DCCR Organisation and Structure

The DCCR is a clinical research collaboration between TCD, UCD, RCSI, MMI and the associated Dublin Area teaching hospitals, including St. James’s Hospital the location of the new Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Facility.

DCCR Governance Arrangements

As TCD is the host institution for this award, it has ultimate responsibility to the Wellcome Trust and Health Research Board for this Award.  TCD is supported in this role by the DCCR Consortium Board, which is comprised of representatives from the DCCR partner organisations (TCD, RCSI, UCD, MMI and St. James’s Hospital).

In addition, the HRB, Wellcome Trust and TCD have agreed to establish a DCCR Oversight Board that will independently report on the progress of the DCCR Programme.  The Oversight Board is comprised of an internationally recognised panel with experience and expertise in the area of clinical research facilities, networks and programmes.

The DCCR Programme is operationally managed as two interrelated sub-programmes.  At the St. James’s Hospital campus, the Clinical Research Centre is jointly governed by St. James’s Hospital Board and TCD through a Management Committee consistent with the joint governance arrangements set out in the Wellcome Trust agreement.  These arrangements are similar to those already in place between medical schools and their respective teaching hospitals for the other Dublin CRCs located at St. Vincent’s University Hospital, Mater Misericordiae University Hospital and Beaumont Hospital.

Secondly a DCCR Network Management Team will manage the development of city-wide infrastructure for clinical research and the implementation of city-wide multisite clinical research activities.  The research programmes supported by the network will be driven by the formation of DCCR Clinical Interest Groups, where clinicians and scientists from across the city are supported to come together around particular clinical research themes.  The Network Management Team is supported by the DCCR Network Operations Team, which is responsible for establishing standard network operating procedures for multi-site clinical research (DCCR Clinical Research Portfolio), network training and education (e.g. Certificate Course in Research Nursing and ICRIN GCP) initiatives as well as the development of clinical research IT infrastructure.