Multidisciplinary Clinical Research
Multidisciplinary CRSP is one of the major NIH Roadmap initiatives. For more information on the Roadmap initiatives please review: http://nihroadmap.nih.gov/overview.asp. As noted in the Roadmap initiative, the scale and complexity of today's biomedical research problems increasingly demands that scientists move beyond the confines of their own discipline and explore new organizational models for team science. For example, imaging research often requires radiologists, physicists, cell biologists, and computer programmers to work together in integrated teams. Many scientists will continue to pursue individual research projects; however, they will be encouraged to make changes in the way they approach the scientific enterprise. NIH wants to stimulate new ways of combining skills and disciplines in both the physical and biological sciences. In addition, novel partnerships, such as those between the public and private sectors, will be encouraged to accelerate the movement of scientific discoveries from the bench to the bedside.
Definition of Clinical Research
Clinical research is defined as: (1) Patient-oriented research, i.e., research conducted with human subjects (or on material of human origin such as tissues, specimens and cognitive phenomena) for which an investigator (or colleague) directly interacts with human subjects. (Excluded from the definition of patient-oriented research are in vitro studies that utilize human tissues that cannot be linked to a living individual.) Patient-oriented research includes: (a) mechanisms of human disease, (b) therapeutic interventions, (c) clinical trials, and (d) development of new technologies; (2) Epidemiologic and behavioral studies; or (3) Outcomes research and health services research.
Research Projects
Each Scholar designs and implements a new research project under the guidance of the mentoring team. This project serves as preliminary data for a K award or another career development award. The Research Development Core (RDC) is available to assist the Scholars in conducting their preliminary studies and developing their proposals.
Research Development Core
The goal of the RDC is to provide a centralized source of expertise and services by faculty and staff to a cadre of Scholars engaged in clinical and translational research. RDC members offer expert consultations on research methodology, measurement adaptation and evaluation, form design, protocol preparation, data management, data collection, and analysis. A resource pool of an epidemiologist and biostatistician, systems analysts, and database managers are available to consult with all of the Scholars in the conduct and management of their research programs. We also have a medical editor available to review manuscripts and grant proposals.
