A special theme issue of the Journal of Clinical and Translational Science (JCTS) highlights the Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSA) Program’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The compilation of 14 articles reflects on how CTSA Program hubs addressed the crisis, from pivoting research to creating new programs and initiatives. It shares lessons learned and discusses which practices can continue in the future to advance translational science. Among the translational approaches discussed are: using telemedicine and remote technologies for patient care and clinical research; adapting institutional review board and informed consent processes; supporting clinicians who are navigating access to COVID-19 therapies; leveraging infrastructure to rapidly create a clinical data repository and biorepositories; engaging community partners; and reexamining the root causes of health inequities in light of COVID-19.
“We know that this will not be the last health crisis we face, and we wanted to memorialize what we did, what worked and what did not, what should be continued as common practice, and what should be avoided going forward,” write National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences’ (NCATS) Samantha Johnson, Dr. Michael Kurilla and Dr. Christopher Austin in the forward.
The issue was published in June 2021, with support from the consortium and CLIC. Read the full JCTS special issue.