Mission
The mission of the Duluth Center for Clinical and Translational Research (DCCTR) is to serve as a liaison between the College of Pharmacy, Duluth, and St. Mary’s Duluth Clinic (SMDC) Health System through its Division of Education and Research as well as the St. Luke’s Hospital (SLH) through its Whiteside Institute for Clinical Research.
Objectives
The objective of the DCCTR is to help integrate pharmaceuticals research at the College of Pharmacy, Duluth, into the clinical settings of rural health care. Additionally, the DCCTR has the responsibility to provide students from the College of Pharmacy, Duluth, with practical experience and support for their introduction into the field of clinical and translational scientific research. We plan to guide students into scientific achievements by encouraging analytical thinking, hypothesis development and testing, data analysis, manuscript preparation, and publication. In summary, the objectives are:
- To promote pharmacy based research activities.
- To bridge clinical settings and academia.
- To initiate, plan, supervise, and support practice based research.
- To attract grants and promote funding for pharmacy based research activities.
- To encourage early exposure of pharmacy students to applied research in settings which emphasize pharmacy practice and investigate medications use.
Structure
The DCCTR is located at the College of Pharmacy, Duluth, on the University of Minnesota Duluth campus with branches at St. Mary’s Duluth Clinic Health System and St. Luke’s Hospital.
Program Overview
Translational research is scientific research performed at a level that directly applies to patient care. This type of research requires free flow of information and material from the clinical environment to the research lab and back again, integrating basic science research with the current clinical practice in the community. Thus, translational research has the potential for tremendous societal impact.
Currently, the DCCTR is focused on the assessment of current antibiotic regimens and the ability to reach effective target drug levels for treating diseases caused by locally occurring bacterial strains. Furthermore, the center seeks to monitor future changes in local strains so that drug target levels can be amended not only to achieve success within particular patients and the population but with an eye toward minimizing further selection of resistant bacterial populations. Avoiding the selection/creation of drug resistant bacterial strains is critical in order to preserve our ability to use the drug arsenal we currently have available to us, rather than relying on the slow process of new drug development to stay ahead of the appearance of such bacterial strains.
St. Luke’s Hospital and St. Mary’s Duluth Clinic Health System are two major health care facilities in northeastern Minnesota. Each has an entity which the DCCTR can connect with to facilitate exchange of scientific and clinical information.
By working as a team, the academic and health care communities of Duluth seek to support local research, attract funding for clinical and translational research in the use of pharmaceuticals, and augment patient care information available to local physicians.
Laboratory
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