October 11, 2018–NTI and the Coalition for National Trauma Research (CNTR) begin work on the National Trauma Research Action Plan (NTRAP), with the September award of a $2.7 million contract from the US Army Medical Research and Materiel Command (USAMRMC). USAMRMC provides solutions to medical problems of importance to the American service member at home and abroad, as well as to the general public.
The NTRAP, led by principal investigator Eileen Bulger, MD, will provide the framework for a coordinated research program that identifies critical gaps in trauma research and unifies and focuses research efforts across federal agencies and within the civilian and military medical sectors. Creation of the NTRAP was one of 11 recommendations made in a 2016 report issued by the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM) pursuant to the goal of reaching Zero Preventable Deaths.
Already, trauma-related societies have been asked to help identify panels of experts who will perform gap analyses across trauma-related disciplines and the full continuum of care. A project kick-off meeting for co-investigators and steering committee members is scheduled for January 2019. Other stated aims within the NTRAP contract are to define optimal long-term functional outcome metrics relative to the public health burden of disease and to identify regulatory barriers to the conduct of trauma research and develop best practices and optimal end points for clinical trial research.