The Neurological Clinical Research Institute (NCRI) was co-founded in 1994 by Dr. Merit Cudkowicz and Dr. Steven Greenberg to conduct clinical research in neurological disorders. The NCRI develops, designs, supports and manages innovative observational and interventional trials for neurological disorders. In collaboration with the Mass General Biostatistics Center, the NCRI has an impressive record of rapidly and efficiently leading small and large multi-center, international clinical trials including randomized, double-blind, double-dummy and open label designs. At the NCRI we strive to be at the cutting edge of innovative trial design to accelerate therapy development.
The mission of the NCRI is to accelerate translational research in neurological disorders through initiating and testing novel therapies. The NCRI fulfills this mission by supporting the entire therapeutic development process, including:
- Mapping the clinical development of potential therapies;
- Custom design of clinical research protocols;
- Bringing efficiency strategies and infrastructure to clinical research;
- Providing resources, experienced staff, and services to accelerate the conduct of clinical research;
- Fostering and empowering scientific collaboration;
- Creating partnerships among scientific leaders with complementary backgrounds;
- Establishing and managing disease-specific research consortia;
- Performing high quality site-level clinical research;
- Educating and mentoring future leaders in the field of clinical research; and
- Encouraging scientific innovation through funding.
Our Services
At the NCRI we provide core comprehensive clinical trial infrastructure services including:
- Trial Design
- Project Management
- Central IRB
- Data Management
- Budgeting and Contracting
Northeast ALS Consortium (NEALS)
The NCRI serves as the Clinical and Data Coordinating Center for the Northeast ALS Consortium (NEALS), a non-profit, research consortium committed to the cooperative implementation, timely completion, analysis, and reporting of clinical trials and other research studies aimed at improving patient care and understanding of the disease process of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). Together with the Barrow Neurological Institute (BNI), the two entities have supported over 40 clinical research studies in ALS.
Co-founded by Dr. Merit Cudkowicz, the NEALS Consortium was formed with the goal of bringing together leading ALS scientists and clinicians caring for ALS patients, to offer advice on the selection of the best therapies and direction of ALS research. Today there are over 125 membership sites dedicated to ALS research across North America, Israel, Australia, and Ireland.
Network for Excellence in Neuroscience Clinical Trials (NeuroNEXT)
The NCRI is the Clinical Coordinating Center for the Network for Excellence in Neuroscience Clinical Trials (NeuroNEXT), a National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) initiative. NeuroNEXT was created to conduct studies of treatments for neurological diseases through partnerships with academia, private foundations, and industry. The network is designed to expand the NINDS capability to test promising new therapies, increase the efficiency of clinical trials before embarking on larger studies, and respond quickly as new opportunities arise to test promising treatments for people with neurological disorders.
The NeuroNEXT program aims to:
- Provide a robust, standardized, and accessible infrastructure to facilitate rapid development and implementation of protocols in neurological disorders affecting adult and/or pediatric populations. The network includes multiple Clinical Sites, one Clinical Coordinating Center (CCC) and one Data Coordinating Center (DCC).
- Support scientifically sound, possibly biomarker-informed, exploratory clinical trials that provide data for clear go/no-go decisions.
- Energize and mobilize federal, industry, foundations and patient advocacy partners by leveraging existing relationships between NINDS and NeuroNEXT to organize high impact exploratory clinical trials for neurological disorders.
- Expand the pool of experienced clinical investigators and research staff who are prepared to be leaders of multicenter clinical research trials.
- Working with NeuroNEXT is a cooperative venture between NINDS, the NeuroNEXT network and the applicant.
For more information, visit the NeuroNEXT website: www.neuronext.org