Medical College gets $20 million national grant

The Medical College of Wisconsin will receive $20 million to create a biomedical research consortium to accelerate development of new medical treatments.

The National Institutes of Health announced today it has awarded a grant that will bring together medical expertise from eight Milwaukee-area institutions. The funds will administered by a new academic entity called the Clinical and Translational Science Institute of Southeast Wisconsin.

The consortium will work to advance the new academic discipline of clinical and translational sciences. Professionals in this area act as translators who explain how the complex laboratory findings can be used in the hospital setting. Then they describe patient and clinic problems that need solving to researchers.

Training programs will be developed to improve elementary and high school science programs, and foster students' interest in medical research careers.

Wauwatosa-based Children's Hospital and Health System, Froedtert Hospital and the Blood Center of Wisconsin will participate in the consortium.

Other members are Marquette University, Milwaukee School of Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Clement J. Zablocki VA Medical Center.