Mayo Clinic Research on Wheels

Friday, June 27, 2008

ROCHESTER, Minn - To increase community engagement in research studies, the Mayo Clinic Center for Translational Science Activities (CTSA) has added a Mobile Research Unit vehicle to its resources. Beginning in July, Mayo researchers will use the vehicle throughout southeastern Minnesota for clinical research projects.

The RV-style vehicle is a self-contained, mobile research facility. It includes two exam rooms, equipment for lab tests, a private area for patient interviews, audio/visual technology for patient education and a laboratory.

The vehicle will allow CTSA to include more community members in research and reach more diverse populations for Mayo Clinic research studies. Adding this vehicle is one way CTSA is working to reach its goal of translating medical discoveries into patient treatment.

"Many Mayo Clinic researchers want to reach under-represented groups who have health care access or transportation challenges that make their participation in studies difficult," says Sreekumaran Nair, M.D., Ph.D., director of CTSA Research Resources. "The vehicle will allow us more freedom to directly reach those groups and open new possibilities for research that, ultimately, will benefit their health care."

For example, Mayo can take this vehicle to a senior citizen center for a study on Alzheimer's disease, or to a high school for a study about smoking cessation education for teens. In addition, studies that require large numbers of healthy volunteers can now enroll participants and conduct research in places, such as universities, shopping malls and state fairs that attract large and diverse populations.

The vehicle was funded, in part, through a grant from the National Center for Research Resources, part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). One of the center's goals is to help bring research opportunities to broader and more diverse populations.

"This vehicle represents a collaboration of the National Center for Research Resources and Mayo Clinic. Its main purpose is to enhance the research capabilities of Mayo Clinic and better the health of our local populations," says Andrew Badley, M.D., medical director of the CTSA Mobile Clinical Research Unit. "The knowledge gained from these studies will help our communities."

The Mobile Research Unit vehicle is just the latest step in CTSA's efforts to broaden the base of research participants in Mayo Clinic studies. In February 2007, CTSA launched a Mobile Clinical Research Unit for use within Mayo Clinic's two hospitals in Rochester.

The Mobile Clinical Research Unit gives clinician investigators resources to conduct studies at the bedside of acutely ill or hospitalized patients who cannot be moved to a research unit. It provides round-the-clock nursing and research technician coverage for the ICUs, surgical suites, the emergency department and other acute care areas for research purposes.

"By moving beyond a traditional research unit, we increase our research possibilities and we increase the potential for what our investigators can learn," says Dr. Nair. "These small steps that boost community involvement can make a big difference in realizing life-changing research down the road."

About CTSA
The Mayo Clinic Center for Translational Science Activities is a multi-disciplinary research and education center that provides training and mentoring, facilities and expert resources for research teams to support innovative clinical research and the process of turning research discoveries into real-world treatments.

Established in 2006 with a grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and substantial Mayo support, the Mayo Clinic CTSA was among the first 12 centers nationwide. Currently, there are 38 funded CTSAs, and by 2012, the NIH expects about 60 CTSAs will be participating in the national consortium to redefine the way clinical and translational research is conducted. For more information about Mayo Clinic's CTSA, visit the Web site http://ctsa.mayo.edu.

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About Mayo Clinic

Mayo Clinic is the first and largest integrated, not-for-profit group practice in the world. Doctors from every medical specialty work together to care for patients, joined by common systems and a philosophy of "the needs of the patient come first." More than 3,700 physicians, scientists and researchers, and 50,100 allied health staff work at Mayo Clinic, which has campuses in Rochester, Minn; Jacksonville, Fla; and Scottsdale/Phoenix, Ariz.; and community-based providers in more than 70 locations in southern Minnesota., western Wisconsin and northeast Iowa. These locations treat more than half a million people each year. To obtain the latest news releases from Mayo Clinic, go to www.mayoclinic.org/news. For information about research and education, visit www.mayo.edu. MayoClinic.com (www.mayoclinic.com) is available as a resource for your health stories.