Integrated Clinical and Research Ensemble Awards 2022

Funding Overview

The Clinical and Translational Science Institute of Southeast Wisconsin (CTSI) is pleased to open a new cycle of support for the novel Team Science-Guided Integrated Clinical and Research Ensembles (Ensemble). There is no specific disease focus for this RFA; Applicants may focus on ANY important unmet patient need.

The vision of this award is to organize and leverage clinical/translational research to improve patient health and health care. The mission of an Ensemble is to integrate clinical and research faculty, community stakeholders, and health system representatives in highly innovative and efficient units to address the unmet clinical needs of our patients and our communities, and to assist in translating basic science discoveries into treatments and interventions.

Ensembles are multidisciplinary teams formed from a variety of experts and stakeholders that may include basic, clinical and translational investigators, clinicians, patients, patient advocacy groups, community stakeholders and health system experts (Figure 1).  Ensembles conduct translational research to provide solutions to unmet health needs that may emanate from the clinic, community, and laboratory (Figure 2). This design allows for identification of real unsolved patient care problems and provides the opportunity to use multidisciplinary team science to develop solutions to these unmet patient needs.

Submission Details and Deadlines

Letter of Intent: Due by November 12, 2021
Please send a Letter of Intent (no more than one page) that indicates a team leader and potential team members and describes an important unmet patient medical need. Send Letter of Intent to Mike Anello (manello@mcw.edu) by November 12, 2021.

Proposal Development
A CTSI Project Manager will be assigned to each team that submits an LOI and will provide further details on the Ensemble process, assist in scheduling team meetings, and provide guidance on the development of an Ensemble proposal. A successful proposal will (1) describe the importance of the unmet patient medical need, (2) describe a robust team of expertise with diverse stakeholder composition (some expertise can be TBD at the time of proposal submission), and (3) describe potential products that result from the Ensemble’s research, e.g., a device, clinical process, medication, biomarker, clinical trial, extramural grant, technology, or programmatic shift, etc. Proposals should be 3-5 single-spaced pages and include no more than one page of citations. CTSI can provide recruitment assistance for teams that are seeking specific expertise.

Proposal Deadline: Rolling Submission; Application Closing Date is March 1, 2022
Teams will develop proposals with the help of CTSI Project Managers. The proposals will be accepted for review once the Project Manager indicates that the proposal is mature. The time required to develop a mature proposal is dependent on each team, but has varied in the past from 4-16 weeks.

Ensemble Review Committee Dates
The review committee will meet as necessary to review mature proposals.

Project Period
There are no end dates for this funding support. Once funding is approved, Ensembles will begin working on the delivery of potential products and provide an annual progress report. The Ensemble Review Committee will evaluate the annual progress report, and contingent upon adequate progress, funding and Project Management support will be approved for another year.

Funded Ensembles
Up to 6 Ensembles will be funded through this mechanism. Funded Ensembles will receive a $50,000 line of credit and the support of a CTSI Project Manager. Available CTSI supports will include: (1) Biostatistical Assistance with Project Design; (2) Biomedical Informatics; (3) Clinical Trial Protocol Development & Execution, (4) Community Engagement Expertise; (5) Medical Writing Expertise; (6) Team Science Training; and (7) Inter-Institutional and Interdisciplinary Connections.

Eligibility
All clinicians and investigators at CTSI partner institutions are eligible to participate in this funding opportunity. Ensemble leaders must have faculty appointment at the Medical College of Wisconsin.

Questions?
Please contact Mike Anello (manello@mcw.edu) or David Zimmerman (dzimermman@mcw.edu).