- Recruitment Innovation Center (RIC)
We are dedicated to supporting recruitment and retention of research participants through a variety of mechanisms including use of Electronic Health Records (EHRs). With our strong community connections and positive regard for conducting clinical and community-based programs, we have been extremely successful in previous research studies in recruiting and retaining diverse underserved population groups. We understand the importance of community engagement for successful recruitment and retention, and relying on a multifaceted approach using novel tools and methods to reach the whole population of our catchment area. Our plan to support recruitment and retention of participants will be using enhanced continuous improvement methods while aligning with our community engagement initiatives.
The Recruitment Innovation Center (RIC) provides support and expertise recruiting study participants and enhancing retention by developing, implementing, and disseminating novel tools including use of Electronic Health Records (EHR) for study planning feasibility analyses.
Our Recruitment Resources Digital Document provides an evolving list of recruitment sources and contact information
CTSI Research Study Recruitment Resources Digital Document
TN-CTSI is a member of ResearchMatch.org which can facilitate recruitment into clinical research studies.
- UTHSC Guidelines on Recruitment and Advertising
- ResearchMatch
ResearchMatch.org (RM) is an free, online recruitment and education platform that securely matches people interested in participating in research with Researchers throughout the United States. ResearchMatch aims to help bring together volunteers and Researchers. It is not just one institution, one partner, or one study. ResearchMatch are a nation of many working together to make a change today and in the future. Currently, the network includes 163 institutions and 57 partner organizations.
Researchers on ResearchMatch are able to message a de-identified cohort of potential participants based on their research study’s criteria (i.e. women between the ages of 45 and 80 with heart disease). They are only allowed to contact potential volunteers if their IRB has approved all aspects of the study and given permission to use ResearchMatch as a recruitment tool.
If you’re a UTHSC researcher, it means you will have access to thousands of volunteers who may match with your studies. Volunteers join every day, so your chances of finding matches increase, and the timeline to discovery gets shorter.
Please visit ResearchMatch- For Researchers for step by step instructions on how to register as a UTHSC Researcher with RM, how to register a study on RM, and how to add yourself to an existing study on ResearchMatch.org. If you would like to register as a volunteer on ResearchMatch, please visit Participate in a Study for further instructions.
For a list of the most common ResearchMatch Researcher Frequently Asked Questions, please visit ResearchMatch FAQs.
- Enterprise Data Warehouse (EDW)Scholars may access the Enterprise Data Warehouse (EDW) maintained by the Center for Biomedical Informatics at UTHSC, with daily feeds of inpatient, outpatient and emergency department data on diagnoses, procedure, demographics, laboratory, pharmacy, vital sign, microbiology, and pathology EMR data from Methodist Le Bonheur Heathcare Systems (Cerner; AllScripts; eClinical). Research specific data sets are linked to patient identifiers via a master patient index.
To learn more about the Enterprise Data Warehouse, please visit the CBMI website.
- The Clinical Trials Governance Board (CTGB)The Clinical Trials Governance Board was instituted to coordinate and oversee all clinical trial activity at UTHSC. Under the leadership of UTHSC’s Associate Vice Chancellor for Clinical Trials, the CTGB was provided with funds to support clinical trials across campus and further developing the infrastructure to create interdisciplinary Clinical and Translational Research. The CTGB’s Office of Clinical Research Development conducts educational activities and provides direct support to clinical and translational researchers in the formulation of grant proposals, development of contracts and budgets, and strategizing clinical projects for maximal impact.