Advocates of translational research have gained a powerful ally in Harvard Catalyst. As its name suggests, this center for translational and clinical science sparks collaborations among researchers throughout Harvard’s 11 schools and 17 affiliated hospitals and institutes, many of whom have never worked together before. Harvard Catalyst provides the investigators with funding and resources that enable them to pool knowledge from their disparate fields, with the goal of applying basic science discoveries to human health. In short, the center is a facilitator for translational research.

“We don’t help cure human disease,” explained Harvard Catalyst’s director, Lee Nadler, HMS dean for clinical and translational research.“We help connect the researchers who want to cure human disease.”

Harvard Catalyst may be best known for the pilot grants it awards: the center has funded 127 projects since last fall. The diverse research teams supported by the grants include neonatologists and microbiologists, informatics experts and endocrinologists, and cancer vaccine specialists and polymer engineers. Together, these and other specialists are making bench-to-bedside advances: one basic scientist who discovered an anticoagulant protein in the E. coli bacterium, for example, has joined with clinicians to explore developing that protein into a new class of blood-thinning drugs (see “Novel Blood Thinners…”).

Spinning the Web

Key to this progress has been the creation of Harvard Catalyst’s website, which connects researchers and facilitates teamwork by detailing investigators’ expertise and latest discoveries. An updated search engine scours the site’s pages, applications and databases to help visitors locate people, publications, clinical trials and core facilities affiliated with Harvard. Last September, a new application was added that helps investigators find and secure funding by giving them collaborative, web-based tools for identifying opportunities, building project teams and developing proposals. The application, Grant Central, continues Harvard Catalyst’s mission of removing barriers to research by streamlining the grant process (see Focus, Oct. 2, 2009).

This spirit of cooperation is also fostered by the eagle-i Consortium, a new national discovery program for research resources that aims to help investigators across the country share scientific resources critical to advancing clinical and translational research, such as technologies, animal models, equipment, and cell and tissue banks. The consortium, which includes eight institutions in addition to Harvard, is being funded by a two-year, $15 million stimulus grant.

Harvard Catalyst’s work, however, does not end with these collaborations. The center also supports researchers by providing access to a team of biostatisticians and other experts who help design, execute and analyze studies; shared laboratory space; and resources and facilities for clinical research. In December, Harvard Catalyst further smoothed the research process by helping to create the Reciprocal Common IRB Reliance Agreement, a framework that allows investigators to request that only one institutional review board oversee proposed multicenter studies at HMS and affiliated institutions (see Focus, Dec. 4, 2009).

Teaching Translation

Training the next generation of translational scientists by providing them with a well-defined curriculum in clinical investigation is a priority as well. “We’re revolutionizing our education program by integrating the School’s master’s programs and offering more courses to help investigators apply laboratory research to human subjects,” said Elliott Antman, director of the Harvard Catalyst Postgraduate Education Program. “We want young researchers to come in with a baseline of knowledge and leave with the comprehensive knowledge needed to succeed as a clinical investigator.”

With translational research an important component of the School’s Strategic Planning Initiative, Harvard Catalyst continues to play a crucial role, said Dean Jeffrey Flier. “These are the next generations of researchers we’re helping train and connect,” he said. “This work will be transformative.”