Consultations
DCR provides a variety of consultations and services to assist investigators and staff with specific projects. All consultations up to 6-10 hours are free. Additional information about service fees beyond initial consultation can be discussed at project initiation.
| Consultation | Description | Faculty | Action |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bioinformatics Consortium | The goal of the Massachusetts General Hospital Bioinformatics Consortium is to provide bioinformatics and wider genomics service, consulting, education, and training for biological, preclinical and clinical investigators at MGB. Combined with our wet-lab capabilities for next-generation sequencing, the Bioinformatics Consortium provides a fully integrated resource for genomics studies in both preclinical and clinical settings. We help our partners design and execute experimental or clinical data generation and management, as well as implement best practices for quantitative analysis in order to produce powerful and relevant biomedical data. | Ruslan Sadreyev, PhD | |
| Biostatistics | The mission of the Biostatistics Center is to engage in impactful trans-disciplinary collaborations involving quantitative methods in public health and biomedicine. Our faculty and staff develop, evaluate, and apply rigorous statistical and data science methods across a broad spectrum of research areas. These include studies in cancer, cardiology, emergency medicine, psychiatry, pediatrics, infectious diseases, neurology, and many other areas of clinical and translational research. We have shared expertise in methods for clinical trials, observational studies, clustered and longitudinal data, missing data, survival analysis, machine learning, genetics and genomics, implementation science, and precision medicine applications. We always welcome new collaborations! | Andrea Foulkes, ScD | |
| Biostatistics for K Awardees | Our faculty are passionate about helping junior investigators design appropriate statistical methods and approaches for career development grants, or K grants, to answer their scientific questions and further their research careers. | Hang Lee, PhD | |
| Center for Clinical Research Education | The Center for Clinical Research Education (CCRE) develops and maintains a comprehensive curriculum for clinical research. We also support the wider MGH and MGB research communities through developing educational material, hosting educational events, and providing consultations instructional design and teaching strategies. Learn more about our services on the Education page. | Jamie Quinkert, PhD | |
| Contracting with Sponsors | Staff in the DCR can assist investigators in navigating the complicated systems for contracting with industry sponsors. | Lynelle Cortellini, MSc, CRA | |
| Diverse and Inclusive Recruitment | The Community Access, Recruitment & Engagement (CARE) Research Center can assist investigators improve diverse and inclusive recruitment of underrepresented groups in clinical trials, including racial and ethnic minorities, LGBTQ+ groups, rural populations, individuals of low socioeconomic status, and identities that intersect with these areas. | Jonathan Jackson, PhD | |
| EHR Data Acquisition | Our faculty can help investigators obtain, clean, and merge health record data sets from RPDR, EDW, COVID-mart, and other databases. To start working with the DCR, download the analysis plan template, example, and example appendix before requesting your consultation. | James Meigs, MD, MPH | |
| Expanded Access (EAP) | Project Managers (PMs) from the DCR can provide administrative and regulatory support to investigators who need an emergency IND or expanded access protocol for emergency use. | Francine Molay, MS | |
| Finding Collaborators | The DCR is a hub of MGH and has deep institutional knowledge of the research being done, and we are happy to facilitate connections with investigators across the institution, the system, and Harvard Catalyst. | Takara Stanley, MD | |
| Global Health Research | The Global Health Research Unit (GHRU) offers consultations on the conduct of global health research, and sponsors seminars on general principles for global health research. The GHRU consists of junior and senior global health investigators along with their research teams. These research teams conduct studies in multiple parts of the world with a focus on sub-Saharan Africa which are generally cross-disciplinary and reflect several clinical fields, such as internal medicine, infectious diseases, psychiatry, and behavioral science. Research methods used by these research teams are both quantitative and qualitative. Research teams in the GHRU have varied funding experience including with the US National Institutes of Health, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, other foundations, USAID, and philanthropic support. The GHRU also includes experts in grants administration and management. | Jessica Haberer, MD, MS | |
| Grant Writing (non-K) | Our experienced faculty offer grant writing consultations for investigators making the transition from career development grants, or K grants, to their first independent investigator grant, or R grants. | David Nathan, MD | |
| K Grant Writing | Our faculty offer grant writing consultations for aspiring investigators writing career development grants, or K grants. These consultations include advice on identifying appropriate mentors, career development plans, specific aims, and the mechanics of grant writing. | Karen Miller, MD | |
| Mentoring Corner | Faculty in the DCR can assist both mentors and mentees identify resources and best practices in mentoring. | Karen Miller, MD | |
| Munn Center for Nursing Research | The Munn Center supports nursing research initiatives that advance clinical practice and optimize quality patient-centered outcomes. The Munn Center also supports the MGH Clinical Research Nurse Collaborative. Checkout the Munn Center’s website to learn more. Munn Center for Nursing Research MGH Clinical Research Nurse Collaborative | Jennifer Cahill, PhD, RN | |
| Nursing Research | Experienced clinical research nurses of the Translational and Clinical Research Centers are available to provide an array of resources and support. | Kathy Hall, NP | |
