Clinical research in Rhode Island just received a boost with Lifespan’s launch of a new Clinical Research Center. Based in Providence, the center will provide additional institutional resources to support investigators who are conducting clinical research across departments and medical specialties.
As this new center grows, its goals are aimed to make it easier for investigators to manage the multiple aspects of any clinical research study, such as study design and analysis, research nursing support, specimen processing and storage, medical oversight, project management and regulatory affairs support.
“I’m thrilled that we are able to take our research enterprise to the next level by launching the Clinical Research Center,” said Peter J. Snyder, PhD, Lifespan’s senior vice president and chief research officer. “By bringing together this outstanding collection of resources we intend to significantly increase the capacity of our faculty to engage in important clinical research that will improve the clinical care and lives of our patients.”
The Clinical Research Center complements Lifespan’s extensive research efforts, which attracted more than $80 million in external funding in each of the last three years. Lifespan’s research enterprise supports a total of 336,584 square feet of research space and is home to 370 faculty and more than 550 employees. The creation of the center ties together many of the organization’s existing resources, but also establishes a formal structure and setting to assist investigators.
The main part of the center will be located in the Coro Building a 270,000-square-foot building complex located adjacent to the Rhode Island Hospital campus. Coro is home to the majority of research laboratories in the Lifespan system. In addition to the center’s administrative offices, the Coro Building also includes an outpatient clinical research unit that includes five examination rooms, in a close partnership with the Division of Adolescent Medicine at Hasbro Children’s Hospital. A second outpatient unit is located in the RISE Building near The Miriam Hospital campus. This unit includes three examination rooms and immediate access to a central specimen processing lab. The new CRC will work closely with the unit at The Miriam, especially with respect to specimen processing and long-term storage.
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