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General Clinical Research Unit |
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The General Clinical Research Unit boasts a staff of over 20 persons in support
of inpatient and outpatient, adult and pediatric investigations into the cause,
progression, prevention, control and cure of human disease.
The Center, which is part of the BU-BRIDGE, serves as a resource providing a clinical
research environment to investigators funded by NIH in addition to those conducting
innovative clinical research pilot studies prior to requests for private or government
funding. The Center is also available for projects funded in whole or in part by
pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies.
The General Clinical Research Unit supports research services, specialized laboratories,
and a clinical research-training program for all BU staff—including investigators
in Medicine, Surgery, Psychiatry, Behavioral Sciences, Dentistry and Public Health.
The facility provides investigators in medicine and dentistry with the following:
the ability to conduct pharmacokinetic studies in a controlled environment with
both adult and pediatric inpatients and outpatients; the resources for timed collection
of specimens and repetitive tests (e.g. polysomnography, stress tests, bone density,
etc.); the expertise to conduct esoteric laboratory testing; a bioinformatics core
faculty able to assist with statistical design, data management and analysis; a
private environment to explore patterns of behavior; and a primary location for
the education of future physicians, scientists and nutritionists in patient-oriented
research.
The Center has been continuously funded for more than forty years and serves nationally
recognized researchers. In 2007, the Center had over 9,000 outpatient visits. More
than 3,700 patients participated in over 95 protocols. 63% of these patients were
white, 37% minority, and 7% were children less than 21 years old. At BUMC, the GCRC
is the operational entity and the place for NIH funded researchers to do bench to
bedside research and for physician scientists to address the full spectrum of health
issues facing individuals.
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