The University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC), Children's of Mississippi, and the UMMC Department of Pediatrics are seeking to become a site for the Institutional Development Award (IDeA) States Pediatric Clinical Trials Network (ISPCTN). The overarching goals of the Mississippi ISPCTN site are to? a) Build a university-based pediatric clinical research team to reliably carry out ISPCTN studies b) Promote engagement in clinical research within largely rural and underserved communities in Mississippi c) Improve health and health outcomes among Mississippi children and families through clinical research participation d) Develop capacity building infrastructure for engagement in ISPCTN studies and future state, regional, and national pediatric clinical and population health research efforts. Mississippi represents a large population of rural, underserved citizens whose children consistently experience large gaps in healthcare services and access to state-of-the-science pediatric clinical trials. The Mississippi Pediatric Clinical Trials Center (M-PCTC) will provide a key UMMC pediatric research resource and a robust clinical trial site to enhance the success of large ISPCTN trials. Mississippi children and their families will contribute to findings that benefit the health of all children. Moreover, M-PCTC will create access to pediatric populations that historically have been excluded from multisite pediatric trials?particularly children living in rural and underserved communities. Children's of Mississippi- UMMC's children's hospital- is poised to become a major pediatric research center in the rural and underserved South by joining ISPCTN. M-PCTC will complement and extend the reach for pediatric multisite ISPCTN trials by sharing our expertise in study design and implementation for rural and disadvantaged communities.
Healthy People 2020 states that despite major advances in medical care, critical threats to maternal, infant, and child health still exist and that among the Nations most pressing challnges are reducing the rates of preterm birth and infant death by improving access to quality pediatric care in rural and underserved communities. The Mississippi Pediatric Clinical Trials Center (M-PCTC) will provide a vital pediatric research resource in the disadvantaged South by joining the IDeA States Pediatric Clinical Trials Network. M-PCTC will create access for historically disenfranchised pediatric populations to participate in multisite clinical trials? particularly children from rural and underserved communities; in turn, these children and their families will contribute to findings that benefit the health of all children.
