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Enabling Clinical and Translational Research

European Clinical Research Infrastructure Network


The ECRIN Consortium is a European not-for-profit platform for the support of trans-European clinical research projects. ECRIN is not directed towards a specific speciality or disease category, but will foster transfer of best research practice from speciality to speciality all over Europe. Its aims include the development of an infrastructure for clinical research that allows for the bottom-up harmonisation of support, training, ethical issues, SOPs, data management, quality control procedures, adaptation to national legislation and Good Clinical Practice along with communication with investigators, patients, and citizens.
 

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History
ECRIN network
MMI Position Paper on Ireland's continued participation in European research infrastructures for biobanking and clinical research

 


History

By connecting national networks of academic clinical research infrastructures, ECRIN was designed to bridge the fragmented organisation of European clinical research and to develop an integrated EU-wide clinical research infrastructure.

The programme started in 2004 with a diagnostic step (ECRIN-RKP, 2004-2005, funded by the FP6 Health priority) that helped identify the main bottlenecks to multinational cooperation in clinical research. This led to evidence deep and often unexpected discrepancies in national organisation and practice of clinical research (see deliverables). As a consequence, this pilot initiative led to define a strategy for the future development of a pan-European infrastructure for clinical research, based on the connection of national hubs providing services to multinational clinical studies and on the provision of services to investigators and sponsors in the conduct of multinational studies, as academic institutions often lack the capacity to fulfil the sponsor’s responsibilities in foreign countries.

In the second step (ECRIN-TWG, 2006-2008, also funded by the FP6 Health priority), procedures and guidelines to support investigators and sponsors in multinational clinical research projects in the EU were prepared by transnational working groups (see deliverables) and in particular:

  • The description of national requirements for multinational clinical research in terms of ethical review, regulation, adverse event reporting, risk-based monitoring, and a corresponding set of guidance documents describing how to perform multinational clinical research projects and what the national requirements are, and the specific actions enabling projects to cross the borders.
  • The description of existing data management tools, and the definition of requirements and specifications for ECRIN data centres.
  • The description of existing resources in terms of training for clinical research, and the transposition of material developed by ECRIN into the preparation of yearly Summer Schools, designed to train European Correspondents.

For further information please go to the ECRIN website

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ECRIN Scientific partners

The Network is based on the connection of national networks of clinical research centres and clinical trials units.

Click on the country to have a short description of the network:

To know who to contact in your country, please see the contact section

Pan European expansion and capacity building

ECRIN plans to set up a clinical research infrastructure that is accessible to all clinical researchers in the EU member and associated states.

ECRIN is open to new partners pending on fulfilment of accession criteria, and help them structuring their national hubs through the capacity building programme.

ECRIN promotes the development of national networks with professional staff implementing high quality standards in the conduct of clinical research, and develops partnership with clinical research infrastructures in other world regions, and with developing countries through its capacity building programme.

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MMI Position Paper on Ireland's continued participation in European research infrastructures for biobanking and clinical research

MMI has agreed a position paper recommending that Ireland commits to full membership of the ERICS for both BBMRI and the European Clinical Research Infrastructure Network (ECRIN).

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