Bending the arc of research toward new systems that significantly improve healthcare
DCRI is leading clinical research into a future where healthcare is more accessible, equitable, and effective by prioritizing innovation and championing disruptive ideas. We’re systematically evaluating and improving the technologies that create new opportunities for optimizing healthcare.
Building and improving the technologies that make health personal
In 2022, DCRI pushed clinical research methods forward, determining ways to evaluate and improve artificial intelligence, digital health tools, and health system workflows. We advised study teams for fit-for-purpose digital devices, and guided other researchers in exploring issues around the design, development, and dissemination of groundbreaking digital health applications.
In 2023, our digital health team aims to deliver inclusive and seamless clinical trial and device experiences for patients, providers, and caregivers. We will improve data management for tools like wearables and in-home sensors, and continue to provide the key resources, guidance and thought leadership needed by researchers to develop the digital health tools of tomorrow.
Prioritizing initiatives that spark big ideas
Innovation in clinical research takes center stage during the annual Innovation Campfire competition event. A collaborative project co-sponsored by the Duke Institute for Health Innovation, Innovation Campfire has provided a platform for catalyzing and advancing innovation across the health enterprise for the last two years.
In 2022, faculty and staff teams who received funding and expert support for their innovative ideas in 2021 made remarkable achievements, including:
- Building novel systems to improve implementation of evidence-based therapies and strategies, which are poised to reduce costs and improve care.
- Development and pilot testing of a mobile application for families with children who have congenital heart defects. The app continues to provide the team with further expertise in delivering research and care directly to participants, regardless of their location, and increases the availability of care in communities that are otherwise distant from adequate healthcare resources.
- Creating a video platform that connects research participants, providing them with a community for learning and support.
- Generating a repository for data formatted to allow researchers to more easily answer questions.
- Building an application to engage, inform, probe, promote wellness and foster community among patients with rare diseases.
Meanwhile, DCRI voters and a panel of reviewers awarded funding totaling over $500,000 to four faculty and staff teams for their innovative, solution-driven aimed at engaging people and leading in hybrid and virtual trials in the second-annual Innovation Campfire competition.
- Home is Where The Heart Gets Fit: An App-enabled Remote Fitness and Rehabilitation Program for Children with Heart Disease. Reid Chamberlain, Kevin Hill, Greg Fleming, Kathleen Wood, Ilana Osten, Jennifer Martin, Stefany Olague, Anthony Cunningham.
- We’re Going to Talk about BRUNO: Building Relationships that are Unified & Nicely Organized
- Assessing Effectiveness of Patient-Directed Data Capture. Keith Marsolo, Lauren Cohen, Darcy Louzao, Gretchen Sanders, Lisa Wruck, Adam Devore, Manesh Patel
- The Pediatric Cardiac Screening Data Warehouse. Salim Idriss, Valarie Morrow, Vincent Miller, Samia Baluch.
While some projects from the initial Innovation Campfire event completed their objectives in 2022, others secured outside funding with industry and government partners and will continue forward
The DCRI is advancing its commitment to generating and supporting the disruptive ideas that improve how clinical research is carried out and improve health outcomes worldwide.
Recognized for our work
The Clinical Research (CR) Forum, a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting understanding and support for clinical research and its impact on health and health care, selected the ADAPTABLE study as a Top 10 Clinical Research Achievement Awardee for 2022. The awards recognize outstanding achievements in clinical research from across the U.S., identifying major advances in the biomedical field resulting from the nation’s investment in health and welfare. The pragmatic clinical trial was the first demonstration project of PCORnet®, the Patient-Centered Clinical Research Network, which is an integrated partnership of clinical research networks funded by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI).
The DCRI celebrated faculty members who received prestigious honors as part of Duke Medical School’s 2022 annual awards. Faculty were selected based on their excellence in promoting ethical and professional behavior, mentoring other researchers, contributing to medical education, and advancing clinical science research.
More ways that we’re reimagining clinical research and improving health:
- The DCRI’s collaboration with the Duke Department of Population Health Sciences investigating fitness-for-use of Electronic Health Records in pragmatic clinical trials revealed opportunities for improvement using real-world data.
- DCRI faculty serve as thought leaders in cybersecurity and digital health, providing health systems and practitioners valuable insight on preventing cyberattacks and understanding cybersecurity threats, navigating changes to mass communication channels frequently used to share research
“This new study illuminates decision making processes and identifies key concerns about real-world data in pragmatic trials, including endpoint ascertainment from electronic health record data. Prespecified assessments of fitness for use will form the basis of a body of evidence to inform best practices and decision-making around the use of RWD.”
— Emily O’Brien, PhD, second author and DCRI faculty member.