Growing clinical research – National push, campus priority

National emphasis on clinical and translational research has increased and reverberations of this fact are being felt at UNMC.

Clinical and translational research is research that applies basic science findings to clinical and community settings.

A push is on at the National Institutes of Health to create a new center focused on clinical and translational research. If this happens, the NIH would have to close one of its existing centers as federal law regulates the number of centers within NIH.

Tomorrow’s story – Quintiles Read UNMC Today on Tuesday for a Q&A with Dr. Kratochvil on a new partnership between UNMC and Quintiles, a group that helps match up companies conducting clinical trials with health care institutions willing to facilitate them.

“Clinical research, including clinical trials, is the primary mechanism by which health care moves forward over time,” said Jennifer Larsen, M.D., who last year was named UNMC’s associate vice chancellor for clinical research.

Dr. Larsen’s appointment, as well as that of Chris Kratochvil, M.D., to the post of assistant vice chancellor of clinical research, are indicators that the national push has been embraced at UNMC.

Increasing the medical center’s clinical research capabilities also was a focus of last year’s UNMC strategic planning efforts and it will be again this year.

Among the many reasons to increase clinical research at UNMC include:

• Clinical trials offer patients access to some of the latest and best therapies;
  
• As such, being able to offer such trials gives UNMC and its clinical partners an advantage in the health care marketplace; and
  
• Clinical trials provide funding opportunities to advance vital research developments.

“Simply put, expanding our clinical and translational research and research funding, including for clinical trials, means more opportunities for our patients to receive the newest therapies sooner, and more jobs here in Nebraska,” Dr. Larsen said.

This week, UNMC Today will feature a series on clinical research developments and activities at UNMC. This series will be followed by monthly stories on the medical center’s clinical research efforts.