CCaTS: Accelerating discoveries toward better health
Mayo Clinic Center for Clinical and Translational Science (CCaTS) is a central hub for institutional advancement of research and education at Mayo Clinic. The center provides tools and expert consultation to support every aspect of medical research, including basic discovery science, clinical and community-engaged research, and late-stage application and commercialization.
CCaTS is led by Sundeep Khosla, M.D., principal investigator and director of CCaTS and dean for clinical and translational science at Mayo Clinic. David O. Warner, M.D., is co-principal investigator and associate director of CCaTS, and is also principal investigator of the KL2 mentored career development grant. Anthony J. Windebank, M.D., is principal investigator of the TL1 predoctoral training grant.
News
Translational Product Development Fund awards
Three Mayo Clinic projects are among the four chosen this year to receive awards from the Translational Product Development Fund. This award recognizes medical research with commercial potential that shows promise to positively impact the health of people living in Minnesota.
Read more in CCaTS' News section.
Two kidney disease therapies square off in Membranous Nephropathy Trial of Rituximab (MENTOR) trial
Membranous nephropathy is a disease that, if untreated, leads to the need for kidney transplant. However, there are problems with current therapies. For nearly a decade, Fernando C. Fervenza, M.D., Ph.D., has been part of a study team trying to find better ways to use medication to treat this condition.
Now, he is a corresponding author on the MENTOR study, published in July in the New England Journal of Medicine, comparing remission rates for two existing treatments for membranous nephropathy: cyclosporine and rituximab. In the study, Dr. Fervenza and co-authors compared remission rates for the two treatments; their findings were surprising.
Read more on Mayo's Discovery's Edge blog.
Training the new scientists of aging
The emerging field of geroscience is about finding the fundamental causes of aging. It may be able to delay or prevent age-related diseases as a group, rather than one condition at a time. The wrinkle: While there are upward of 7,000 geriatricians in the U.S., only a handful are prepared to do geroscience. To address this shortage, Mayo Clinic is unveiling a first-of-its-kind geroscience training program.
Read more on Mayo's Discovery's Edge blog.
Researcher challenges her team to develop solution for health crisis in Congo
Amidst an ongoing humanitarian crisis of widespread sexual violence, cervical cancer — caused by human papillomavirus (HPV) — has become the leading cause of cancer-related death among women in Congo. Marina R. Walther-Antonio, Ph.D., and her team have made great strides in developing an easy-to-use, affordable home urine test that provides immediate results for HPV detection.
Read more on Mayo's Advancing the Science blog.
Learn about Mayo Clinic's special populations research
CCaTS' Integrating Special Populations Program connects Mayo Clinic researchers with populations that have been historically underrepresented and underserved in health research.
Visit the new Integrating Special Populations Program page to learn more.