The University and , a Rhode Island health care provider, signed an agreement to bring together the two institutions鈥� biomedical health services research, according to a March 14 .
Through the agreement, the University鈥檚 will work to 鈥渁dminister and support鈥� CNE鈥檚 research efforts by expanding their efficiency and capabilities, according to the press release.
鈥淭ogether, we can expand best practices, eliminate duplication of efforts, improve investigator support and eliminate administrative burden鈥� at the two institutions, said Mukesh Jain, senior vice president for health affairs and dean of medicine and biological sciences, in the press release.聽
鈥淲e're excited 鈥� at Care New England,鈥� said Mary Marran, president and COO of Butler Hospital, which is owned by CNE. 鈥淟ike every administrative core, (we) are struggling with resources, so we don't want to invest in technology on this side if we're heading to an integrated program with Brown and Lifespan.鈥�
Jain added that the agreement will also make the institutional board process more efficient for human subjects researchers by making it so they 鈥渙nly have to go through one (Institutional Review Board) versus one at the hospital and one at Brown.鈥�
鈥淎t Care New England, we have a lot of dedicated investigators and we want to make their lives easier,鈥� Marran added.
In November, the University signed an aligned research collaboration agreement with CNE and Lifespan, which aims to help the three institutions 鈥渃ompete for larger funding opportunities by combining strengths in state-of-the-art research infrastructure, core facilities and specialized equipment,鈥� Kathleen Hart, director of public relations at Lifespan, wrote in an email to The Herald.
But given the 鈥渟ize and complexity鈥� of the November agreement, Jain anticipates that the three-way integration involving Lifespan may take up to 12 months before being operational.
The interim period during the three-party agreement鈥檚 ongoing integration 鈥� which involves a 鈥渟eries of working retreats and meetings,鈥� according to the press release 鈥� motivated the second agreement between the University and CNE.
Jain wrote that he hopes this agreement will remove barriers, 鈥渉elp researchers become more productive鈥� and 鈥渇oster collaborations between hospital- and campus-based researchers.鈥�
Ryan Doherty is a Section Editor covering faculty, higher education and science & research. He is a sophomore concentrating in chemistry and economics who likes to partially complete crosswords in his free time.
