CISCRP Honors Outstanding Partners at Annual Meeting

Boston, MA – July 2, 2009 – On Monday June 22, 2009 the Center for Information and Study on Clinical Research Participation (CISCRP) recognized ten organizational partners for supporting the nonprofit’s public education and outreach initiatives. The awards, presented at CISCRP’s Annual Meeting in San Diego by Board Chair Ken Getz, President & CEO Diane Simmons and AWARE for All National Director Jill McNair, honored organizations and institutions from across the industry.

The four recipients of awards in the category “Supporting the Development of Educational Materials” contributed innovative ideas and funding to CISCRP’s educational campaigns.

• PD Trials, a collaboration of Parkinson’s disease organizations, developed an original webinar (web-based seminar) featuring CISCRP’s Ken Getz to educate people interested in participating in Parkinson’s clinical research.

• Global pharmaceutical leader Pfizer, Inc. is funding CISCRP in a pilot study evaluating methods to inform research participants about clinical trial results through non-technical summary reports.

• Ogilvy Healthworld, an international healthcare communications group, continued its pro-bono support by designing the “Medical Heroes” membership leaflet as a post-trial resource for site staff and volunteers.

• Drug-development services company PharmaNet, Inc. helped translate CISCRP’s “Education before Participation” brochures into nine additional languages/dialects, adding to the organization’s library of tailored global education resources.

CISCRP recognized Johns Hopkins, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the University of Maryland School of Medicine, the Greater Baltimore Medical Center, and St. Joseph Medical Center for “Supporting Public Outreach and Community Building”. Their participation made the debut of AWARE for All Clinical Research Education Day in Baltimore a huge success. AWARE for all is a free program, held May 9 at Johns Hopkins University as part of CISCRP’s national public education series, included presentations, health screenings and workshops led by experts on cancer, HIV/AIDS, diabetes, aging, health disparities and the role of healthy volunteers in research.

The organization presented its highest honor, the “Medical Heroes Award”, to global healthcare leader Hoffmann-La Roche. CISCRP thanked the pharmaceutical company for supporting critical initiatives, including the “Everyday Medical Heroes” public service campaign, the AWARE for All program in Philadelphia, and the broad distribution of diverse educational materials to patients and research site staff.

In a final salute, Getz and Simmons thanked “the millions of people who give the gift of participation in clinical trials each year,” a reminder of the past, present and future volunteers affected by the acclaimed partners’ efforts.

About CISCRP- A 501(c) (3) nonprofit organization located in Dedham, Mass., CISCRP focuses on educating and informing the public about clinical research participation. The organization aims to empower patients, promote collaboration between members of the clinical research community, and improve understanding of the trial volunteer. CISCRP is not involved in recruiting patients or in conducting clinical trials.