Evaluation and PROGRAM components
Community Engagement
Education and Training
Regulatory Support
Research Design Ethics
Project Evaluation
Community Engagement
The Meharry Translational Research Center (MeTRC) and the Vanderbilt Institute for
Clinical and Translational Research (VICTR) have united to offer research expertise
to the community. The Meharry-Vanderbilt Community Engaged Research Core (CERC) builds
partnerships and adds the scientific element to community work groups. Through workshops/training,
consultation, mini-grants, educational material, and use of core facilities, the CERC
is working one-on-one with communities to improve citizen health and broaden neighbors'
health knowledge. For more information, contact the CERC at 615.936.2565 or cerc@vanderbilt.edu.
Regulatory Support
The goal of MeTRC is to reduce investigators' administrative burden and improve participant
safety and regulatory compliance through process standardization, information technology,
and other services to investigators and clinical research personnel. In partnership
with VICTR, MeTRC has made available to researchers a knowledge base of regulatory matters and
created a one-stop-shop (the StarBRITE tool) that helps them navigate through complex,
interdisciplinary projects. It has also enhanced Meharry's clinical research function
with the patient advocacy and experiment-design functions now available in the Participant and Clinical Interaction Resource (PCIR). If you have questions about regulatory support at Meharry, contact PCIR at 615.327.5725.
Research Design Ethics
In tandem with the Office of Participant and Clinical Interaction Resource, MeTRC
makes available to researchers the expertise of CITI-trained clinical research staff,
and investigators at Meharry, both newcomers and seasoned professionals, will find
time- and labor-saving guidance in the creation of their clinical trials. Contact
the PCIR at 615.327.5725 for assistance.
Project Evaluation
As medicine has evolved from stethoscopes to PET scans, laboratory research has evolved
from test tubes to fluorescent microsopy. The sophistication of today's research environment
is therefore narrowly competitive. MeTRC research projects are therefore narrowly
examined for competitive advantage. Using rigorous study design and a refined logic
model that incorporates multiple data collection points, MeTRC assesses projects'
indicators, milestones, tools and study design, key function reports, and more. Successful
grants beget yet more grants; MeTRC's evaluation function crosses the T's and dots
the I's so that researchers are knowledgeable, projects are effective, and research
translates to cures.
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