VCU news

By Sathya Achia Abraham

Virginia Commonwealth University is one of 56 institutions participating in the first national, disease-neutral, volunteer recruitment registry. Now, people within the Richmond community who want to participate in research studies can connect online with researchers nationwide by joining ResearchMatch.org.

ResearchMatch is a not-for-profit website that brings together researchers and people who are willing to learn more about research studies in a secure and convenient manner.

ResearchMatch is the product of the Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSA) Consortium, a nationwide consortium of research institutions working to turn laboratory discoveries into treatments for patients. The CTSA consortium is led by the National Center for Research Resources, a part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

In July 2010, VCU received a $20 million grant – the largest federal award in its history – from the NIH to become part of the nationwide consortium. This network of 55 academic research institutions accelerates the transformation of laboratory discoveries into treatments for patients, engages communities in clinical research and trains a new generation of clinical and translational researchers.

“This nationwide registry will bring together volunteers and researchers, ultimately helping move research forward. This tool helps improve the way biomedical research is conducted and takes us a step closer to finding answers that could make a real difference for the health of many in the Richmond community,” said John Clore, M.D., associate vice president for clinical research and principal investigator for the Center for Clinical and Translational Research at VCU.

ResearchMatch will ‘match’ any interested individual residing in the United States with researchers who are approved to recruit potential research volunteers through the system. After an individual has self-registered to become a volunteer, ResearchMatch’s security features ensure that personal information is protected until volunteers authorize the release of their contact information to a specific study that may be of interest to them. Volunteers are simply notified electronically that they are a possible match and then make the decision regarding the release of their contact information.

For the first year of the project, only researchers affiliated with participating CTSA institutions may be eligible to utilize the recruitment tool, but plans exist to ensure the recruitment tool will be available beyond the CTSA by 2011.

Currently 56 institutions representing 44 of the 55 CTSAs are listed as participating sites through ResearchMatch, including VCU.  A complete list of these institutions may be viewed here.

ResearchMatch is accessible at: www.cctr.vcu.edu/researchmatch/.