Electronic hub helps translational research
Hubs can work between various groups
A novel strategy that uses an informational hub, a communication hub, and a data hub is part of an electronic management-clinical translational research (eM-CTR) system that creates a bridge between basic science investigators and clinical physician researchers.
"The eM-CTR system is really a container, and in this container we have this hub-based system," says Al A. Cecchetti, PhD, MS, MSIS, co-director of the Clinical Pharmacology Data Center at the Center for Clinical Pharmacology, University of Pittsburgh Department of Medicine in Pittsburgh, PA.
The hub-based system's purpose is to facilitate fundamental clinical translational research, he says.
"Clinical translational research is more interdepartmental, and eM-CTR is designed to bridge that gap," he adds. "Because of the cost and time involved, the idea was to come up with a system that would be inexpensive and could be put together quickly."
The hub containers can connect, putting multiple studies together. But its purpose is to provide an inexpensive strategy that can quickly bring members of a team together, Cecchetti says.
Teams can range from three to 15 people, but often are most efficient with six members, he notes.
Researchers also have used the hubs to connect community groups with scientists and to assist with community networking.1,2
From the perspective of an eM-CTR system, the hub concept makes sense because it is quick and has a Web-based interface that can be understood by all involved, he says.
"We use SharePoint by Microsoft, and people are used to the rules on that platform," Cecchetti says. "We don't want busy people to learn new technology when they'd rather spend their limited time on research."
Also SharePoint is relatively inexpensive, making it affordable for departments that fund much of their own clinical translational research, he adds.
Here are some of the hubs positive attributes:
Hubs can facilitate both data sharing and virtual meetings: The software is designed to handle data on forms and documents and provides an online meeting room with a contact list, team members, a calendar, and other features. The technology is embedded with a high level of security and rules, Cecchetti says.
"These were the things we thought were sufficient for teams," he adds. "It has a calendar where they can put information about who met, who didn't, and what was going on."
Team members can type in an agenda and other information into the calendar unit, so they won't have to check their email accounts to recall meeting dates and times.
"There are shared folders, and people will put items on their own computers, but when they come together teams meet in a virtual meeting room where the documents are located," Cecchetti says. "These are located in the communication hub that people use."
A busy physician easily can go into the hub, see the documents he or she needs, and avoid the hassle of making several phone calls.
Hubs provide accessible, detailed databases: After teams meet repeatedly, they'll want to share data, and a data hub is available for this purpose.
"Overlap systems allow us to summarize data," Cecchetti says. "We can see very quickly who was recruiting more subjects and who was recruiting less."
Also, database hubs could contain forms and applications that are customized for a particular team or project. For example, a form that contains questions about subjects could be adjusted to eliminate all questions about pregnancy if the study's subjects are entirely men.
"These can be set up with the complexity and security that's needed," Cecchetti says.
Data can be de-identified and made confidential so that only the study's investigator has access to the data.
The electronic technology also lets researchers know instantly which data are coming in and which are missing so they can fill in the gaps.
Hubs enable communication that is convenient for team members: Time is an issue for most researchers, so it's difficult to train them on new technology or other skills they'll need for a particular study.
"If you wait for them to use new technology then the study might be over," Cecchetti says. "So the communication hub allows me to set up a mechanism where people can meet and bring in a person like me who helps them use the technology."
Cecchetti can help investigators join meetings quickly through the communication hub, and he could insert images and instructions directly on their desktop via remote electronic technology.
"The nice thing about that is with a team you could bring in people who might not have time to attend a meeting, like a lab person," Cecchetti says. "The information is online for them, and the person could join the meeting without stopping what they're doing, or they could join the meeting at 10 p.m. when they're home."
This flexibility also makes the communication hub ideally suited for studies in which community residents meet with investigators in the virtual meeting space, he notes.
"We don't want a system that only works from 8 to 5," Cecchetti says. "We need a flexible system."
Another benefit to the electronic hub system is that it can be easily created and destroyed.
"They're designed to be set up very quickly without having to ask for money up front," Cecchetti says. "You can use the information hub to create a meeting place, the data hub to collect small amounts of data, and if the study doesn't receive funding then you can remove the hubs."
For successful studies, the hubs can be kept for seven years, remaining static even as research teams change, he notes.
So if an original lab person leaves, the lab data remain in the hub for the next person to access, Cecchetti says.
"People come and go, but the information hub stays stable," he adds.
References
- Cecchetti AA, Parmanto B, Vecchio ML, et al. Team building: electronic management-clinical translational research (eM-CTR) systems. Clin Transl Sci. 2009;2(6):449-455.
- Branch R, Chester A. Community-based participatory clinical research in obesity by adolescents: pipeline for researchers in the future. Clin Transl Sci. 2009;2(5):350-354.
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