For the very latest news and updates on the US Critical Illness and Injury Trials Group

Scientific leaders within the United States critical illness and injury community met at the 5th NIH Functional Genomics of Critical Illness and Injury Symposium, November 14-15, 2007 to discuss a strategic plan for critical illness and injury clinical research in the United States. Representative views were gathered from a broad spectrum of stakeholders, including professional societies, academic centers, federal agencies, and industry. Group discussion affirmed that success could only come from cooperative and strategic actions that favor collaboration, standardization of protocols, and strong leadership.

United States Critical Illness and Injury Trials Group (USCIITG) is funded by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences to create a clinical research framework that will reduce the barriers to investigation using the same investigator-initiated, evidence-driven, inclusive approach that has proven successful elsewhere. The USCIITG will not fund clinical trials, but rather will promote the development of evidence-based clinical protocols and the subsequent preparation of applications for funding to test specific hypotheses. Investigators that span the gamut of critical illness and injury specialties will be involved in this collaborative effort. The specific aims of the USCIITG include the following:

• Establish an inclusive, nationwide network of experts to review published data, establish national priorities, vet hypotheses, write clinical protocols, and generate pilot data;

• Promote interactions and synergy across established programs--both academic and non--academic--to improve the robustness (power) of clinical trials and test hypotheses in U.S. populations across the patient age continuum;

• Provide a venue to discuss education and training in the science of clinical trial design including, conduct, analysis, and reporting for critically ill or injured patients;

• Insure patient protection and privacy by addressing the ethical, legal, and social implications of research in the specialized circumstance of critical illness or injury.

It is expected that the USCIITG will not act in isolation, but will be part of a larger effort to bridge critical care trials groups world-wide. Its success will be based on collaborative leadership, non-hierarchical team culture, and open dialog among participants that will facilitate communication streams and help link new scientific knowledge with practice.