Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences

Clinical and Translational Science Institute

Reza Shaker, MD, Joseph E. Geenen Professor and Chief, Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, and Director of the Digestive Disease Center, is the Senior Associate Dean for Clinical and Translational Research and Director of the Clinical and Translational Science Institute at The Medical College of Wisconsin.

The Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) of Southeast Wisconsin represents a unique and transformative collaboration among The Medical College of Wisconsin, its campus research partners—Froedtert Hospital, Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin, Zablocki VA Medical Center, and the Blood Research Institute—and the major academic institutions in southeast Wisconsin—Marquette University, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and Milwaukee School of Engineering. The CTSI is an innovative infrastructure to support and advance education, collaboration and research in clinical and translational science.

Initiatives of the CTSI include: 

• Providing Resources—the CTSI serves as a nexus for services that support research and collaboration, such as a web site with events and research links; a faculty collaboration database; a database of core facilities and technical expertise; the Clinical and Translational Research Support Office, which provides assistance with grant writing, facilitating collaborations, and linking investigators to resources and technologies in support of their research; a research patient database and tissue bank; a redesigned Clinical Research Center; biostatistical consultation; and expertise in regulatory compliance, ethics and scientific integrity.
   
• Educational Programs—the CTSI develops and coordinates training opportunities in clinical and translational science for faculty, staff, collaborators and community researchers. Opportunities include new Masters and PhD graduate degree programs, a K12 Career Development Award providing salary and research support for investigators from a wide range of fields, a Clinical Research Scholars Program (K30) which is a two-year guided mentored training program for junior faculty, and a T32 Predoctoral Program to support clinical research training for PhD students.
   
• Funding Research—the CTSI funds innovative, interdisciplinary programs that advance clinical and translational research, such as pilot grants for collaborative teams of researchers and core support for conducting research in novel methodologies, and technology transfer.
   
• Promoting Research Collaboration—the CTSI supports and promotes efforts to enhance interdisciplinary collaborations within the Medical College and with the partner institutions.