Clinical Research Center

The Pediatric General Clinical Research Center (PGCRC) is located on the 3rd floor of Children's Hospital in close proximity to the intensive care unit and is designed to provide inpatient and outpatient space. 2585 ft2 in size, it includes three patient rooms with positive or negative air-flow as needed, an infusion room that accommodates two patients at a time, a sample processing laboratory, a conference room with computer terminals, a nursing area, and an examination room. A small research pantry for infant formula preparation is adjacent to the unit.
There are three inpatient rooms, each with its own bathroom and an infusion room with two treatment chairs. One inpatient room is outfitted with a one-way view glass window for behavioral and observational studies. The specimen-processing laboratory equipped with a centrifuge, refrigerator, and -86°C freezer.
For patients who cannot be hospitalized in the PCRC, or for research that requires specialized areas such as the ED or PICU/NICU, nursing provides "scatter" research support on other hospital patient units at CNMC.
The research center is currently open Monday - Friday from 7AM to 5PM. Flexible scheduling is available for overnight admissions, extended day ambulatory visits, or weekend appointments but need to be scheduled in advance with the PCRC nurse manager.
The research center's nurses and technicians provide patient care and research support. Nursing services available in the PCRC include phlebotomy, infusion of experimental medications, blood transfusions, spirometry, and other high acuity nursing procedures, patient monitoring, and anthropometric measurements, as well as laboratory sample collection and processing.
The nursing staff addresses patient educational needs and discharge plans to support the research protocol and appropriate health care follow-up.
The staff of nurses and research assistants is specially trained in the management and execution of research protocols, IRB requirements, subject monitoring, sample collection and processing, and data collection according to Good Clinical Practice Guidelines. Pharmacy services are available through the hospital's research pharmacy staff.
Investigators are encouraged to contact the PCRC Nurse Manager, to seek assistance in protocol design and development of time tables for study procedures. Very complex protocols require additional time for planning and study implementation, as well as staff training and education.
To schedule an appointment with the Nurse Manager, Marlene Lee, RN please call phone number 202-884-2298 or e-mail: mlee@cnmc.org.