By Judith Fales

The University at Buffalo has all 12 of their schools working together to advance discoveries that improve the health of our community and nation. The Clinical Translational Science Institute (CTSI) was founded in 2015, and works with university departments and members of the community to speed the development of new innovations to transform the way clinical research is conducted and how health care services are delivered.

CTSI is directed by Timothy F. Murphy, MD, SUNY Distinguished Professor of Medicine and Microbiology, who is an internationally recognized expert in respiratory tract bacterial infections. In addition to the 12 UB schools, the Institute partners with Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Services, UBMD Practice Plan, Kaleida Health, Erie County Medical Center, Great Lakes Integrated Network, Buffalo VA Medical Center, the African American Health Equity Task Force, the Buffalo Center for Health Equity, and many other agencies and organizations.

Grant money received from the National Institutes of Health is used to study the differences in health delivery and outcomes among groups, including African Americans, Hispanics, the elderly, the young, people with disabilities, and people from rural and indigenous communities. Housing injustice, food insecurity, education, employment inequities, limited access to health care, exclusion from clinical research, hopelessness, decaying infrastructure, and poverty all result in disease and premature death.

Infant mortality and hospitalization rates are much higher among African American and Hispanic populations than Whites. Erie County ranks 47th out of the 62 counties in New York state in health outcomes, and the East Side of Buffalo is ranked well below the rest of the city. CTSI and other organizations founded in the last 10 years study why this is so, and develop ways to address these disparities.

Another focus for CTSI is to decrease the time between when new drugs are discovered and brought into the community. They train leaders and mentors, produce an email community newsletter to educate the public about research and health issues, and prioritize and carry out pilot studies that address health disparities. Knowing that neighborhoods have an impact on health, CTSI is working with the UB School of Architecture to recreate a neighborhood on the East Side. They also funded Sofia Learns About Research, a story and coloring book that has been translated into Spanish and Arabic, and also developed as a video game at the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Explore & More Children’s Museum. Another project being funded from 2023-2028 works to coordinate an effort with Buffalo public schools and health centers to help manage students with asthma, the most common chronic disease.

Some of CTSI’s money also funds community partnership grants headed by young researchers who are studying health issues in our community, with the goal of demonstrating their success to secure bigger grants in the future. For example, Dr. Weils-Laxer and two others are partnering with Buffalo public schools, Black Men in White Coats, Say Yes Buffalo, and Buffalo Black Nurses, Inc. to promote bystander knowledge of CPR.

Judith Fales is an editor and writer for Buffalo Healthy Living. Learn more about CTSI at https://www.buffalo.edu/ctsi.html.