OneFlorida Clinical Research Consortium bridges PCORnet and Florida CTSA Hubs » Clinical and Translational Science Institute

Patient-Centered Research: Citizen scientist Shirley Bloodworth discusses the OneFlorida Data Trust with professor Bill Hogan, M.D., M.S., who is a co-principal investigator of $7.9 million in funding from PCORI that aims to support patient-centered health care research throughout Florida and the country. — Patient-Centered Research: Citizen scientist Shirley Bloodworth discusses the OneFlorida Data Trust with professor Bill Hogan, M.D., M.S.

The OneFlorida Clinical Research Consortium was approved for a three-year, $7.9 million funding award by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute to support patient-centered health care research throughout Florida and the country. The consortium is a statewide partnership among the University of Florida, University of Miami, Florida State University, health care systems, health plans, providers and patients. It includes 22 hospitals, 914 clinical practices and 4,100 physicians, providing care for close to 40 percent of Floridians.

Led by co-principal investigators Betsy A. Shenkman, Ph.D., co-director of the UF Clinical and Translational Science Institute, and William Hogan, M.D., M.S., director of biomedical informatics at the UF CTSI, the PCORI funding award designates the consortium as one of 13 clinical data research networks nationwide, which are working to accelerate the translation of promising research findings into improved patient care. The clinical data research networks are part of a larger collaborative initiative called the National Patient-Centered Clinical Research Network, or PCORnet.

“The OneFlorida vision allows us to bring the health priorities of Floridians to the national research arena, which is being reshaped in significant ways as national networks like PCORnet and the National Institutes of Health’s Clinical and Translational Science Award program catalyze collaboration at a scale not possible before,” said David R. Nelson, M.D., director of the UF CTSI and co-chair of the OneFlorida Clinical Research Consortium steering committee.

Initial state and CTSA funding enabled development of infrastructure for the consortium, which now links the third largest state to two major national research networks to improve health, health care and health policy across Florida. In 2010, the FSU College of Medicine teamed up with the UF CTSI to develop new capabilities for community-based clinical research throughout Florida. As the two CTSA hubs in the state, UF and the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine have been collaborating since 2012 to integrate and expand resources for clinical research. These and other statewide collaborations coalesced in 2013 to form the OneFlorida Clinical Research Consortium. The UF CTSI continues to lead development of the consortium and will coordinate the PCORI funding award.

The funding award to the OneFlorida Clinical Research Consortium has been approved by PCORI’s Board pending completion of a business and programmatic review by PCORI staff and negotiation of a formal award contract. PCORI is an independent, nonprofit organization authorized by Congress in 2010 to fund research that will provide patients, their caregivers and clinicians with the evidence-based information they need to make better-informed health care decisions. PCORI is committed to continuously seeking input from a broad range of stakeholders to guide its work. More information is available at www.pcori.org.

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