Abstract Advancing clinical translational research requires a highly competent and well-qualified workforce of investigators and other team members who can effectively and efficiently conduct critical research. One frequent barrier to the rapid and rigorous implementation of research is inefficiencies or inconsistencies in executing needed regulatory or administrative start-up processes and in maintaining high quality assurance and control processes throughout all stages of the research process. This proposed supplement addresses this gap in the research enterprise by creating a Research Navigation position and process for the University of Illinois Center for Clinical and Translational Science (UIC CCTS) that will help to streamline and standardize oversight, processes, and training needed to ensure that all administrative and research-related material submissions to NCATS on behalf of the CCTS are of the highest quality. These process improvements will help strengthen the capacity of the UIC CCTS to rapidly implement time-sensitive and other urgent research projects, improve the overall quality of work, and help fulfill one of our primary parent grant aims of improving methods and processes related to clinical and translational research. Our expectation is that successful implementation of this proposed supplement will result in more rigorously conducted (i.e., fewer reported errors and more rapid turnaround) research and reduce redundant requests and research delays, thereby accelerating the pace of advancing the translation of new research knowledge into improving health outcomes.