Back       Print

CRNFA AWARDS ANNOUNCED


CTSA-Affiliated Investigators Funded for Clinical Research Network Collaboration

The National Center for Research Resources—as part of the National Institutes of Health Roadmap Initiative announces the following six recipients of the Clinical Research Network Feasibility Awards (CRNFAs). The CRNFA Program focuses on research in translational science dissemination, cost-benefit/cost-effectiveness analysis and community engagement.

CTSA Investigator Award Recipients:

  • Yale University will collaborate with the Advanced Practice Registered Nurse Research Network (APRNet) to create a larger, interdisciplinary, practice-based research network to conduct clinical research studies within the community and to facilitate the translation of research findings into clinical practice.
  • University of California, San Francisco, will join with the Children's Hospital & Research Center Oakland to improve community participation in clinical trials on thalassemia.
  • University of Michigan Institute for Clinical Health Research (MICHR) and the Michigan Primary Care Association (MPCA) will collaborate to develop tools to improve chronic disease management.
  • Duke University Medical Center and the Duke Translational Medicine Institute, along with the Research Centers in Minority Institutions Translational Research Network (RTRN), will develop standards and interoperable software for clinical data collection and management.
  • University of Pittsburgh will collaborate with the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI)-sponsored Resuscitation Outcomes Consortium (ROC) to create a Community Advisory Network that will facilitate conducting emergency care research.
  • Indiana University School of Medicine will implement a shared governance approach in a multi-institution collaboration involving the Indiana Family Practice Research Network (INET), Indiana University Primary Care Practice-Based Research Network (ResNet), and Indiana University Pediatric Practice-Based Research Network (PResNet). The goal is to improve the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of recruitment efforts in community practice settings through an exploration of the feasibility of adapting existing technologies.

Breaking Down Barriers

The awards grew out of Westat's report on network practices for the Inventory and Evaluation of Clinical Research Networks Project, a component of the NIH Roadmap Re-engineering the Clinical Research Enterprise Initiative aimed at enhancing the efficiency and productivity of the clinical research enterprise. As part of the project, Westat compiled a public online, searchable database of clinical research networks, available at https://www.clinicalresearchnetworks.org.

NIH sees collaboration within and across networks as a vital component of the transformative research enterprise. However, Westat pinpointed a number of challenges, barriers, and tensions associated with attempts at collaboration and with nurturing and sustaining them. The CRNFAs are intended to support mutually beneficial, sustainable partnerships that break down these barriers.