The vision of the Louisville Clinical and Translational Research Center (LCTRC) is to build an impactful Clinical
and Translational (C&T) research program at the University of Louisville (UofL) to improve the health of Kentucky
(KY) communities. Kentucky is, by any measure, a poor and largely rural state with a single large metropolitan
center that suffers disproportionately from many chronic diseases. For example, KY is ranked first in the U.S. in
cancer and COPD incidence. To address these problems the UofL in its research strategic planning process
created Programs of Distinction in cardiovascular disease, neuroscience, cancer and metabolic disease. Thus,
UofL has been very deliberate about developing research programs to meet the state’s most pressing health
problems. However, UofL has approached C&T research of these health problems through underfunded and
admittedly uncoordinated efforts in clinical trials infrastructure, research design, research funding, and
mentorship. Also, until 2019, UofL C&T research was performed almost exclusively at two facilities. In 2019,
UofL created UofL Healthcare (ULH) that has 11 hospitals, a cancer center, and multiple outpatient centers. ULH
with its larger footprint and patient volume has challenged the capacity of our C&T infrastructure, but also created
a major opportunity to increase the amount and quality of our C&T research. The long-term goal of the LCTRC
is to build the needed workforce and expertise at UofL and our affiliated healthcare systems to conduct impactful
and community engaged C&T research. We will achieve this goal through these five Specific Aims:
Specific Aim 1: Expand and fully integrate clinical and translational research at UofL, ULH and other
healthcare partners. (Administrative and Community Engagement and Outreach Cores).
Specific Aim 2: Create and implement professional development for early-career clinician investigators,
students and C&T research staff (Professional Development Core).
Specific Aim 3: Develop Pilot and Developmental projects to support community scientists, trainees,
early-career and established C&T investigators (Health Research Core).
Specific Aim 4: Establish a centralized resource that provides LCTRC investigators with essential
support in research design, data analysis, compliance, and data management (Research Design,
Compliance and Data Management Core).
Specific Aim 5: Invest in both community-led and community-participatory C&T research to improve
public health using multi-directional inputs sensitive to the culture and needs of underserved
populations. (Synergistic among all Cores). Successful implementation of the LCTRC will create a single
point of access program for C&T research that allows us to perform studies in urban and rural populations that
ultimately improve public health.