The mission of the Translational Research Program (TRP) is to stimulate the development of non-clinical and human clinical trials that seek to improve the care of children.
Working with the TRP
The Translational Research Program (TRP) provides support for faculty-initiated research projects along with infrastructure to get these projects done in a fast and efficient manner while seeking to improve the care of children with serious diseases.
Funding mechanisms offered by the TRP include:
- Pilot Grants: Funds are available for a one year effort to pursue and validate innovative ideas
- Career Development Grants: Funds are available to support researchers as they conduct translational studies
- The Mooney Family Initiative for Translational and Clinical Studies in Rare Diseases: To assist investigators in the execution of their early phase human trials.
- Pappendick Family Therapeutic Acceleration Award: To facilitate investigators getting their late preclinical and early clinical phase 1 studies accomplished.
- Retreats: Funds are available to foster interactions across the spectrum of research and clinical activities
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Translational Innovator Award: Funds are available to enable high-risk, high-reward innovative research
About the Translational Research Program
Founded in 2008, the TRP aims to stimulate and facilitate the development of preclinical and, ultimately, human translational trials seeking to improve the care of children with serious diseases.
The Translational Research Program (TRP) is led by Mustafa Sahin, MD, PhD, director, and Judy Fleming, PhD, associate director. Sahin is both a leading expert on the molecular structure of the brain and a pioneer in an exciting wave of translational studies testing drugs that may improve cognitive outcomes in genetically based neurodevelopmental disorders. A foremost expert on tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) — a disease whose complications include autism and epilepsy — Sahin’s team investigates mutations implicated in neurodevelopmental disorders. He leads a 10-center NIH-funded study of three rare genetic syndromes that often cause autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and intellectual disability (ID). The study’s ultimate goal is to launch clinical trials of new treatments and develop reliable biomarkers that can be used to monitor treatment effectiveness — for three rare syndromes and possibly for broader groups of ASD/ID patients.
Fleming trained as a cell and molecular biologist, Judy did her dissertation work on protein transport in platelets and endothelial cells with Denise Wagner, PhD, at the Center for Blood Research (now known as Immune Disease Institute), and received her PhD from Tufts Medical School. Fleming then spent seven years at Boston Children's, investigating the biochemical and genetic defects in the rare thiamine-responsive megaloblastic anemia syndrome. Leaving Boston Children's in 2004, Judy went on to Merck & Co. at their Boston site, as a senior research biologist in the Cancer Biology and Therapeutics group. In May 2008, Judy returned to Boston Children's and joined the TRP as the Associate Director.
Learn more about the TRP and offered funding opportunities by visiting the main TRP website.