Strategies for a National Evaluation of the Clinical and Translational Science Awards.

Th e Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) Program is the largest initiative funded by the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). To ensure accountability and a thorough and appropriate evaluation of the eff ects of an initiative of this scope, the NIH has required that the evaluation be multifaceted, multidimensional, and integrated to an unprecedented degree. Specifi cally, it has required that the evaluation include local evaluations at each of the 60 award sites, a national evaluation across all 60 sites, and collaboration across sites to identify metrics for each key function and activity undertaken at various levels. Because of the complexity of the award program, the approach to evaluation includes local institutional evaluations, an external program evaluation, and the activities of the Evaluation Key Function Committee, a cross CTSA eff ort carried out at the CTSA consortium level.