VCU Establishes Office of Clinical Trials

By Anne Buckley

Virginia Commonwealth University has established the VCU Clinical Trials Office to facilitate all clinical trials — regardless of sponsorship — by centralizing access to information, services and operational resources for conducting safe and efficient clinical trials.  

The VCU Clinical Trials Office is a component of the VCU Center for Clinical and Translational Research, home of the prestigious $20 million National Institutes of Health grant that made VCU part of a nationwide consortium of research institutions working to turn laboratory discoveries into treatments for patients.

From study feasibility and budgeting through operational support, the VCU Clinical Trials Office has services designed for all stages of a clinical trial.

“The VCU Clinical Trials Office is an important step in our concerted effort to provide greater tangible support for all researchers at VCU in their quest to discover the causes and cures of diseases,” said John Clore, M.D., director of the VCU Center for Clinical and Translational Research. “Providing this kind of expertise, support and guidance under one entity for those engaged in clinical research will overcome barriers and help to reduce the time it takes for discoveries to go from the bench to the bedside.”

In addition to the new Clinical Trials Office, the VCU CCTR recently added two new resources:

• http://www.clinicaltrials.vcu.edu  – The first VCU website designed specifically for potential research volunteers, cataloging all clinical trial opportunities ongoing at VCU.
• VCU ResearchMatch, http://www.cctr.vcu.edu/researchmatch - where persons interested in volunteering as research participants can participate in the first national, disease-neutral volunteer recruitment registry.