One of the most critical challenges identified by the Forum is a striking inadequacy in the nation's information technology (IT) infrastructure for clinical research. A recent IOM Panel on clinical research described the current infrastructure as a "fragmented cottage industry." Currently constituted of series of individual, non-communicating silos, this deficiency constrains the process of translating basic research into health benefits for the public. The Forum's recent study on integrating information technologies into clinical research discovered that few institutions strategically have invested in IT for clinical research, and that no single academic health center had developed the vision, strategy, and financial support appropriate for clinical research IT success.

The state of IT in academic health centers was the focus of The 2005 Clinical Research Forum Annual Meeting, where attendees agreed that the lack of a strong national infrastructure is a major impediment in advancing clinical research. The Forum already has taken leadership in addressing this issue with its survey on IT practices, one critical aspect of the infrastructure. The need to establish standards for clinical research to ensure continual high quality is another area of concern for the Forum; we realize that a state-of-the-art IT infrastructure will be required to support the efforts of our medical research organizations. At present, important, potentially life-saving information is "stove-piped", both within organizations as well as among institutions. These artificial firewalls must be eliminated in order to avoid redundancy, realize cost-savings and allow all parties to benefit from the fruits of clinical research.

The IT Roundtable was created to address these issues.

The IT Roundtable is led by Daniel Ford, MD, MPH, Vice Dean for Clinical Investigation, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and Stephanie Reel, CIO of Johns Hopkins University, and Cherri McGrew as the Director of the IT Roundtable and is comprised of leaders in IT and clinical research from academic health centers, industry, and government.

 
IT Roundtable Events

Information Technology Roundtable Meeting
• Information Technology Roundtable Agenda

Annual Meeting and IT Roundtable Registration
• Registration Form (requires log-in)
• Hotel Reservation Information
  

Please note:
Deadline for Hotel Reservations: March 16, 2010
Deadline for Meeting Registrations: March 23, 2010

Information Technology Roundtable Meeting
• IT Roundtable Summary (PDF 30KB)
• Information Technology Roundtable Agenda

Information Technology Roundtable Meeting
• IT Roundtable Summary (PDF 24KB)