The Michigan Institute for Clinical & Health Research (MICHR) at the University of Michigan (U-M) is a dynamic hub that, on institutional and national levels, catalyzes the translation of discoveries to improved health. Our work has engaged hundreds of departments and centers across all three of U-M’s campuses. We have trained and mentored thousands of clinical and translational researchers, across all career stages and multiple disciplines. We have been a key architect of the most ambitious transformation of clinical research infrastructure in U-M’s history. The strength of our partnerships with communities in Detroit and Flint enabled us to respond to public health crises such as COVID-19 rapidly and effectively together. We have developed informatics innovations that have been incorporated by CTSA hubs nationwide. With NCATS U01 support over the past five years, we have developed and disseminated a clinical research training platform, a streamlined process for facilitating access to experimental therapeutics, and a bilingual community health worker research training program. In summary, MICHR has transformed the landscape of clinical and translational research and training at U-M and has been a collaborative partner with our peers across the CTSA consortium. In the past five years, our environment has changed in critical ways. Our health system—Michigan Medicine—has evolved from a stand-alone tertiary care medical center to a regional health care network extending across the state, which will require that our clinical and translational research expand in new ways. This expansion will require growth in the role of clinicians on the study team and the number of clinical research professionals—which are in short supply nationally. Our faculty members’ research interests have grown within the later stages of translation, and the need to transform research results to action that advances equity has become more urgent. Therefore, in the next era of MICHR, we will systematically develop, demonstrate, and disseminate new strategies that accelerate the realization of interventions that improve human health for all. We will achieve this mission through the following overall specific aims:
Aim 1: Create and implement accessible education, mentoring, and training approaches that support the development of all members of the clinical and translational research team.
Aim 2: Promote new approaches to partnership and collaboration that advance clinical and translational research locally, regionally, and nationally.
Aim 3: Create, provide, and disseminate innovations that address health disparities and deliver the benefits of translational science to all.
Aim 4: Create and implement scientific and operational innovations that increase the quality, safety, efficiency, and informativeness of clinical research.
Aim 5: We will advance clinical and translational science through the development, demonstration, and dissemination of innovations that will have generalizable impact for all.
