NIH clinical trials network seeks to link 100,000 physicians by FY 2009

NIH clinical trials network seeks to link 100,000 physicians by FY 2009

Elias Zerhouni recently said that the NIH's National Electronic Clinical Trials and Research Network would seek to link up 100,000 community-based physicians by FY 2009. The statement was part of the NIH Director’s testimony at a House appropriations hearing April 21. Noting that many physicians training in clinical research have left academic for community posts, he pointed to the need to “recover that skill set."

NECTAR, a component of the NIH Roadmap for Medical Research, is designed to forge stronger connections among existing and newly created clinical research networks and help accelerate the pace of discovery and development, thereby helping clinical researchers better serve their patients. NECTAR is being developed to aid in the standardization of patient data collection and storage procedures, which will help facilitate data sharing.

Zerhouni cited examples of informatics network successes, such as a National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute trial that linked 660 community-based practices in examining ways to treat hypertension, and a cystic fibrosis network to prove the value of the model.