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About the GCRC
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Schedule
- Open 24 hours
- Seven days a week with weekend usage upon approval (please call Nurse Manager).
- Holidays: hours of operation depend on requests by investigators to schedule research. The GCRC is not open generally on Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's.
Adult Clinical Unit
- Clinic space where you can see your outpatient subjects at no charge to them or your grant (depending on category of study)
- Inpatient unit where your inpatient subjects can be hospitalized overnight or for prolonged stays at no charge to them or your grant (depending on category of study)
- Nursing staff trained in Good Clinical Practice (GCP) and expert in implementing research protocols
- Patient assessment
- Specimen collection and processing
- Variety of procedures
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Assistance with research study documents under GCP compliance
- Study questionnaires
- Source documents
- Procedure checklists
- Development of orders for all your protocols
- A primary nurse specifically assigned to your protocol to function as a member of your clinical research team
- Selected routine laboratory tests provided at no charge (depending on category of study)
- Routine supplies are provided at no charge (depending on category of study)
- Short-term storage of specimens in our laboratory
- Conference room use for scheduling research projects or your clinical research meetings
- Assistance in developing appropriate safety plans for your studies
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The goal of the General Clinical Research Center (GCRC) is to enable investigators to conduct
clinical research protocols in the clinical setting. Research, rather than patient service, is
the primary purpose of admission to the unit. Located at University of Washington Medical
Center, the GCRC facility is a resource for faculty at UW, CHRMC and other Seattle area
physicians.
The GCRC is funded by the NIH to support hospitalization and outpatient clinic costs for human
research subjects. Investigations from a broad variety of
disciplines are facilitated by specialized research staff and facilities, including
specialized
cores. If you would like a tour of our facilities please call the GCRC Nurse Manager.
In 2004, the GCRC supported 335 inpatient visits and 3438 outpatient visits, representing a
total of approximately one hundred SAC approved protocols.
Read on for more information or skip to the steps to apply to use the GCRC.
Facilities
Space dedicated to the GCRC patient care area includes five patient care rooms (a total of 9
beds) for both overnight and day use; three patient care rooms (a total of 7 recliner chairs)
for day use; a multi-purpose room used for sleep monitoring, blood draws, interviews; a
handicap accessible shower/toilet; a clean utility and medication room; soiled utility and
specimen processing room; staff work room; nourishment room / tray hold area; and a conference
room.
Outpatient and Inpatient Care
We provide both inpatient and outpatients services. We can also bring our GCRC services to
where you do your research, for example, if your research takes place on an inpatient service
such as the Intensive Care Unit or the Bone Marrow Transplant Unit, the GCRC staff can still
assist you in conducting research. Furthermore, if your outpatient research takes place in the
Emergency Room, community or other location we can still be of service. If you have an unusual
site of practice or unusual research need please call the GCRC Nurse Manager PRIOR to
submitting an application.
Nursing Expertise
Our nurses are full time clinical research nurses who are trained in
Good
Clinical Practices and pay attention to detail. A primary nurse will be assigned to work on
your study. The primary nurse develops a protocol notebook that serves as a standard reference
and guide for implementation for the study. The notebook includes a protocol synopsis, copy of
the full protocol, research flow sheets and source document forms, physician's orders, etc. It
details the specific standardized procedures required for implementation of the study. The
primary nurse becomes a member of your research team. We make every attempt to assign you
the same primary nurse for your protocols so that person can develop some level of expertise
in your research area.
Procedures
Many investigators require special procedures be performed on subjects that are enrolled on
studies. The GCRC nursing staff is trained to perform the following procedures:
- Frequent non-invasive blood pressure and vital sign monitoring
- Placement of peripheral venous access devices
- Frequent blood sampling via angiocaths
- Pulse oximetry
- Assistance with spirometry, pulmonary function testing and exercise testing
- DEXA scanning for bone mineral content and total body composition
- Glucose monitoring
- Specimen preparation, aliquoting to specific protocol specifications and short term storage
- Assistance with questionnaires
- ECGs with automated readings
- Chemotherapy administration
- Leukapheresis
- Indirect calorimetry using ParvoMedics metabolic cart
- Infusion of gene and cell therapy products
- Administration of blood and blood products
- Portacath access
- Administration of investigational drugs
- Height and weight measurements
- Gait and strength testing
- Pain assessments and pain management via Patient Controlled Analgesics
Annual competency based training insures proficiency in these test procedures. If you plan
a study that requires a special procedure that is not similar to ones listed here, please
contact the Nurse Manager PRIOR to submission of your application to discuss feasibility of
the approach and potential nursing training.
Research Services
(provided free of charge at the GCRC for non-industry studies)
- Blood draw materials: needles, syringes, tubes of routine blood tests
- Specimen collection containers for stool and urine
- Biopsy kits
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- Urine dipstick testing for protein, etc.
- Urine pregnancy tests
- Spun hematocrits
- Glucose testing by finger stick
- Treatment/exercise testing room that is furnished with:
- Lunar Prodigy DEXA
- Parvo-Medics Metabolic Cart with exercise and resting capabilities
- Exercise Testing Treadmill
- GE MAC5000 ECG machine
- RJL BioImpedance Device
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More information about our services
Subject Safety
Patient safety is of utmost importance to the GCRC program. All studies conducted must have
approval from the GCRC Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) as well as approval from the UW
Human Subjects Review Committee (HSRC) or your institution's Institutional Board Review (IRB).
All patients and/or parents/guardians must have signed an informed assent/consent, which
assures that they understand the risk, benefits and all procedures conducted on the unit, and
that their personal rights are protected. In addition, all patients and/or their
parents/guardian must sign a HIPAA authorization form. The Research Subject Advocate (RSA)
Program associated with the GCRC and PCRC will help you develop safety monitoring plans for
your studies, craft informed consents, and help you make an estimate of study risk. There
are several other services available to you via the
RSA program.
Education
Education of investigators and their staff in proper conduct of clinical research and
protection of human subjects is a priority of the unit.
Click here to learn more about educational
opportunities for junior investigators, clinical research staff and residents.
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