Frequently Asked Questions

• What is CRISP?

  CRISP (Computer Retrieval of Information on Scientific Projects) is a biomedical database system containing information on research projects and programs supported by the Department of Health and Human Services.

• What type of research is included in CRISP?
  Most of the research falls within the broad category of extramural projects, grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements conducted primarily by universities, hospitals, and other research institution; and funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and other government agencies.

• Are grants not funded by NIH included in CRISP?

  A relatively small number of research grants are funded by:

  • the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
  • the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
  • the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)
  • the Agency for Health Care Research and Quality (AHRQ)

• Is information about intramural programs included in CRISP?

  CRISP also contains information on the intramural programs of the NIH and the FDA.

• How often is the information updated?

  The CRISP database is updated weekly.

• The CRISP Thesaurus

• What's New?
  • Beginning in FY 1996, the CRISP System adopted the following terminology regarding Clinical Research as defined by the NIH Director's Panel on Clinical Research.

    Clinical Research is defined as research conducted with human subjects (or on material of human origin such as tissues, specimens, or cognitive phenomena) for which an investigator (or colleague) directly interacts with human subjects. This area of patient-oriented research includes:

    • development of new technologies
    • human disease mechanisms
    • therapeutic interventions
    • clinical trials

    Clinical research also includes epidemiologic and behavioral studies and outcomes research and health services research.

  • For clinical trials, two new indexing terms were added: Clinical Trials, Phase I and Clinical Trials, Phase II/III/IV.
    • Clinical Trials, Phase I are clinical studies performed to evaluate the safety of diagnostic, therapeutic, prophylactic drugs, devices, or techniques in a small number of volunteer subjects or patients.
    • Clinical trials, Phase II, III, IV broadly include controlled clinical studies performed to evaluate an experimental intervention in comparison with a standard or control intervention or comparing two or more existing treatments, e.g., evaluation of the efficacy or effectiveness and safety of diagnostic, therapeutic or prophylactic drugs, devices or techniques. The definition includes pharmacologic, non-pharmacologic, and behavioral interventions given for disease prevention, prophylaxis, diagnosis, or therapy. Community trials and other population-based intervention trials are also included.

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