Philadelphia — The Institute for Translational Medicine and Therapeutics (ITMAT) of the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania received a $55 million renewal from the NIH in recognition for their success during the first five years of the Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSA) program. The CTSAs are administered by the National Center for Research Resources.

ITMAT's application ranked first among competing institutes in the nationwide NIH evaluation among academic medical centers that first received a CTSA in 2006. The 2011 renewal funding totals $498 million. There are now 60 institutes who have received CTSAs over the last five years.

"ITMAT — the world's first institute dedicated to translational research — has been able to combine funds from the CTSA with investment by the Perelman School of Medicine at Penn and the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia [CHOP] to support the development of programs, the provision of infrastructure, and a suite of educational programs, including the Masters in Translational Research," says ITMAT director Garret A. FitzGerald, M.D. "The CTSA application reflects the exemplary teamwork of investigators drawn from many schools at Penn, and our partners in the Wistar Institute, Monell Chemical Senses Center, and the University of the Sciences of Philadelphia."

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