Clinical Research Center Helps Enhance Science, Accomplish Goals
The needs of clinical researchers are vast, ranging from nursing and bionutrition, to body composition and bioinformatics. Thanks to the General Clinical Research Center (GCRC), all of these resources and more are available to researchers at Cincinnati Children's.
One of 78 such centers throughout the United States, the GCRC is funded by the National Institutes of Health to conduct clinical research. It is one of just eight centers housed at a pediatric facility.
Bedside Research
A 12-bed inpatient unit and ambulatory care facility, the GCRC spans nearly 11,000 square feet right on the main campus of Cincinnati Children's. "One of the main features of the GCRC is that investigators conduct their research at the bedside," says director James Heubi, MD. "The investigator and the patient are in the same room." For pediatric patients who cannot be hospitalized or seen as an outpatient in the research center, support is available with the use of "scatter" beds for research purposes in the medical center's intensive care units.
This issue of Research Horizons takes a look at some of the many researchers from Cincinnati Children's who use the services offered by the GCRC. Dr. Huebi says his recent study could not have been done without the GCRC. Larry Dolan, MD, used the core laboratory for his research into pediatric diabetes. And Shari Wade, PhD, has used the center's services for studies on traumatic brain injury.
"The coding is incredibly time-consuming," Dr. Wade says. The GCRC is helping her track social, environmental and family influences on recovery from brain injury. "They have skilled people who are a consistent source of support. Their stability in providing resources has been helpful."
Fostering Collaboration
Since its inception in 1963, more than 25,000 infants, children, adolescents and adults have received care in the center. Researchers take advantage of the following services offered by the center:
- Behavioral Core Services
- Biostatistics Core
- Body Composition Core
- Biochemistry Core
- Sample Processing Laboratory
- Informatics Core
- Nutrition Research Services
- Research Nursing
Multidisciplinary groups of pediatric, surgical, obstetrical and internal medicine subspecialists have drawn on these resources to conduct research studies in numerous special interest areas.
Dr. Dolan appreciates this opportunity to collaborate with other researchers. "The GCRC offers interaction with other investigators; this is a big place, so the GCRC offers a place to find out what others are doing. That enhances science," he says. He values the resources the GCRC provides to investigators and stresses that the center can enhance projects and help researchers accomplish their goals. "The GCRC allows you to be as independent as possible, but helps when you need it. It seeds new projects and allows for cross-fertilization of others," he says, "and that grows everyone."
