The Astute Clinician Lecture Series. The Astute Clinician Lecture Series, hosted by the CC and added to the NIH director’s series in 1998, continued with a presentation this year on congenital adrenal hyperplasia by Dr. Maria New, professor and chairman of pediatrics, and chief of pediatric oncology at Cornell University. The lecture series was established through a gift from Haruko and Robert W. Miller, M.D. It honors a U.S. scientist who has observed an unusual clinical occurrence and, by investigating it, has opened an important new avenue of research.

The Clinical Center RoundTable. This interactive, live, satellite program was broadcast from January 1999 to May 2000 to hospitals and academic healthcare centers nationwide. It highlighted current NIH research and provided clinically relevant topics for hospital-based viewers. The program reached out to a medical public sometimes unfamiliar with what the Clinical Center does and how it affects their practice. The program was sponsored by the Association of Academic Health Centers. It was carried by TiP-TV, a training and education satellite-delivered healthcare network provided by GE Medicine Systems and the Veterans Health Administration satellite television network.

Media Relations. The Clinical Center staff are increasingly sought out by the media as authorities on clinical trials and medical practices. Media interviews with staff included all the major U.S. and several international television networks, Public Radio International, Associated Press, the Washington Post, the New York Times, New York Daily News, USA Today, Philadelphia Inquirer, Boston Globe, Boston Herald, U.S. News and World Report, Business Week, Life Magazine, NBC Today Show, ABC Good Morning America, and Discovery Health. Clinical Center research was the focus of several news reports this year, including the following:

• CC Department of Critical Care Medicine investigators demonstrated that a disabling bone disorder, osteonecrosis of the hip, is surprisingly common among patients with HIV infection. The study results were presented during the Infectious Diseases Society of America’s annual meeting Sept. 8 in New Orleans.
• Scientists from the Clinical Center Transfusion Medicine Department and NIAID, and other institutions discovered a clue that begins to explain why so many patients fail to fully recover from infection with the hepatitis C virus. Their research, reported in Science, points to changes in surface proteins that enable the virus to evade the immune system. The study shows that the destiny of an HCV infection is determined during the initial, acute phase of disease.
• Clinical Center Pharmacy Department researchers demonstrated that a widely used herbal product—St. John’s wort—could significantly compromise the effectiveness of an antiviral drug often prescribed to treat HIV infection.

Medicine for the Public. The Clinical Center’s popular Medicine for the Public lecture series offered six lectures during this its twenty-fourth season, each drawing nearly 400 attendees from across the region. The program focuses on how today’s research will affect the future of health care. Physician-scientists working at the forefront of medical research offer easy-to-understand information and insight on major health issues. Topics included organ and tissue transplantation, AIDS in adolescents, drug and herbal product interactions, stroke, women’s health, and prostate cancer.

Patient Recruitment. The Patient Recruitment and Public Liaison Office received 31,251 contacts and inquiries during FY2000, representing a 27.7 percent increase over FY99. Staff referred 8,626 prospective patients to intramural protocols, representing a 67 percent increase over FY99. A total of 1,464 new patients, who came through PRPL, were admitted to intramural protocols (including screening protocols). This represents a 163.8 percent increase over FY99. The number of minority contacts increased from 1,167 to 1941(66 percent) during fiscal year 2000. A series of display advertisements was placed in the Washington Post starting in 1999. After three months, 122 patients were enrolled in protocols a result of ads. This represents a 177.2 percent increase in the number of enrollments for advertised diseases. PRPL is developing partnerships with major corporations. Giant Food has distributed protocol information to its employees in the company newsletter and distributed 300 PRPL information cards to the public. The store chain has also agreed to place 17,000 PRPL information cards in approximately 140 Giant pharmacies across the greater Washington metropolitan area.

Minority Outreach. To effectively address the health issues of minorities and to recognize the dramatic shift in ethnic demographics in the United States, several minority outreach endeavors were undertaken. A Clinical Center Workforce Diversity Advisory Council with membership from throughout the organization was formed to advise senior management on key diversity issues within the organization. The Clinical Center director met with the president of the National Medical Association to establish a connection to enhance the Clinical Center’s ability to recruit minority patients and assist the NMA in establishing its own core curriculum in clinical research. The Clinical Center’s strategic plan on reducing health disparities identifies several avenues for minority outreach, including:

• Tailoring aspects of patient recruitment and referral to facilitate minority participation in clinical trials.
• Making sure that needs of minority patients are met by increasing recruitment of minority blood and marrow donors.
• Enhancing public information programs about the NIH Clinical Center and participation in clinical trials.
• Providing education and training in clinical research that focuses on strategies for alleviating health disparities.

Contents

Introduction

Clinical Research Center

From the Director

Major Programs

History

Governance

Research Initiatives

Research Spotlight

Training Programs

Patient Care and Support

Organizational Initiatives

Outreach