The CHOC Research Institute has received a $100,000 annual grant over the next seven years as part of a larger gift from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to support UC Irvine’s Institute for Clinical & Translational Science (ICTS).
The $28.4 million award to UCI from the NIH’s National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), part of its Clinical & Translational Science Awards Program, is designed to foster creative solutions to enhance the efficiency, quality and impact of the process for turning discoveries in the laboratory, clinic and community into interventions that improve the health of individuals and the public.
CHOC will use the money to partially fund its new Clinical Research Coordinator (CRC) internship program, says Phuong Dao, executive director of research operations at CHOC.
Key members of the research team
Launched in fall 2024, the CHOC CRC Internship Program began with three interns who are taking classes and rotating through different specialties and being mentored and exposed to all facets of clinical research.
If successful, the interns will be eligible to be considered for full-time CRC positions after earning a stipend in their first year.
CRCs are critical to the CHOC Research Institute. They serve as a direct extension of principal investigators (PIs) on studies, acting as ringleaders, managing projects from beginning to end with duties that entail regulatory support, submissions to CHOC’s two Institutional Review Boards, ensuring compliance with study protocols, and collecting data, among other duties.
“The NIH/NCATS is very interested in workforce development,” Phuong says.
Adds Dr. Terence Sanger, chief scientific officer at CHOC: “Training the next generation of talented pediatric research coordinators is an essential part of CHOC Research’s mission to support top-quality research that improves children’s lives and well-being.”
Addressing gaps
A major goal of the ICTS is to ensure that UCI is at the forefront of research that addresses the real healthcare needs and gaps in the community, says CHOC pediatric pulmonologist Dr. Dan Cooper, founding director of the ICTS.
To that end, the ICTS partners with CHOC and the Tibor Rubin VA Medical Center in Long Beach. It also collaborates with the Orange County Health Care Agency and with CTSA hubs across the University of California to ensure that its efforts are inclusive and reach the diverse populations the ICTS is committed to serving, Dr. Cooper explains.
In 2010, UC Irvine’s ICTS was the first medical research institution in Orange County to receive a competitive Clinical & Translational Science Award. Today it’s one of more than 60 organizations in the country benefiting from such funding.
Since receiving its first Clinical & Translational Science Award, UC Irvine – through the ICTS – has dramatically increased the number of incoming grants, stimulated important scientific discoveries, and collaborated with community partners to identify and resolve health needs in the region.
To date, the ICTS has rendered services or support to 1,423 investigators, helped generate 2,860 peer-reviewed papers published in major biomedical journals and been instrumental in securing $346 million in grants for UC Irvine researchers.
Learn about pediatric research and clinical trials at CHOC
