About YCCI

In 2004, more than a year before the NIH’s Institutional Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) was announced, Robert J. Alpern, Dean and Ensign Professor of Medicine for the Yale School of Medicine, initiated a strategic planning process to evaluate and further the status of clinical and translational research at the Yale School of Medicine. Two major goals that emerged from the strategic planning process were to establish a “home” for the training of the next generation of clinical and translational scientists and to provide a robust infrastructure that will promote innovative and collaborative research directed at improving patient care.

This effort has set the stage for a “transformed” clinical research structure at Yale in the development of the new Yale Center for Clinical Investigation (YCCI). The YCCI, launched in January 2006, was created specifically to support and facilitate clinical and translational research and training across the entire medical campus. The School of Medicine was the only academic medical center in New England among the 12 institutions across the nation that received CTSAs, which total nearly $700 million over the next five years. The grants were inaugurated as part of the Roadmap for Medical Research, an ambitious effort to streamline translational research spearheaded by NIH Director Elias A. Zerhouni, M.D.

When fully implemented in 2012, the CTSA initiative is expected to provide $500 million annually to 60 centers forming a national consortium.

The goals set forth in the strategic plan are wholly consistent with the vision set forth in the YCCI Mission.

Mission

The Mission of the of YCCI is to establish a "home" for the training of the next generation of clinical and translational scientists and to provide a robust infrastructure that will promote innovative and collaborative research directed at improving patient care.

YCCI Goals include:

1. Education
   A key goal of YCCI will be to attract highly talented pre- and post-doctoral students and junior faculty members across medicine, nursing, public health, biology, and biomedical engineering; imbue them with a spirit of discovery; train them in the use of state-of-the-art research tools; give them the skills to work within complex research teams; and support their professional development while at Yale and beyond. Read more...
2. Clinical Care
   In parallel, YCCI will foster the translation of disease-related discoveries from the laboratory into the clinic and then into the community in a variety of ways:
   1. Bench to bedside
      By stimulating the creation of interdisciplinary teams of translational researchers; by providing education and advice on the best approaches for addressing specific scientific questions; by making state-of-the-art core facilities and expanded biostatistical and bioinformatics resources available to these scientists; and by developing new methods and technological advances.
   2. Clinic to community
      By establishing an organizational and regulatory infrastructure to support clinical studies; by catalyzing the formation of teams of research-oriented physicians, nurses, and epidemiologists; by integrating community clinics into the research effort; by creating a new community outreach program that brings together the Nursing School, the School of Public Health, the School of Medicine, and the Robert Wood Johnson Program; and by supporting pilot grants and clinical scholars engaged in community-based outcomes research.

YCCI is made up of these Core function groups:

For Researchers:

• Biomedical Informatics Support Services
• Biostatistics and Support Services
• Pilot Studies and Programs
• Translational Technologies and Resources

For the Community & Public:

• Community Based Research and Engagement
• Pilot Studies and Programs

For Students & Faculty:

• Education, Training & Career Development