Conduct Your Study
The Center for Clinical Research (CCR) is a great resource as start your study. CCR's regulatory unit works closely with Institutional Review Boards and can help you every step of the way to ensure your project meets all regulatory requirements. CCR also assists with budget preparation and study participant recruitment, operates Clinical Research Units and provides nurse and non-nurse coordinator services.
If your research is cancer-related, start by contacting the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University.
The Data
You'll want to use these tools to help you access, compute and analyze your data:
- Northwestern Medicine Enterprise Data Warehouse: A repository of clinical data from 6.3 million unique patients
- Chicago Area Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Network (CAPriCORN): A nationwide network that makes it easier for investigators to access to research-ready data
- Research Electronic Data Capture (REDCap): A secure, web-based application that allows you to define and manage your own data collection forms
- Center for Biomedical Informatics & Data Science: Provides numerous resources, including analytic services, computation, storage and software tools
- Biostatistics Epidemiology and Research Design: These biostatisticians can assist with data analysis, results interpretation and report preparation
- Quest High Performance Computing Cluster: The high-performance computing system can be used for intense numerical calculations or dealing with extremely large datasets
- Galter Health Sciences Library Software: The library has informatics software available for use on library computers and a license to the web-based pathway analysis package GeneGo MetaCore
The Location
Your mentor is the prime place to start when it's time to lock down lab space, but if you need additional help, check with Core Facilities for information on more than 60 research laboratories. Their services include instrumentation and technical support.
Plus, Northwestern University, the University of Chicago and the University of Illinois at Chicago have a core research facilities partnership, which gives scientists access to even more facilities.
The Subjects
Once you set parameters for your patient population and inclusion criteria for your study, it's time to recruit and track your subjects:
- Secure Application Federated Environment Team: Protect your human subjects' data with the help of this team
- NITRO Study Tracker Clinical Trials Management System: Tracks enrollment and helps monitor participants as they progress within your study