work with USC on its Clinical and TranslationalScience Institute. We look forward to working with USC onbridging the gap between community services and academia.The CTSI provides a structure through which we can learnfrom each other.”− Brian Nolan, CEO, Community Clinic Association of L.A. County“This is a significant award that is going to further our goal ofbecoming Los Angeles’ premier academic medical center. Theresearch this money is funding will help train the next generationof physicians and scientists, advance medical research, andtranslate our discoveries into better treatments for our patients.We will be seeing the positive effects of this clinical award fordecades to come.”− Mitch Creem, M.H.A., Chief Executive Officer, USC University Hospital andUSC Norris Cancer Hospitalkeck.usc.edu KECK MEDICINE 11
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