July 2, 2004

Clinical research at its best

"We are blessed at this institution with a number of very talented investigators who do the type of research only an academic medical center can do," said Peter L. Slavin, MD, MGH president, in his welcome to the hospital's second annual Clinical Research Day June 24. "I want to applaud not only the physician and PhD investigators who are vital to this research, but also the nurses, study coordinators, data managers, lab technicians, statisticians and pharmacy technicians."

In a celebration under the Bulfinch tent, MGH clinical researchers presented 221 posters featuring their research projects. Hospitalwide awards were given to seven research teams — three of which gave oral presentations of their work — and eight departmental awards were presented to residents or fellows (list of award-winning posters).

Introducing the talks, Eric Rosenberg, MD, an MGH AIDS researcher and director of Education for the Clinical Research Program (CRP), said, "It was inspiring and uplifting to see how many submissions came from true physician-scientists, who are not only in the trenches and on the wards but also somehow able to find a way to do high-quality clinical investigation."

The day's keynote speaker, Elias Zerhouni, MD, director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), described how clinical research is meeting the challenges of the 21st century, which range from emerging health problems, to an aging population, to biodefense issues. He noted that the NIH Roadmap, a program he instituted to guide activities across all the institutes, seeks to remove the roadblocks to medical research - from the most basic studies to the application of science into clinical practice. "We want to reorganize the clinical research enterprise into a new core discipline of medicine," he said.

William F. Crowley Jr., MD, director of the CRP, reflected on the day's success, saying, "The MGH's traditions of clinical research are deep and proud."

Crowley, right, and Zerhouni