Our goal is to build the UCI CTSA Hub as an innovative, nimble, and dynamic virtual laboratory that can
implement NCATS’s bold vision for translational science. Fueled by unprecedented growth in UCI’s research
portfolio, new inpatient and outpatient capacity, and robust collaboration with community stakeholders, our Hub
is positioned to profoundly impact the science of translation and public health in our region and beyond. Two
formative and synergistic themes guide our Hub’s strategy for the next funding cycle. The first, “From Lab to
Life,” was developed by our community partners at the inaugural CTSA funding in 2010 and reflects the
seminal and ongoing NCATS’s focus on nurturing the kernels of translational science that can be found in
virtually all clinical research. We will catalyze a wide range of basic and applied innovations enabled by unique
UCI and community talent, such as: 1) transforming clinical trials in rare diseases, 2) reimagining cell-based
diagnostic and therapeutic technologies for a broad spectrum of health conditions, and 3) reconceptualizing the
practice of neurorehabilitation through AI-based mechanistic use of haptic robotics. Our second theme, “From
Hub to Health,” embraces NCATS’s and our Hub’s burgeoning focus and expertise on dissemination and
implementation, on diversity and inclusive excellence, and on harnessing the science of translation to mitigate
health disparities and inequities. In preparing “From Hub to Health” objectives, we worked closely with the
Orange County Health Care Agency (OCHCA), our county public health department, which serves more than
3.2M people, a diverse population and a microcosm of healthcare needs, inequities, and disparities seen
across the U.S. The Healthy School Restart Program pioneered data-driven policy guidance for community
schools during the pandemic and blossomed into a formal Hub-OCHCA collaboration. “From Hub to Health”
projects for the next funding cycle are wide ranging and include: 1) the request from OCHCA for the Hub to
serve as the translational science collaborator for the community-wide OC System of Care Think Tank to
reduce health care disparities and inequities in our region, 2) expanding our Hub Medical Student Research
Program to achieve unprecedented gains in URM participation in translational science, 3) leading a novel,
nationally funded program to train a community-based workforce in population-health informatics and data
science, and 4) re-envisioning design of investigator-initiated clinical trials by developing, demonstrating, and
disseminating our program of Quality-by-Design Studios. Our partnerships with UCI-affiliated Children’s
Hospital of Orange County and the Long Beach Veterans Administration ensure that these essential
populations will be well represented in all Hub activities. The Hub will support these projects by careful
allocation of resource modules, training opportunities, and continuous quality improvement with a vigorous
application of the translational science benefits model. In sum, we are positioned to promote “more treatments
for all people more quickly,” the translational science goal that has guided our Hub since 2010.