Continued support is requested through the RCMI Clinical Research Infrastructure initiative for the RCMI-CRC. Specifically, continued support is requested for the an increase in the nursing and dietary staffing, a clinically trained epidemiologist/biostatistician and expansion of the HAC. The original funded application for the RCMI-CRC at Drew was the first crucial step toward expanding patient care oriented research opportunities at the institution. Historically, RCMI-CRCs have played an influential role in medical advances, thereby setting standards for the practice of medicine and the quality of health care. The presence of a RCMI-CRC at Drew has led to an increase in the number of clinical research faculty and projects dedicated to the investigation of health issues that disproportionately affect minorities and disadvantaged populations. In addition, the presence of an RCMI-CRC has led to an increase in collaborative clinical research activities between Drew and the UCLA School of Medicine, Harbor/UCLA, USC, MCW, Mount Sinai Medical Center, N.Y., JHU, and Duke. During the initial four years of RCMI support, patient care oriented research activities have increased at Drew from eight to twelve; Public Health Service (PHS); i.e. National Institutes of Health (NIH), Centers for Disease Control (CDC)-funded clinical research studies (50 percent increase). An additional five projects have recently been funded as well as another three PHS applications under review. These projects represent an extraordinary opportunity for Drew. Unfortunately, without additional support, the RCMI-CRC is unable to handle the increased demand. In response to this institutional growth, increased funding is essential to expand RCRII- CRC capacity. As such, the broad objective of this renewal application is to expand the breadth of clinical research activities and sustain an increasing number of active clinical research faculty.
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