The Health Transformation Research Institute (HTRI) at Dell Medical School
HTRI provides leadership and infrastructure to support robust, innovative and world-class clinical and late-stage (T2-T5) translational research.
HTRI primarily supports Dell Medical School researchers and learners conducting translational investigation, although also seeks to build bridges with UT main translational and basic research scientists, Ascension, CommUnityCare, and other research and healthcare providers. The development of an integrated learning health system in which research is embedded in, drives and reinforces excellence in clinical, educational and community-focused missions.
Alison G. Cahill, M.D., M.S.C.I., is the Director of the Health Transformation Research Institute and a Professor of Women’s Health. She is a perinatologist and clinician-scientist, and is widely recognized for her outcomes-based research which focuses on pregnancy and labor and delivery management and the impact on maternal and child health.
Offerings
Rationale and Purpose
A vibrant research ecosystem is critical to ensuring that the educational and clinical missions of Dell Medical School are at the leading edge and inform the improved health of the community, as well as serving as a backbone for supporting learning health systems. A medical student or resident who is not exposed to the full range of research endeavors that form the basis of advances in patient care and population health is simply not prepared to lead in medicine. Similarly, the highest quality clinical care is grounded in a culture of inquiry and iterative improvement, and the public has a high regard for clinical care in settings with rich research environments, both because they view these environments as a sign of high quality and because of the opportunity to enroll in new therapies through clinical trials. In addition, the success of a learning health system rests heavily on research and research methods (e.g. the application of scientific methods to understand effects of care delivery changes on quality of care, outcomes, and costs). Not surprisingly, a list of Academic Medical Centers viewed as leading system transformation compiled by the AAMC is almost exclusively composed of those with significant research portfolios. (AAMC1; AAMC2)
A learning health system relies in part on the ability to conduct both pragmatic and traditional clinical trials, as well as high-quality observational investigations, with the ability to quickly implement and disseminate results such that improvements in health can be measured in the cohort at risk. A health transformation research institute that provides the necessary infrastructure, scientific home and prioritized scientific direction is central to this mission. The mission of the HTRI is to support the future direction of 1) scalable clinical trials, 2) high-quality observational research that includes dissemination and implementation with measured outcomes, and 3) training current and future investigators in meaningful clinical trial and observational science. Importantly, a major goal of a learning health system is to improve the health of the community served by Dell Med, not only through the improvement of health care delivery, but also through developing and testing interventions that occur outside of the health care setting (e.g. in schools, communities, and/or homes).
Areas of Focus
- Educating & training the next generation of health-focused scientists, including in the execution of clinical and population research, in collaboration with the Biomedical Data Science Hub
- Improving access to electronic health data for faculty and trainee investigators
- Building bridges for researchers across UT to maximize research opportunities
- Fostering a culture of inquiry and investigation to maximize impact of work across Dell Med's education, care and community-focused pillars
- Assisting faculty in navigating logistical needs to ensure successful study execution