Emergency Medicine Resources Within the Clinical Translational Science Institutes: A Cross-sectional Study

Background The Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) program aims to strengthen and support translational research by accelerating the process of translating laboratory discoveries into treatments for patients, training a new generation of clinical and translational researchers, and engaging communities in clinical research efforts. Yet, little is known about how emergency care researchers have interacted with and utilized the resources of academic institutions with CTSAs. Objectives The purpose of this survey was to describe how emergency care researchers use local CTSA resources, to ascertain what proportion of CTSA consortium members have active emergency care research (ECR) programs, and to solicit participation in a national CTSA-associated emergency care translational research network. Methods This study was a survey of all emergency departments affiliated with a CTSA. Results Of the 65 CTSA consortium members, three had no ECR program and we obtained responses from 46 of the remaining 62 (74% response rate). The interactions with and resources used by emergency care researchers varied widely. Methodology and biostatistics support was most frequently accessed (77%), followed closely by education and training programs (60%). Several ECR programs (76%) had submitted for funding through CTSAs, with 71% receiving awards. Most CTSA consortium members had an active ECR infrastructure: 21 (46%) had 24/7 availability to recruit and screen for research, and 21 (46%) had less than 24/7 research recruitment. A number of emergency care research programs participated in National Institutes of Health research networks with the Neurological Emergencies Treatment Trials network most highly represented with 23 (59%) sites. Most ECR programs (96%) were interested in participating in a CTSA-based emergency care translational research network. Conclusions Despite little initial involvement in development of the CTSA program, there has been moderate interaction between CTSAs and emergency care. There is considerable interest in participating in a CTSA consortium-based emergency care translational research network.