Overview
UPCI strives to design, implement and analyze innovative, investigator-initiated phase I and II clinical trials. To aid UPCI investigators in their work, the institution provides substantial protocol-specific research support via UPCI Clinical Research Services (CRS). The assigned clinical research coordinators assist with study design and implementation, design of study schema, forms design, patient education and compliance, collection, handling and shipping of specimens, collection and entry of data, and keeping the principal investigator informed of all patient and research issues.
CRS collaborates with the Biostatistics Facility throughout the course of the study, from the initial design through initiation, implementation and data analysis. The clinical research coordinator frequently prepares the data for analysis by the Biostatistical Facility to create interim reports which are reviewed by the principal investigator.
PSRS services are employed by all UPCI clinical research programs; these services have made important contributions to recent innovative studies conducted by programs including Molecular Therapeutics and Drug Discovery, Biological Therapeutics, Prostate and Urologic Cancers, Head and Neck Cancer, Immunology, and Breast Cancer. Phase I trials planned for 2004 and onwards will explore chemoprevention, innovative new small molecule therapeutics, surgically directed chemotherapy and biotherapy for regionally confined metastatic disease, and novel new biological therapeutics.