Background

The Faculty of Dentistry, University of Toronto established the Research Institute Clinic (RIC) during the 1998-2003 academic planning cycle. The intent was to provide a unique facility within the Dental Research Institute (DRI) that would promote and facilitate the conduct of experimental clinical research. In 2005-2007 the RIC was exhaustively appraised and reorganized. It was envisaged that the RIC would form the Faculty’s core unit servicing all clinical research activities of the Faculty. Over 2007-2009 a new RIC Board reorganized its scope and activities and proposed a mechanism of functioning of a Centre for Clinical Research (CCR), which is the new name of this clinical research facility in the Faculty of Dentistry.

Goal and Mission Statement of CCR

The broad goal of the CCR is to establish a centre of excellence in clinical research that will foster the discovery, development and testing of new technologies in dentistry and health sciences, which will encourage the translation of research and knowledge into clinical practice.

The mission of the CCR is to facilitate the conduct and promotion of clinical research by members of the Faculty internally as well as in collaboration with other external groups with interest in clinical studies. The Centre will also promote partnerships between cutting edge clinical researchers and the University of Toronto’s world renowned basic scientists with the aim to foster rapid translation of excellent science to more efficient clinical practice. The centre will encourage collaborative clinical research with the UofT’s internationally renowned teaching hospitals. As the Faculty’s core unit servicing all clinical research activities of the Faculty, the CCR will also maintain a documentary record of clinical research by members of the Faculty which will facilitate and enable establishing collaborative research networks. The CCR is a unit within the DRI, and will function on a not for profit, cost recovery basis.

CCR Model

Legend

FOD: Faculty of Dentistry

DRI: Dental Research Institute

CCR: Centre for Clinical Research

SMH AHRC: St. Michael’s Hospital, Applied Health Research Centre

CCR Management Board

Dr Sunjay Suri, Director (Chair)
Dr Dennis Cvitkovitch, Director, DRI: Associate Dean, Research, FOD (Member)
Director, Clinics: Assistant Dean, Clinics, FOD (Member)
Dr Asbjorn Jokstad, Discipline Head, Prosthodontics (Senior Member from Clinical Faculty Discipline) (Member)
Dr David Mock, Dean, FOD (Ex officio Member)

Representatives of Hospital Dental Departments

CCR Staff

Director and CCR Management Board
Clinical Research Coordinator CCR
Team Leader 1/Dental Assistants assigned to projects

Clinical Research Programmes and Registration

Registration of clinical research projects with the CCR will allow the clinical researchers to avail several benefits. In addition to providing access to clinic space and the facilities available at the Faculty of Dentistry, the CCR will, through the DRI office be able to assist researchers in management of their funding. Researchers will also be provided continuously updated information on funding opportunities that may be available through funding agencies and industry. Researchers will have opportunities to access methodological and operational support for their research through a CCR partnership with the Applied Health Research Centre (AHRC) of the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute of St. Michael's Hospital. The AHRC is a not-for-profit, full-service academic research organization serving the University of Toronto clinical research community. The AHRC houses highly skilled methodologists, statisticians, information technology specialists, and operations experts to support a broad range of clinical research functions such as design, protocol development and grant writing, biostatistics, data management and analysis.

Investigators of all studies registered with the CCR will be eligible for participation and competition in the Faculty’s annual Research Day. This will provide an opportunity to showcase their work to the research community, alumni, potential invited sponsors and stakeholders participating in this annual event.

To facilitate and expedite the clinical research process, Principal Investigators (PI) planning their research at or through the support of the Faculty of Dentistry’s CCR should register their research studies using one of the following registration forms:

Type 1 (Registration form CCR 1)

Applicable to clinical research conducted by members of the Faculty of Dentistry when the research is conducted off site from the Faculty. In these projects, there is minimal direct CCR involvement. Only information is requested to facilitate developing collaborative research networks and to maintain a documentary record of clinical research activities of members of the Faculty.

Note: If research funding is being administered by Faculty of Dentistry, such clinical research will be registered as Type 2

Type 2 (Registration form CCR 2)

Applicable to clinical research whose funding is being administered by the Faculty of Dentistry, when the research study is conducted off site from the Faculty with/without support/services required (such as protocol development, statistical design, analysis; grant or proposal writing and report writing) or for studies using CCR equipment and apparatus off site for analysis of samples collected in the study.

