CTSA UM1 Program at Wake Forest - The emergence of large integrated health systems linked by common informatics platforms offers an unprecedented opportunity to study the impact of new therapies and healthcare delivery models in real world settings. Such integrated systems also offer opportunities to test approaches to implement and scale evidence-based practices, to address gaps in translational science, and to become Learning Health Systems (LHS). The Wake Forest (WF) Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) has pioneered the integration of the academic mission into the LHS framework including T0-T4 translation, scholarship, and education while also promoting the vitality of communities we serve. WF leads as the academic core of Advocate Health – the nation’s third largest not-for-profit health system serving nearly 6 million patients across the Southeast and Midwest United Sates. The aLHS is Advocate Health’s guiding vision, and the WF CTSI is its central resource for supporting translational science across the entire system. The size of the health system offers a unique opportunity to develop, demonstrate, and disseminate novel care models in a wide range of settings. With this funding, the WF CTSI will drive the realization of the full potential of an aLHS and create a model for advancing translational science in a large academic health system. The need for such a model is urgent, given the ongoing consolidation of academic and non-academic health systems in the United States and the challenges in conducting research in busy practice settings. All activities and initiatives to advance translational science will be grounded in a culture of accountability to improve the health of our patients. WF CTSI’s vision will be achieved through the four specific aims: 1) Support a highly effective governance structure that promotes a culture of continuous quality improvement, enables timely response to regional and national health emergencies, supports proactive dissemination and implementation, and enables active participation in CTSA-sponsored trials; 2) Recruit and train a highly competent aLHS workforce and engage the full range of patient and community stakeholders who are essential to improving health; 3) Provide resources to promote innovative pragmatic study designs, support pilot studies that address key translational roadblocks, and satisfy the needs of the aLHS research community for timely access to data from electronic health records, population surveys, omics analyses, and other sources; and 4) Enhance translational efficiency through projects testing novel methods (e.g., respondent driven sampling to improve patient recruitment, integrating patient generated data into the EHR). Innovations made in achieving these aims will be shared through and beyond the CTSA national network.
