Fred C. Rothstein, MD,
President and Chief Executive Officer,
University Hospitals
Case Medical Center

This month, I would like to take the opportunity to highlight the important work of the Center for Clinical Research (CCR) at University Hospitals Case Medical Center (UHCMC) and the vital role the CCR plays in improving healthcare through research initiatives in our academic medical center.

For more than a decade, the CCR has provided an infrastructure that facilitates programmatic growth in the responsible conduct of research across 24 academic and clinical disciplines within UH and the Case School of Medicine. As the clinical research arm of UHCMC,the CCR focuses on translational studies, taking fundamental advances in biomedical exploration and applying them to health care improvements. By facilitating the delivery of bench-to-bedside medicine that is so important in today’s healthcare environment, the CCR enables UH to pursue our mission – To Heal. To Teach. To Discover.

UH’s historic affiliation agreement with Case further supports CCR and will continue to ensure the advancement of the discovery component of our mission. Together, UHCMC and Case were awarded $193 million in funding from the National Institutes of Health in 2005. Combined, our institutions form Ohio’s largest center for biomedical research.

The CCR provides a comprehensive Human Research Protection Program (HRPP) to investigators through 22 full-time experienced administrative research staff in Human Research Subjects Protection (including the Institutional Review Board (IRB) and the Research Privacy Board (RPB); Grants Administration; Research Compliance and Education; and Technology Management.

It is through this infrastructure and support that more than 1,700 active research protocols and 800 grants and contracts are managed at any given time. Research Compliance evaluates protocols prospectively monitoring at least 15 percent of the 6,000 patients involved in clinical studies and the IRB grants more than 3,000 approvals each year to affirm institutional approval of clinical research. This activity results in approximately $25 million in clinical research trial funding awarded directly to UH annually and approximately $100 million in clinical and translational research funding awarded to Case for research conducted at UH.

The CCR is committed to growing research responsibly in the most efficient manner possible. Toward that end, the group strives for continuous improvement, exceeding the national 60-day average approval process for sponsored project contracts by nearly 50 percent and continuing to exceed IRB benchmarks on a consistent basis. As a result, we have seen a signifi cant increase in research funding realized to UH, from over $12 million in 2000 to a projected $26.4 million in 2006, and the number of active grants at UH increased from 371 in 2002 to 816 in 2005.

Finally, the CCR’s work refl ects UH’s commitment to serving our community, offering patients direct access to a wide range of clinical trials including cancer, cardiology, mental health, pediatrics and women’s health. The CCR is also committed to providing education and training to investigators, research administrators and research staff on the responsible conduct of research.

Our Center for Clinical Research is a key factor in our ability to continue to push the boundaries of medical innovation and therefore bring the most advanced therapy to the patients we serve.

Sincerely,
Fred C. Rothstein, MD
President & Chief Executive Officer
University Hospitals Case Medical Center