The Buffalo Translational Consortium continues to evolve and impact community health

Founded in 2009, the Buffalo Translational Consortium (BTC) brings together the Western New York region’s leading healthcare and research institutions, key community partners, and University at Buffalo academic institutions, with UB’s Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) serving as the hub for the consortium.

Leaders from each member institution also serve on the CTSI Board, and as CTSI Director Timothy F. Murphy, MD, explains, the voices of these individuals help guide CTSI strategies and priorities.

“The institutions of the BTC have worked together over the years in a variety of domains,” Murphy says. “The BTC creates better integration of healthcare and research by engaging key stakeholders, including healthcare providers, community leaders and researchers. Each institution brings specialized expertise to the group and our quarterly meetings create an excellent opportunity for communication and guidance to the CTSI.”

BTC member institutions cover four categories: University at Buffalo Health Sciences Schools, Clinical Institutions, Research Institutes, and Community Partners. All share a commitment to performing research with a vision to improve health and reduce health disparities in the community.

“Since its formation, the BTC has strategically expanded in an effort to increase our reach throughout the community,” Murphy says. “We want the research supported by the CTSI to benefit the community, aligning with our overarching goal to improve the health of our community. Each of our community partners helps us accomplish this ambitious goal by engaging key stakeholders in multiple sectors of the community.”

New members, broad impact

The latest addition to the Clinical Institutions category is Great Lakes Integrated Network (GLIN), a clinically integrated network of over 900 healthcare providers and two healthcare systems that are already BTC members — Kaleida Health and Erie County Medical Center — that work together to improve access and the coordination and delivery of patient care.

The Community Partners category includes two new members. One of these is CoNECT (Community Network for Engagement, Connection and Transformation), a network of frontline workers, community organizers, and advocates in the areas of healthcare, housing, education, environment, food access, and social services. CoNECT includes the Community Health Worker Network of Buffalo.

Another addition to the Community Partners group is the Erie County Department of Health (ECDOH). The stated mission of the ECDOH is to promote and protect the health, safety, and well-being of Erie County residents through active prevention, education, enforcement, advocacy, and partnerships.

Lastly, added to the Research Institutes category is the UB Institute for Artificial Intelligence and Data Science (IAD). The IAD brings together researchers, labs, institutes, and centers of excellence at UB that are focused on advancements in AI, data science, computational science, and related areas of research to tackle complex, pressing societal issues of today and the future.

Murphy says the new additions to the BTC build on existing partnerships that will further lead to broad impact.

“Working with GLIN allows us to bring clinical trials to community practices and particularly rural practices,” he says. Referring to CoNECT, Murphy says “many of our BTC researchers collaborate with community health workers on research projects.” Extensive partnerships with Erie County Department of Health have taken place for many years. And partnering with the IAD, Murphy believes, is essential as “AI is changing how medicine is practiced and how research is performed. We want to take advantage of this growing technology as researchers, and we also want to be vigilant when it comes to the risks associated with AI.”

Increased collaboration

The range of institutions in the BTC has led to increased partnerships between researchers. And as healthcare evolves, the consortium lineup evolves with it.

“The BTC has had a catalytic impact on collaboration among university, healthcare, and community stakeholders, resulting in better integration of healthcare and research, marked growth in clinical research, advances in clinical and translational science, enhanced community trust and engagement, and growth of our translational science workforce,” Murphy says. “We will continuously assess the make-up of the BTC, enabling us to be responsive to changes in the community and to ensure that our research stays at the cutting edge as healthcare and science inevitably advance.”

Visit the BTC page on the CTSI website for more information on the Buffalo Translational Consortium and a full rundown of member institutions.