Morehouse School of Medicine (MSM), the third youngest medical school in the nation, was granted accreditation as a four-year medical school in 1985. Basic science research activity and capability at MSM, particularly through the Research Centers in Minority Institutions (RCMI) program, have been expanding very rapidly. In its formative years, MSM's clinical faculty recruiting emphasized interest and experience in teaching and service, however, with the increase in clinical faculty, it is now possible for MSM to develop its clinical research activities and capabilities. The urgency to accomplish this institutional goal has been heightened by the federally recognized deficiencies in the area of African-American health and the number of minority researchers involved in health research. Thus, MSM, a predominantly African-American Institution which serves a large African-American population, proposes to create a clinical research center. The goals of the MSM RCMI Clinical Research Infrastructure Initiative (RCRII) are: 1. to develop the infrastructure necessary to conduct clinical research; 2. to increase the number of clinical faculty involved in research and their level of research productivity; 3. to increase the collaboration between basic science and clinical researchers at MSM [initial goal] and extramurally [long term goal]; 4. to position MSM for full participation in the national GCRC program.
The specific aims to achieve these goals are: i)to establish the physical facility that will be identified as the """"""""Clinical Research Center""""""""; ii) to recruit core clinical and administrative staff and procure equipment and supplies needed to support the Center's research initiatives; iii) to commence clinical research within the first year of funding; iv) to increase the number of clinical researchers and publications in the biomedical and preventive medicine aspects of infection caused by the Human Immunodeficiency Virus [HIV], Cardiovascular disease(CVD] and Cancer; v) to increase the number of basic science- clinical research collaborative efforts; VI) to establish a research development program for clinical faculty vii) to develop a clinical research plan for years 2-5 by the end of the first year of operation;. The methodology for achieving the specific aims are: a) physical facility - - funds for the building that will contain the Center have been secured and construction is underway. Some Laboratory equipment and computer capability are already available through the shared-use equipment program. Additional necessary equipment and supplies will be procured through this grant; b) the predetermined critical number of staff needed to carry out the scope of work will be hired in the first year of funding; c) clinical research will commence with 5 projects: 2 in HlV/AlDS; 2 HBP/Pharm. and 1 Prev.Med/Cancer; additional research issues of high priority in the selected research areas will be identified through needs assessments ; e) basic science-clinical collaboration will be fostered by actively linking clinical faculty with basic science faculty who share common research interests in HIV, HBP, Cancer and Preventive Medicine and encouraging joint undertakings. Clinical faculty research capability will be developed through: a) apprenticeships with more experienced researchers [intramural and extramural] ; b) supplemental and other grant programs; and c) grantsmanship and authorship skills-building seminars and workshops.
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