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About The GCRC
The
General Clinical Research Center (GCRC) provides a wealth of research resources
for the Boston University Medical Center’s basic and clinical scientists
as part of the Clinical and Translational Science Institute. The GCRC 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 is funded by grant, 1U1RR025771, to the Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) from the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR), National Institutes of Health (NIH). Its primary purpose is to provide a clinical research environment to investigators funded by NIH and to those conducting innovative clinical research pilot studies prior to requests for private or government funding. The Center also is available for projects funded in whole or in part by pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies.
The BUMC General Clinical Research Center 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 in 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 with professionals to assist with statistical design, data management and analysis a private environment to explore patterns of behavior the location for 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 physician scientists to address the full spectrum of health issues facing individuals.
