CTSA Program in Action

Learn about CTSA Program activities and how they are making a difference in several priority research areas of emphasis. 

Urgent Public Health Needs

CTSA Program Institutions Produced High-Quality COVID-19 Studies
A new study showed that COVID-19 research supported by the CTSA Program delivered high-quality studies that are more clinically relevant than research done without CTSA support.

COVID-19 Didn’t Drive Worse Outcomes for Babies in Neonatal Intensive Care Units   
Babies admitted to neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) during the first 21 months of the COVID-19 pandemic were unlikely to be diagnosed with COVID-19. Moreover, those who were COVID positive did not experience higher rates of harmful effects and mortality than those without COVID-19. This is according to CTSA Program–supported researchers who studied data from more than 150,000 infants discharged from NICUs between January 2020 and September 2021.

Learn more about how the CTSA community works to address urgent public health needs.

Developing, Demonstrating and Disseminating Innovations That Turn Science into Medicine Faster

Machine-Learning Model Studies Voice Samples to Predict Parkinson’s Disease Risk
The first letter of the alphabet also may be one of the first signs of Parkinson’s disease. Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSA) Program–funded researchers used machine learning to study how people pronounced the letter A in telephone recordings as a possible sign of Parkinson’s risk.

Study Suggests Most People May Have Gene Variants That Impact Drugs’ Effectiveness
A new study showed four out of five people took medicines that could have been affected by their genes.

Deep Learning Model Predicts Best Time to Monitor for Atrial Fibrillation
A predictive computer model for atrial fibrillation could help clinicians decide when to start long-term monitoring to detect AF missed by a single test.

GEMINI Study Reveals Diagnostic Advantages for Whole Genome Sequencing in Infants     
The Genomic Medicine in Ill Infants and Newborns (GEMINI) study, supported by the CTSA Program, compared two approaches to genetic testing in infants. The results of the study could help doctors choose the right testing options for their patients.

Machine Learning Reveals Rounder Hearts May Have Increased Risks     
Having a healthy heart with a rounder left ventricle may put you at greater risk of such cardiac problems as cardiomyopathy, atrial fibrillation and heart failure. That’s according to CTSA Program researchers who used machine learning to study more than 38,000 images of people’s hearts.

Learn more about how the CTSA community works to turn science into medicine faster.

Clinical Research Resources

Nationwide IRB Reliance Agreement Aimed at Speeding Research Reaches 1,000 Signatories     
The Streamlined, Multisite, Accelerated Resources for Trials (SMART) Institutional Review Board (IRB) agreement has reached 1,000 participating sites, making it one of the largest medical research study reliance agreements in the United States.

Learn more about the clinical research resources that aid the CTSA community.

Nurturing the Field of Translational Science

CTSA Program Supports Emerging Research on Health Effects of Plastics     
An early-career investigator has developed techniques to study how chemicals used in medical devices affect the still-developing hearts of pediatric patients.

Learn more about how the CTSA community nurtures and advances the field of translational science.