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Research Centers in Minority
Institutions (RCMI) Translational
Research Network (RTRN)
Supporting Connectivity for
Biomedical Research:
April 24, 2006
Keith C. Norris, M.D., FACP
What is the RCMI “Translational”
Research Network (RTRN) ?
 A cooperative research
network that will
facilitate translational research in health
disparity areas.
 A consortium of investigators from RCMI
and partnering institutions (academic &
community)
 Core: Data and Technology Coordinating
Center (DTCC)
Clinical Research to Clinical
Practice – Lost in Translation?

Enormous amounts of new knowledge are
barreling down the information highway, but
they are not arriving at the doorsteps of our
patients.
 This is particularly true for a disproportionately
high percentage of women, racial and ethnic
minorities, and other high-risk groups in the US
healthcare system.
Lenfant C. Clinical Research to Clinical Practice - Lost in Translation?
N Engl J Med 2003;349:868-74.
Clinical Research to Clinical
Practice – Lost in Translation?

This issue of who will really benefit from
research results is especially critical as we look
toward applications of proteomic/genomic
research.
And we must direct our attention, our
commitment, our energies, our creativity, and
our resourcefulness to making sure that the
beneficiaries will be the patients —
all the patients!
Lenfant C. Clinical Research to Clinical Practice - Lost in Translation?
N Engl J Med 2003;349:868-74.
Why “Translational” Research and a
“Translational” Research Network?
Interdisciplinary
Research
Bench
Phase 1
Public-Private Partnerships
Bedside
Building Blocks and Pathways
Molecular Libraries
Bioinformatics and
Computational
Biology
Structural Biology
Nanomedicine
Phase 2
Community &
Public Health
Practice
Clinical Research/Trials & Training
“Practical” Trials
Biobehavioral/Cultural
Community Partnered Participatory Research
System Level Clinical Outcomes Assessment
Geographic Systems Modeling
Health Advocacy & Policy
Garfield SA, et al and the Diabetes Mellitus Interagency Coordinating Committee Translation Conference Working Group.
Diabetes Care. 2003; 26:2670-2674. &
Sung NS et al. Central challenges facing the national clinical research enterprise. JAMA. 2003; 289:1278–1287.
Norris KC. Translational Research: Moving Scientific Advances into the Real-World Setting. Ethn Dis. 2005;15(3):363-4
Why Health Disparities?
 Provides
the greatest opportunity for
understanding factors that influence clinical
outcomes in real life settings (gender,
ethnicity, class/SES, age, environment, etc.)
 Translate those findings into strategies to
improve clinical outcomes for all persons &
opportunity to reduce health care system
costs
Who can Participate in RTRN?

The RCMI Community & partners


IDEA institutions, GCRC/CTSA, others
Project Activity/Cyber Workspaces

Preferably (not necessarily) two levels of activity:
across and within disciplines



Other Considerations


Disease, Stage (e.g. cell, animal, individual, community),
Discipline e.g. nanotechnology, clinical trials, community
research, computational modeling, economic modeling, etc.
Similar activities/levels may involve critical resource sharing
Institutional culture - promotion/credit, innovation -IP
Educational Activities

Faculty, trainees, community
What is the Data & Technology
Coordinating Center (DTCC)?
 The
DTCC is a cohesive and
integrated entity that consists of
Human expertise and
Technology infrastructure
that will support RTRN to perform state-ofart clinical and translational research
Cyber-Workspaces
 Active
inter-and intra-institutional
collaborations across disciplines with
Structure & Functional Processes
 Research Clusters & Workgroups
 Interdisciplinary,
organized by
disease/methods/other with a shared theme
 Admin/Technical
 Provide
support
structure & ensure the process is
active, not passive.
RTRN Research Cluster Collaboratives
HIV/AIDS,
Infectious
Diseases
Diabetes/
Metabolic
Diseases
Neuroscience/
Mental Health
Improve
Health
Outcomes
Cardiovascular
& Related
Diseases
Cancer &
Immunology
RTRN Research Methods Cluster Collaboratives
Biostatistics &
Epidemiology
Bioinformatics
and
Computational
Biology
Structural
Biology,
Building Blocks
and Pathways
Improve
Health
Outcomes
Clinical Trials
(Western
Allopathic &
Traditional/
Indigenous)
Community
Focused
Research
Jackson State University DTCC
JSU DTCC Facility
•Internet DS3 with multiple DS1 backup connections
•Dual, redundant natural gas generators provide unlimited backup power
within 10 seconds of an outage of primary power.
•Totally redundant, high speed switched network
•Eliminates traffic bottlenecks
•Redundant, fault tolerant, load-balanced server farm protects against single
points of failure
•State-of-the-art, fiber-attached Storage Area Network
•Inergen gas system extinguishes fires within 10 seconds of detection
(Inergen: clean gaseous agent that will not damage equipment - or humans!).
•High capacity, fiber-attached, robotic tape libraries provide
rapid, reliable backup for several terabytes of on-line storage.
•Automated data center and network management tools
ensure continuous operations
RTRN - A Complex System
Complex
System: A system composed
of multiple vertical organizational
levels engaged in horizontal processes
that cross vertical organizational
boundaries
Problems
occur at the interchange
boundaries/interfaces, including
Duplication/redundancy of effort
 Inefficiency/variability of process

Interchange vs Interoperability
 Interoperability
Ability of >2 systems or components to
exchange information and to predictably use
the information that has been exchanged.
Source: IEEE Standard Computer Dictionary: A Compilation of
IEEE Standard Computer Glossaries, IEEE, 1990]
Syntactic
interoperability
(interchange)
Blue socks/Red Bull
Time flies/Fruit flies
I Love the Red Sox
I wear red socks
I need the Red Cross
I have a red cross
The lion King
The lyin’ King
Semantic
interoperability
Meaning & Context
Health Level Seven (HL7)
 Develops
specifications that enable
the semantically interoperable
interchange of healthcare and
research data between information
systems across the entire healthcare
continuum.
Remote Electronic Data Capture
RCMI Clinical Site
Nurse
JSU-DTCC
Data
Collection
(through RDC)
Review
Data
Manager
Data
Monitor
Review/Verify
WWW
Discrepancies
Oracle
Clinical
Review/Verify
Approve
Investigator
Monitor
CyberWorkspaces
RCMI Translational Research Network
Education and Training
Educational seminars
Lectures
Video conferences
Distance learning
Web casting.
Research
Clinical trials
Community-participatory
Basic research studies
Interdisciplinary studies
Improve health
outcomes for
historically
disadvantaged
populations.
Data Mgt
Data sharing across health
disparity areas, data types,
and platforms
Communication and data
management through DTCC
Ethics
Ensure studies provide
individual benefit without
burdens or risks for
participants.
When you have exhausted
all possibilities,
Remember this...you haven't.
- Author Unknown