At the beginning of the semester, Case Western Reserve University announced its landing of a $64.6 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

The grant, entitled the Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA), is given as a vehicle to bring medical breakthroughs to fruition in hospital and medical settings. The grant seeks to assist in bringing groundbreaking technology out of laboratories and directly to patients.

The NIH launched the CTSA program six years ago, and CWRU is just one of 61 institutions involved. Other area institutions are also part of the program, including the Cleveland Clinic, MetroHealth Systems, and the Louis Stokes VA Medical Center of Cleveland.

In a press release, CWRU president Barbara Snyder said, “The purpose of this new federal grant model is to push institutions to focus ever more squarely on tangible impacts to individuals and society. We are pleased that the NIH recognized the remarkable efforts across all of our major partners and the individuals within institutions and community organizations.”

She continued, “Together, we all are committed to make even greater progress over the next five years.”

The program places an emphasis on cross-institutional cooperation and encourages physicians and scientists to take knowledge to more than one institution so that it can impact more individual patients.

Ohio governor John Kasich brought together CTSA participants from across the state to continue to encourage working together for mutual advantages. Statewide partners within the CTSA include the Ohio State University and the University of Cincinnati, in addition to the aforementioned northeast Ohio institutions.

U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown released a statement regarding the grant saying, “Partnerships between world class research institutions like Case Western Reserve University, the Cleveland Clinic, the Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center, University Hospitals, and MetroHealth have resulted in critical improvements to patient-based research in Northeast Ohio.”

“They are engaging local communities, while training the next generation of researchers and providing a much needed focus on community health,” he added.