Satellite of the General Clinical Research Center at OU-Tulsa

Plans are currently underway to establish a satellite General Clinical Research Center at the University of Oklahoma - Tulsa Health Sciences Center. The satellite center will be located in the new OU-Tulsa Research and Medical Clinic which is currently under construction and scheduled to open in December 2006.

By establishing a satellite research center in Tulsa, regardless of where the research originates, our clinical researchers will be able to expand their catchment areas to include the two largest cities within Oklahoma and their surrounding populations. In essence, our volunteer population numbers will double from approximately 1 million people to over 2 million. This increase in population will allow for faster and better recruitment into our research projects, which in turn, will increase the speed of completion of those research projects.

The opening of the satellite center will also make it easier on our participants. Currently those volunteers that live within the Tulsa or surrounding areas find it necessary to travel to Oklahoma City to take part in our research. The new satellite center will remove the burden of traveling long distances which will also help with research recruitment.

All research protocols will continue to be held to the highest of standards for patient safety and scientific integrity, and will need approval from the OUHSC Institutional Review Board and the GCRC Advisory Committee before beginning at the OUHSC and OU-Tulsa satellite General Clinical Research Centers. In preparation for the opening in Tulsa, the GCRC Advisory Committee has appointed three OU-Tulsa researchers to the board. They are, William Yates, M.D., Mark Martens, M.D., and Anil Kaul, M.D., D.D.S., M.P.H.

We are anxiously awaiting the opening of the satellite of the General Clinical Research Center at OU-Tulsa and teaming with OU-Tulsa researchers to provide the best research practices to our research volunteers.