Department Spotlight: WellStar Research Institute

Growth of WellStar clinical research program leads to new name

Over the past several years, clinical research activities have grown significantly at WellStar.  This growth has led to the transformation of the previously entitled Clinical Trials Office (CTO) to the WellStar Research Institute (WRI). The WRI operates a robust and centralized translational research program that supports clinical trials in many of our service lines. With the growth of the program, we have transformed into a large, multidisciplinary research team at both WellStar Cobb and Kennestone Hospitals, which includes physicians, research nurses, research assistants, graduate students and other research team members. Our scope of clinical research has grown to involve not only leaders in the medical industry, but also world-renowned medical centers including the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control.

The WRI currently supports 73 clinical research studies, with 973 patients enrolled in the trials.  These trials cover a broad range of disciplines including cardiology, oncology, radiation oncology, pulmonary medicine, infectious disease, rheumatology, women’s health, vascular surgery and laboratory services. Our current and pending clinical trials consist of phase II-IV drug and device studies as well as post-market registries and investigator initiated research protocols. New research protocols will be initiated in fiscal 2013 involving the latest technology in intracoronary stents and pacemakers, surgical devices and tissue regeneration therapies.

In 2011, WellStar and Kennesaw State University (KSU) began a collaboration that has brought together WellStar team members working on research projects with KSU faculty and students. The collaboration has provided student interns who work with KSU’s Epidemiology Department. An atrial fibrillation protocol was written by a physician investigator in our cardiac research division and is serving as the prototype for the KSU internships. This initial project is supported by donations from our cardiac research investigators to a cardiovascular research foundation fund.  Our investigator-sponsored research initiative will answer important clinical questions, positively impact the health of our community and support the academic endeavors of KSU’s graduate students.

Two WellStar physician investigators have been appointed to the KSU Institutional Review Board. Additional physicians and WellStar leaders have recently been granted graduate clinical adjunct faculty status by the university.

WRI has become increasingly recognized as a leader in the research industry, both locally and globally. We look forward to continued growth in our research program, and we welcome new investigators as we follow the path of innovation and opportunities in the advancement of medical science.
 
 For more information, please contact Joan Dorin, director of the WellStar Research Institute at 770-793-5148 or joan.dorin@wellstar.org.