| Nutrition Research | The Metabolism and Nutrition Research Unit within the TCRC is a fully featured research unit that collaborates with investigators on study design; assists investigators with grant preparation; boasts facilities to prepare standard and specialized research meals; collects and analyzes nutrition intake data; and performs metabolic assessments using a variety of modalities. | Jane Hubbard, MS | |
| Omics Research | The Omics Unit in the DCR assists investigators in genetic and genomic study design and execution. Omics consultations from the DCR are designed to assist investigators in genetic study design and execution, human subject protection, career advice and resource identification. The Omics Unit also focuses on emerging technologies for metabolomic and proteomic profiling of human samples, with the goal of optimizing sample throughput, cost and breadth of analytical coverage. | Jordan Smoller, MD, ScD | |
| Patient-Centered Outcomes Research | The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research (PCOR) Unit of the DCR was established to address the research needs and funding opportunities provided by the creation of the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI). The PCOR Unit seeks to facilitate research through proposal preparation consultations, outcome measure support, and stakeholder engagement assistance to help investigators who are navigating the waters of the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute or conducting PCOR studies. | Andrew Nierenberg, MD | |
| Philanthropy Education | The Philanthropy Education Unit coordinates meetings between past and present investigators at MGH to brainstorm the best ways to raise philanthropic support for clinical research projects. The unit also provides educational opportunities for junior investigators to share best practices for obtaining philanthropic support, approaching potential donors, and working with the MGH Development Office. | Lee Cohen, MD | |
| Project Management | Project Managers (PMs) from the DCR can provide administrative support including budget creation and management for new clinical research studies, study start-up support, monthly research fund review, study conduct and regulatory assistance, and oversight of study close out. | Francine Molay, MS | |
| Protocol Feasibility and Development | Faculty in the DCR can assist investigators in ensuring their protocols are feasible to conduct in their research conduct. We can also assist in developing actionable protocols. | Kathy Hall, NP | |
| Qualitative and Mixed Methods Research | Qualitative and mixed methods research helps investigators study the “why” and “how” of questions related to healthcare and biomedicine. The DCR’s Qualitative and Mixed Methods Research (QMMR) Unit provides Consultations with investigators and research teams on qualitative and mixed methods research, including study design, data collection, data coding, analysis and interpretation, dissemination of results, and the development of research proposals and protocols. These services are offered only to MGH faculty and staff. Please note that access to qualitative research software must be requested through MGB Research Information Computing and Science. | Elyse Park, PhD, MPH | |
| Quantitative Health Research | The Center for Quantitative Health (CQH) facilitates investigations drawing on large clinical databases, most notably large-scale electronic health records (EHR). CQH’s Consultation Services include: Assisting investigators to plan and refine investigations making use of large clinical datasets; Assisting investigators prepare materials describing investigations of large clinical data sets for submission to IRB or other regulatory review; Assisting investigators generate pilot data to motivate funding applications, and for incorporation in publications; Developing tools to allow researchers to address questions which would otherwise be difficult to study in large data sets; Assisting investigators access and integrate appropriate large data sets; Assisting investigators develop decision support tools with the results of research utilizing large clinical data sets. | Roy Perlis, MD, MS | |
| Regulatory Guidance (IND, NDA, SOPs) | Project Managers from the DCR can provide regulatory support to clinical investigators, including preparation of IRB applications, working with investigators to respond to the IRB’s queries, and editing consent forms and other documents to support full and continued IRB approval of the study. | Yuan-Di Halvorsen, PhD | |
| Research Design | Our faculty can assist investigators to design and plan clinical research studies involving health record data, most often observational studies. To start working with the DCR, download the analysis plan template, example, and example appendix before requesting your consultation. | James Meigs, MD, MPH | |
| Research Ethics Consultation | The mission of the Research Ethics Consultation Unit of the DCR is to assist investigators in considering and resolving ethical and IRB review issues and to work to improve the quality of IRB submissions. The Research Ethics Unit’s services include guidance in planning and conducting human subjects research, assistance addressing potential ethical issues, and discussion of practical solutions to potential ethical issues. Topics and examples of service include: the consent process and specific considerations, appropriate and effective recruitment plans, disclosure of findings or results, enrollment of vulnerable subjects, research involving digital health device or social media, and best practices in IRB applications, communications, and responses to review. | Melissa Abraham, PhD | |
| Survey Research | The Survey Research Unit provides expertise in all aspects of survey design, implementation, analysis and reporting. The Survey Research Unit provides consultations to leaders and investigators on survey design and development, sampling strategies, data collection and response rate enhancement, provides survey consultations and advice for all aspects of study design, execution and interpretation of survey data. Program faculty and staff have led hundreds of surveys in local, regional, national, and international contexts, including surveys with patients and health professionals in more than 20 different languages. | Karen Donelan, ScD, EdM | |
| Translational Medicine | The Translational Medicine Group provides consulting support to assist investigators in bringing new novel compounds from bench to bedside, including clinical and pre-clinical protocol development and planning, IND and NDA assistance, and vendor identification. | Mason Freeman, MD |