Columbia's Irving Institute Secures $75 Million CTSA Renewal to Advance AI-Driven Translational Research
Key Insights
Columbia University's Irving Institute received a seven-year, $75 million Clinical and Translational Science Award from NCATS at NIH, marking its fifth consecutive CTSA grant since 2006.
The funding will launch a first-of-its-kind pilot program using AI-assisted tools and community health workers to return individual research results to study participants.
New investments will enhance AI and data science capabilities including a tri-institutional Data Lake House, federated learning infrastructure, and clinical data phenotyping tools.
Columbia University's Irving Institute for Clinical and Translational Research (search) has been awarded a seven-year, $75 million Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) from the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (search) (NCATS) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The renewal marks the fifth consecutive CTSA grant awarded to Columbia since 2006 and brings the institution's total NIH CTSA Program funding to $288 million.
"This renewal enhances Columbia's capabilities to accelerate translation of basic discoveries and clinical trials into patient care," said Muredach Reilly, MBBCh, MSCE, director of the Irving Institute and vice dean for clinical and translational research at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons (VP&S). "Over the next seven years, we are especially focused on building the scientific tools and community partnerships needed to improve human health across the lifespan for the patients and communities in Upper Manhattan and our nation."
AI-Powered Innovation in Research and Participant Engagement
A centerpiece of the new grant is a first-of-its-kind pilot program designed to return individual research results to study participants using AI-assisted tools combined with community health worker support. This initiative reflects a growing emphasis on bi-directional communication between researchers and the communities they serve.
The grant will also advance CUIMC's AI and data science capabilities for research through several strategic investments, including a tri-institutional Data Lake House, federated learning infrastructure, clinical data phenotyping tools, and embedded clinical trial systems. These technological enhancements aim to streamline the translational research process and enable more efficient data-driven discoveries.
Community Partnerships and Workforce Development
The award strengthens collaboration with local communities through the Stakeholders in Translational Research (STAR) Ambassadors and Community Health Workers programs, ensuring bi-directional learning and decision-making between researchers and community stakeholders.
Significant resources are also allocated to training and professional development for investigators across career stages—from PhD trainees to senior faculty—as well as allied research personnel. New programming will focus on AI for research, team science, grant development, mentorship, and research leadership.
Two Decades of Translational Science Leadership
Founded in 2006, the Irving Institute was among the first 12 academic medical centers in the United States to receive CTSA grant funding. Previous awards include $54 million in 2006, $38.9 million in 2011, $58.4 million in 2016, and $61.7 million in 2021.
"The Irving Institute is instrumental in driving groundbreaking healthcare discoveries and training the next generation of scientific leaders," said James McKiernan, MD, interim dean of the faculties of health sciences at VP&S and executive vice president for health and biomedical sciences at Columbia University. "Sustaining this work for over two decades, and earning a fifth consecutive CTSA grant, reflects the caliber of the people and partnerships Columbia has built around translational science."
The grant also expands Columbia's reach through the national CTSA network, ensuring that innovations developed at the institution are adopted, sustained, and scaled beyond the university. The CTSA Program, led by NCATS at NIH, supports a national network of medical research institutions working collaboratively to improve the translational research process and accelerate the movement of research discoveries into health solutions.