Published January 25, 2018
Dear Colleagues,
I am pleased to announce some helpful changes that are being made to provide enhanced support to Washington University faculty and staff who participate in multi-site clinical research.
The Center for Clinical Studies (CCS), in partnership with the Institute for Clinical and Translational Sciences (ICTS), is launching a new Multicenter Clinical Trial Support Service that will provide specialized expertise and trial implementation support to faculty who seek to conduct investigator-initiated multicenter clinical trials. In addition to providing focused guidance on study organization, sponsor interactions, efficient start-up, and patient recruitment, this unit will offer full clinical trial coordinating center services and help to execute trials in partnership with Department-based study teams and investigators. Faculty will also be connected with the resources of the national Trial Innovation Network to optimally support the success of their studies.
To lead this effort, Suresh Vedantham, MD, Professor of Radiology & Surgery, has been appointed Assistant Dean for Clinical Research in the School of Medicine, and Medical Director of the Center for Clinical Studies. Suresh brings extensive experience with the administration of large complex clinical trials, both for his own successful thrombosis research and working on behalf of other WU investigators. In his new role, he will work closely with Yi Zhang, RN, JD (Assistant Dean for Clinical Research, CCS Administrative Director); Michelle Jenkerson, RN, BS, RRT, CCRC (newly appointed as CCS Associate Director, effective December 22, 2017); ICTS leadership; and other faculty and staff leaders who are experienced with multicenter trials.
The University is fortunate to have many clinical faculty who are recognized as national leaders in patient care. We hope the addition of this new service dimension will help them compete even more effectively for clinical trial grant funding, and boost the clinical impact of their research.
Please welcome Dr. Vedantham to our team.
Sincerely,
Jennifer K. Lodge, PhD
Associate Dean for Research
Vice Chancellor for Research