NJ ACTS: A Platform for Translational Science in New Jersey

Abstract: After 4-years, the New Jersey Alliance for Clinical and Translational Science (NJ ACTS), a partnership among four institutions, Rutgers, Princeton Universities, the New Jersey Institute for Technology, and RWJBarnabas Health, has profoundly altered the trajectory of clinical and translational science and research across NJ.

Designated as a Hub in 2018, NJ ACTS soon faced a devastating pandemic that served as a springboard to re- imagine how we provided our services and facilitated research despite multiple logistic, staffing, recruitment, and safety challenges. From these experiences, NJ ACTS can now reimage its programs and services to catalyze

breakthroughs in practices and policies that impact health. In the next 7-years, NJ ACTS will address and overcome challenges and barriers that impede the progress of translation and the adoption of evidence-based processes that will impact the health of NJ. Our approach to providing these solutions will be accelerated by our

strengths in dissemination and implementation (D&I) science, informatics, clinical trial performance, and our ability to provide translational science services across the ecosystem. NJ ACTS seeks to advance CTS by developing, demonstrating, and disseminating best-in-class processes, services, and training that incorporate

and advance team science, diversity and inclusion, D&I science, health policy, and the learning health system. We will incorporate our diverse communities into our work, understanding their priorities and concerns. In this way and especially through more representative participant populations, we will advance our understanding of

the heterogeneity of the disease and response to therapy and address health disparities. In Aim 1, NJ ACTS will provide a sustainable infrastructure that will provide access to unique study cohorts, tools, and opportunities. Aim 2 will use our strengths in community engagement to develop innovative interdisciplinary approaches to

improve population health. Aim 3 will enhance our workforce through targeted training, recognizing their achievements through digital badging and certificates. In Aim 4, we will integrate large and disparate databases with the EHR to provide reliable, comprehensive, and shareable data for interventional or observational clinical

trial research that in turn provides a roadmap to enhance healthcare delivery in diverse individuals, communities, and populations. In partnership with the Consortium, we will propel CTS discovery, dissemination, and implementation. Success will be defined using rigorous evaluation science approaches that will provide

directions for continuous improvement.