Type 3 (Registration form CCR 3)

Applicable to clinical research conducted on site within the CCR with support/services required (such as any or all of following: use of CCR clinic time, equipment and space; assistance in contacting study subjects and recall; statistical design, conduct, analysis and reporting; grant or proposal writing) or studies using CCR equipment and apparatus for analysis of research samples collected off site).

Note: It is understood that except for projects that would have been approved and funded by recognized research institutions (such as Canadian Tri-Council, NIH, Heart and Strike Foundation, Arthritis Society), all clinical research projects to be undertaken within the Faculty will have gone through scientific merit assessment by the Faculty’s Research Committee and would have been approved by UofT’s Research Ethics Board. All research studies which are UofT students’ research projects or related to students’ research projects will be identified in the respective registration forms.

Planning and registering clinical research in the CCR

Before registering, the Principal Investigator or faculty member designing/proposing the research project is advised to review the inventory of equipment and materials maintained in the CCR (available from the clinical research coordinator in the CCR) and the existing facilities within the CCR. The PI may request to meet with the Director of the CCR if needed. The PI will then complete and submit the appropriate CCR registration form to the office of the Director, CCR. For Type 2 and Type 3 studies, in which the PI will be requesting support for proposal and/or grant application writing or statistical design and analysis, the CCR Director will make arrangements for the PI to meet with the expert consultants to assist the PI in planning and conducting the research.

The completed registration form will be evaluated for completeness and then forwarded (along with any supporting documents submitted by the PI as appropriate) to the Assistant Dean of Clinics and DRI Research Grant Coordinator (Finances) to assess the requirements of the study and ways of facilitating the conduct of the research. When approved by the Assistant Dean Clinics and the Research Grant Coordinator, the Director CCR will notify the PI of the approval and provide details of the operative period of the study and amount and mechanism of cost recovery for expenses that the Faculty may incur in the process of supporting the conduct of the clinical research study and/or the use of the Faculty’s resources, on a not for profit basis.

Special Equipment Requirements

If there are specific equipments or consumables required for a research study that are not a part of the existing CCR infrastructure, the CCR Management Board would, upon request by the PI, consider the acquisition of the needed equipment or materials and forward the acquisition costs in total or in part to the PI (based on the applicability of the equipment for future/other clinical research). Equipment purchased in whole or in part by the CCR will become part of the CCR equipment inventory and will be made available to all researchers in a fair and equal manner for future work but not preferential or exclusive manner in favor of the clinical research study for which it was acquired. While the CCR will record such acquisitions to have been made in association with a particular study, it may not waive any portion of the CCR cost recovery process from the research study due to the study having provided funds for purchasing the equipment. In a situation where a research study may need to bring specific equipment into the CCR, which is to be taken away by the investigator/s or sponsors at the completion of the study, the equipment will be allowed to be used provided it meets the health and safety regulations of the Faculty of Dentistry, University of Toronto for good clinical practice and will be assessed for this purpose. The authority on allowance of use within the Faculty will rest with the Assistant Dean of Clinics. In this case, the investigator/s will be solely responsible for the maintenance and running of the equipment.

Note: Appropriate acknowledgement of the support provided by the Centre for Clinical Research (CCR), Faculty of Dentistry, University of Toronto will be recorded in all communications, publications or reports arising thereof in the scientific literature or presentations or public media.

Contact Information

All correspondence should be addressed to:

Dr. Sunjay Suri
Director
Centre for Clinical Research
Faculty of Dentistry, Room 341
124 Edward Street, Toronto, ON M5G 1G6
E Mail: sunjay.suri@dentistry.utoronto.ca

Completed CCR registration forms are to be hand delivered (tracking number will be provided upon submission) to the CCR Coordinator, who is available on Tuesdays and Fridays. For further details on registration, contact:

Angela Brown
Clinical Research Coordinator
Centre for Clinical Research
Faculty of Dentistry, Room 364
124 Edward Street, Toronto, ON M5G 1G6
Ph: 416-979-4900 ext.4316  
F: 416-979-4770

Tuesdays 9:00am-4:45pm
Fridays: 9:00am-4:45pm
E Mail: ccrcoordinator@dentistry.utoronto.ca