State medical institute lands $38M grant from feds

A medical partnership involving some of Indiana’s biggest universities has received nearly $38 million to continue its work taking laboratory and clinical discoveries and translating them into treatments for patients.

The National Institutes of Health awarded the grant to the Indiana Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute, a partnership among Indiana University, Purdue University and University of Notre Dame.

The grant, announced Monday, will help fund the institute for the next seven years.

The Indiana University School of Medicine established the Institute in 2008 with a $25 million NIH grant, plus about $25 million in matching grants from IU, Purdue, the state of Indiana and industry partners such as Eli Lilly and Co., Roche Diagnostics and Cook Group.

Since 2008, ICTSI-funded researchers at the three partner universities have advanced discoveries in areas such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, autism, traumatic brain injury, polycystic kidney disease, and osteoporosis and osteoarthritis.

In the past 15 years, the research has also led to the publication of more than 4,000 scientific papers. They deal with a wide array of medical innovations, such as a microrobot device that removes brain hemorrhages from strokes or aneurysms (Purdue researchers); a drug delivery system to restore damages stem cells (Notre Dame researchers); and a mobile app to monitor premature babies born in Kenya and Indiana (IU School of Medicine researchers).

“The Indiana CTSI has helped Purdue biomedical engineers test new devices and make bold advancements in clinical and translational research to bring these technologies to patients,” Purdue University President Mung Chiang said in written remarks.

Notre Dame officials say the CTSI helps bring its research in fighting rare diseases, promoting global health, preventing lead poisoning and more to community health partners across the state.

The CTSI is led by co-directors at the IU School of Medicine: Dr. Sharon Moe, associate dean for clinical and translational research, and Dr. Sarah Wiehe, associate dean for community and translational research.

The leaders say their goal is to transform the state research ecosystem over the next seven years with “deliberate attention to diversity and inclusion in partnerships.” The institute also aims to “harmonize health system data” through informatics.

“The Indiana CTSI collaboration will continue to play a pivotal role in transforming and growing our statewide research ecosystem,” IU President Pamela Whitten said in written remarks.

Correction: Dr. Sharon Moe’s name was incorrectly spelled in the original version of this story.