August 2026
Issue 2
Letter from the JCTS Editor
I have spent much of my career trying to make clinical research faster, more efficient, and more useful. Lately, I have been wondering whether we are approaching a much bigger change than simply going faster.
Pragmatic, embedded, and decentralized trials are moving research into the places where people actually receive care. At the same time, care itself is changing. Telehealth, virtual care, electronic health records, remote monitoring, and digital technologies increasingly make the healthcare environment measurable with data available in digital form. And now AI is arriving with the potential to interpret all that information at extraordinary speed.
I don’t think these are separate revolutions.
Put them together and we can imagine something beyond the traditional learning health system: an integrated learning research and health system in which research happens within care, care generates evidence, evidence becomes knowledge, and that knowledge changes the next care delivered. Then we learn again. Instead of thinking about translation as a long journey from discovery to implementation, perhaps we should start thinking about a continuous cycle capable of learning at machine speed.
That possibility is exciting – and scary. Moving faster does not necessarily mean learning better. We still need rigorous designs, meaningful outcomes, representative populations, trustworthy data, thoughtful governance, and evidence that our innovations actually improve health. That is where clinical and translational science comes in.
We will not arrive at this future in one giant leap. We will get there through thousands of experiments, innovations, failures, adaptations, and lessons learned along the way. JCTS wants to publish that journey.
If you are building one of those pieces, we want to hear what you are learning.
Chris Lindsell, PhD
Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Clinical and Translational Science
ACTS Updates
Translational Science 2027 Call for Proposals
Don't forget that submissions for Translational Science 2027 proposals are now open! This is your chance to contribute your research and other institutional projects to our educational program. The portal for scientific session proposals closes on Monday, September 14, 2026. Submissions for poster abstracts will remain open until Monday, October 19, 2026. Visit our website for the full set of accepted topics and submission requirements.
Translational Science 2027 will be held in Washington, DC from April 20-23, 2027. Start making your plans to join us today!
CCTS Wants to Hear from You!
The Coalition for Clinical and Translational Science (CCTS) is looking for impact stories to continue sharing through our website and advocacy packets we provide to Congressional leaders. Stories should highlight the CTSA impact, the science and supporting data, and who the science serves. Not sure where to get started? Check out this example, then send your stories to info@coalition4cts.org.
Partner News
News from the Hill
Congress has adjourned for the annual August recess. The House left DC early, on July 24, after passing several partisan measures, including a Continuing Appropriations Resolution (CR) to keep the government open and operating past the October 1 start of the Fiscal Year till December 4. The Senate stayed in town until August 7, and focused on confirming nominees, which included a new Director for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. By all accounts, the new CDC leader, Dr. Schwartz, is a traditional choice, and a career public servant with a strong background in public health and prevention. Dr. Schwartz’s confirmation will ensure that ongoing leadership vacancies at CDC are filled and that the NIH Director (who was previously overseeing both agencies) can refocus on addressing issues at NIH and committing appropriated funding for grants.
"News from the Hill" briefings are generously provided by our advocacy partners from the Health and Medicine Counsel
Stories from our Members
Yale Researchers Identify New Strategy to Protect the Brain in Type 1 Diabetes
Insulin is a cornerstone of treatment for patients with type 1 diabetes, essential for lowering blood glucose levels. However, if insulin doses are not appropriately matched to the body’s needs, glucose levels can fall too low, resulting in hypoglycemia, a common and potentially dangerous complication of treatment. Hypoglycemia can impair thinking and cause symptoms ranging from dizziness and confusion to loss of consciousness.
New research from Yale School of Medicine, published in Diabetes, identifies a potential new strategy for protecting the brain from the cognitive effects of hypoglycemia in people with type 1 diabetes.
Red blood cells inspire next-generation therapeutic nanocarriers
Red blood cells serve as the foundation for nanocarriers that show promise in a new study as effective and efficient vehicles for gene therapy, tumor targeting and other medical treatments.
Scientists at The Ohio State University showed that the engineered extracellular vesicles could evade immune cells and target cancer cells, two capabilities that could improve the delivery of future therapies.
The technology offers exceptional flexibility: By assembling the vesicles from red blood cell lipids using microfluidics, researchers were able to package cargo ranging from genetic material and proteins to whole viruses used in gene therapy.
Want to see your institution's stories featured in this section? Head to our story submission form to share your recent articles!
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Professional Development
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