The National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences has awarded a number of organizations — such as Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine — a five-year, $25 million agreement to develop the National Center for Data to Health (CD2H).

Other institutions involved include Oregon Health & Science University, Northwestern University, Washington University in St. Louis, the University of Iowa, the Jackson Laboratory, the University of Washington and Sage Bionetworks.

The CD2H is a new Clinical and Translational Science Award program, which currently includes more than 50 academic research institutions.

Its purpose is to promote interoperability standards, advance biomedical research informatics, educate CTSA program researchers on data science, boost collaborative innovation and utilize data to improve and enhance healthcare.

Individuals from four organizations — Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Oregon Health & Science University, the University of Washington, Sage Bionetworks and Northwestern University — will head up the center.

“The goal is to unlock the amazing wealth of technologies and innovation located within each individual CTSA and to create cohesive communities of practice founded on the fundamental premise that team science, data sharing and collaborative innovation can advance patient care,” Melissa Haendel, one of CD2H’s leaders and an associate professor in OHSU’s department of medical informatics and clinical epidemiology, said in a statement.

The National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences was established in 2012 as part of the National Institutes of Health. In addition to the CTSA program, it has a variety of other initiatives, including the Tissue Chip for Drug Screening program and the Rare Diseases Registry program.

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