The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill solicited input from over 300 faculty, administrators, and other stakeholders, drawn not just from the university but across the state, to establish the North Carolina Translational and Clinical Sciences (TraCS) Institute. The TraCS Institute will transform the way research is performed in the state by partnering with communities to more rapidly and efficiently "translate" scientific discoveries into improvements in the health of citizens. The TraCS Institute has three simple goals: prepare and empower faculty, health care providers, and citizens to participate in all aspects of the process involved in translating good ideas into health advances; provide the advice and resources necessary to design and execute the best research projects; and see that the best discoveries and ideas evolving from these projects are rapidly used to solve important health problems in the state. The Translational Research Advisory Board, consisting of senior faculty from across the UNC System, will partner with communities to identify and prioritize important health issues and will call for project proposals that address these priorities. The TraCS study section, which includes community members, will prioritize and help improve project proposals contributed by over 40 units across campus and the state. A special TraCS program will make sure that best ideas that result from these projects are implemented throughout the state to improve the health of citizens.
