MICHR's mobile clinical research team, MCRU2U, has been highlighted in a recent edition of the journal Clinical & Translational Science. The paper highlights MCRU's pioneering work in designing and implementing an innovative business model, enabling novel translational research by transferring the research expertise of our clinical research staff to the chair or bedside of our research participants.
To our knowledge, this paper represents one of the first published descriptions of initiating, sustaining ,and growing a mobile clinical research service. It contributes significantly to the CTSA community research leadership who wish to adopt or expand the mobile clinical research model.
Initiated in 2007, MCRU2U has engaged more than 5,000 new participants over the five-year CTSA grant period and brought new research opportunities to U-M faculty, who can now enroll subjects that would otherwise be inaccessible and can undertake complicated research studies. This is important to MCRU because future business depends to a large extent on the success of our current business; if our PIs fail to complete their current clinical trial they will struggle all the more with funding the next one. Similarly, demonstrating that we can not only start but successfully complete clinical research studies will increase our competitiveness for the growing field of industry trials. For participants, MCRU2U has significantly reduced the barriers for populations that have historically been excluded from participating in research due to mobility, impairment, socioeconomic, and other factors.