A Rice University team led by Jane Grande-Allen has received approximately $1.69 million as part of a renewed grant awarded to the Center for Clinical and Translational Sciences (CCTS) at UTHealth Houston.
A longtime collaborator with the CCTS, Rice will bring investigators from the schools of engineering and social sciences to participate in multi-institutional studies that seek to turn research discoveries into improved care.
The funding comes from the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), an agency of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) that supports translational research through its Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSA) program.
As one of six CCTS partner institutions, Rice engages in collaborative translational research that bridges engineering, medicine and public health. The additional funding will enable researchers to pool their expertise to address pressing health care issues and accelerate the development of impactful medical solutions. The renewal of the grant marks the fourth consecutive funding cycle for the CCTS and the second time that Rice has been included.
“Our initial team has doubled in size from three to six Rice investigators on this funding cycle,” said Grande-Allen, Rice’s Isabel C. Cameron Professor of Bioengineering and associate dean for faculty development in the George R. Brown School of Engineering and Computing. “Our team complements UTHealth Houston’s robust clinical infrastructure and research capacity. With our engineering expertise and involvement in Houston’s innovation ecosystem, we bring a tremendously different perspective, not to mention we are UTHealth Houston’s next-door neighbor.”
The program’s subaward to Rice will also advance the mission of NCATS, which is to use translational science to develop health care solutions. Translational science refers to the process of applying research findings to develop solutions that directly improve individual and public health. Rice’s role in the CTSA collaboration will expand from its initial emphasis on informatics and team science to include six principal researchers and the additional disciplines of bioengineering, mechanical engineering and psychological sciences:
● Grande-Allen will contribute her expertise in cardiovascular engineering and heart valve disease to explore novel translational pathways as well as serve as co-liaison between Rice and UTHealth Houston.
● Christopher Jermaine, the Victor E. Cameron Professor of Computer Science, chair of the computer science department and director of the Master of Data Science Program, will continue leveraging machine learning to enhance medical informatics with applications ranging from medical record analysis to addressing bias in large language models.
● Eduardo Salas, the Allyn R. and Gladys M. Cline Professor of Psychological Sciences, will draw on his expertise in team science to integrate evidence-based methodologies into health care settings and improve multidisciplinary collaboration.
● Christopher Fagundes, a professor of psychological sciences who employs clinical, social and developmental health psychology to examine the impact of relationships, loss and trauma to molecular and cellular processes associated with disease, is another Rice collaborator on the project, joining Grande-Allen as a co-liaison facilitating the Rice-UTHealth Houston partnership.
● Rebecca Richards-Kortum, the Malcolm Gillis University Professor, professor of bioengineering and director of the Rice360 Institute for Global Health Technologies, will work on point-of-care technologies to diagnose and treat diseases.
● Peter Lillehoj, the Shankle Chair in Mechanical Engineering and an associate professor of mechanical engineering, will also work on point-of-care technologies that could be used to diagnose disease or deliver therapy outside of a doctor’s office.
In addition to Rice, the partner institutions included in the seven-year CTSA renewal to UTHealth Houston are The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, The University of Texas at Tyler Health Science Center, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley and Texas Tech Health El Paso. Also included is UTHealth Houston’s School of Public Health in Brownsville, Texas.
Dr. David McPherson, vice president of clinical and translational sciences at UTHealth Houston, serves as executive director and corresponding principal investigator of the CCTS. The driving force behind the CCTS, McPherson was instrumental in securing three cycles of the CTSA awards.
“Dr. Grande-Allen and her talented team are bringing an aspect of innovative sciences to the CCTS that will positively augment our components and expand our research,” McPherson said. “Collaboration is an integral feature of clinical and translational research, and with Rice’s expertise, we’ll be able to have even greater impact on human health.”
The CTSA funding mechanism granted by NCATS has proven essential in rapidly advancing research during times of urgent need, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. CCTS partner UT Tyler Health Science Center was one of the top enrollers in COVID-19 clinical trials in the nation.
“Through the CTSA, the NIH was able to provide significant funding for innovative treatments like convalescent plasma,” Grande-Allen said, explaining that the funding mechanism is especially designed to support training and accelerate translation.
Rice’s involvement in the CTSA program serves as a platform to expand the collaboration with UTHealth Houston and position the university as a critical partner in advancing translational science across the state and beyond.
“This program highlights the incredible potential of cross-institutional partnerships to deliver innovative, community-centered solutions to some of our most pressing health care challenges,” said Grande-Allen. “We are thrilled to be part of a collaboration that brings together diverse perspectives to drive meaningful impact.”
Learn more about the CCTS at https://www.uth.edu/ccts/.