Final Report Summary - ECRIN RKP (European clinical research infrastructures network - Reciprocal knowledge programme)
Evaluating research outcomes requires multinational cooperation in clinical research for optimisation of treatment strategies and comparative effectiveness research, leading to evidence-based practice and healthcare cost containment. ECRIN was a distributed European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI) roadmap pan-European infrastructure designed to support multinational clinical research, making Europe a single area for clinical studies, taking advantage of its population size to access patients, and unlocking latent scientific potential.
By creating a single area for clinical research in Europe, this achievement will contribute to the implementation of the Europe flagship initiative 2020 'Innovation union', whose objectives include defragmentation of the research and education capacity, tackling the major societal challenges starting with the area of healthy ageing, and removing barriers to bring ideas to the market.
Networking activities were designed to promote a harmonised implementation of good clinical practice, according to Directive 2001/20/EC and Member State legislation, a harmonised training and practice in clinical research, and communication with investigators, patients and citizens. Workgroups covered the impact of national legislation on clinical studies, ethical issues, good clinical practice and harmonisation of SOPs, data management and quality control procedures. Topic-specific subnetworks, collection of biological material, and transnational cohorts were promoted, while circulation of information targeted the main actors of clinical research, i.e. investigators and researchers, scientific associations, the Cochrane collaboration, funding agencies, and industry partners, as well as patients and patients associations. European correspondents in each national network participated in such networking activities.
By creating a single area for clinical research in Europe, this achievement will contribute to the implementation of the Europe flagship initiative 2020 'Innovation union', whose objectives include defragmentation of the research and education capacity, tackling the major societal challenges starting with the area of healthy ageing, and removing barriers to bring ideas to the market.
Networking activities were designed to promote a harmonised implementation of good clinical practice, according to Directive 2001/20/EC and Member State legislation, a harmonised training and practice in clinical research, and communication with investigators, patients and citizens. Workgroups covered the impact of national legislation on clinical studies, ethical issues, good clinical practice and harmonisation of SOPs, data management and quality control procedures. Topic-specific subnetworks, collection of biological material, and transnational cohorts were promoted, while circulation of information targeted the main actors of clinical research, i.e. investigators and researchers, scientific associations, the Cochrane collaboration, funding agencies, and industry partners, as well as patients and patients associations. European correspondents in each national network participated in such networking activities.