Linking experimental medicine and the Clinical Research Networks

For experimental medicine to be relevant, discoveries and information should help later stage investigators design clinical trials and other studies and also stimulate basic scientists to generate new hypotheses.

For example:

Examples

Both these examples illustrated how understanding disease mechanisms and processes can inform the development of new treatment options through the conduct of well designed experimental medicine studies.

Nested studies

In addition to experimental medicine studies being conducted either prior to clinical trials or in response to findings from clinical trials or in response to findings from clinical research, the Topic Specific Clinical Research Networks (TCRNs), Primary Care Research Network (PCRN) and Comprehensive Clinical Research Network (CCRN) offer a valuable opportunity to embed experimental medicine studies into large phase III clinical trials on a scale not previously possible. The integration of so called "nested" experimental medicine studies into the clinical research that constitute the NIHR Clinical Research Network Portfolio will provide significant added value, enhancing the benefit of such trials.