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Multidisciplinary Clinical Research

The Multidisciplinary CRSP is one of the major NIH Roadmap initiatives. For more information on these initiatives, see http://nihroadmap.nih.gov/overview.asp. As noted by the NIH, 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, but they will be encouraged to make changes in the way they approach the scientific enterprise. The NIH wants to stimulate new ways of combining skills and disciplines in the physical sciences and the biological sciences. In addition, the NIH wants to encourage novel partnerships, such as those between the public and private sectors, to accelerate the movement of scientific discoveries from the bench to the bedside.

Definition of Clinical Research

Clinical research has generally been defined to include the following areas:

• 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. Included in the definition of patient-oriented research are:
  • Mechanisms of human disease.
  • Therapeutic interventions.
  • Clinical trials.
  • Translational research.
  • Development of new technologies.
• Epidemiologic and behavioral studies.
• Outcomes research and health services research.

Research Projects

Each CRSP scholar designs and implements a new research project under the guidance of the mentoring team. This project will provide preliminary data for a K award or another career development award. The Research Development Core (RDC) is available to assist scholars in conducting their preliminary studies and developing their applications for subsequent awards.

Research Development Core

The goal of the RDC is to provide a centralized source of faculty expertise and staff services 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. Epidemiologists, biostatisticians, systems analysts, and database managers are available to consult with the scholars regarding the conduct and management of their research programs. A medical editor is also available to review manuscripts and grant proposals.