May 20, 2021
Today we celebrate Clinical Trials Day as Alberta’s clinical trial infrastructure grows
The global pandemic has highlighted the importance of medical research — particularly clinical trials. In the urgent search for effective COVID treatments, clinician researchers relied on the global clinical trial infrastructure to conduct critical research. Alberta investigators were among those at the forefront of COVID research, including teams from the University of Calgary who contributed to landmark studies like the CATCO COVID19 treatment trial (the Canadian arm of the WHO’s SOLIDARITY Trial).
To build on current infrastructure and further enhance collaborations to benefit Albertans, multiple academic, government, and research organizations have come together to launch Clinical Trials Alberta (CTA). CTA is dedicated to enhancing Alberta’s position as a premier destination to conduct high-quality clinical trials.
Clinical Trials Alberta is designed to attract industry and academic partners to this province to conduct high-quality clinical trials.
“This co-ordinated Alberta-wide endeavour will attract industry and academic partners to Alberta and help our investigators to continue solving the most challenging health questions in the world,” says Dr. Marcello Tonelli, associate vice-president research (health), University of Calgary. “ClinicalTrialsAB.ca will be a critical enabler to realize our vision for a healthy Alberta.”
Founding organizations include the University of Calgary, the University of Alberta, the Alberta Ministry of Jobs, Economy and Innovation, Alberta Innovates, Alberta Health Services, Covenant Health, and the Northern Alberta Clinical Research and Trial Centre.
UCalgary is also launching the Clinical Trials at UCalgary website and will host the new provincial Clinical Trial Management System (CTMS) – OnCore. The Clinical Trials at UCalgary website provides a point of access for industry to learn about clinical trial capabilities and expertise at the university, while CTMS will provide a platform to manage and organize a clinical trial from start to finish.
The Clinical Trials at UCalgary website is a point of access for industry to learn about clinical trial capabilities and expertise at the university and is a trial management tool for researchers.
These new initiatives launch on International Clinical Trials Day — commemorating 274 years since the first controlled clinical trial on May 20, 1747. To help raise awareness about the importance of clinical research, International Clinical Trials Day is now celebrated throughout the world.
The Calgary Centre for Clinical Research at the University of Calgary is hosting the fourth Calgary Clinical Trial Market Day on Thursday, May 20, from 12 to 2 p.m. This event is open to anyone who wishes to learn more about the UCalgary Clinical Trials ecosystem and discover the various services available to support studies conducted at the university.
Anyone interested in joining the virtual Clinical Trial Market Day please email cccr@ucalgary.ca.
Marcello Tonelli is a professor in the departments of Medicine and Community Health Sciences, senior associate dean (health research) at the Cumming School of Medicine (CSM) and associate vice-president research (health) at the University of Calgary. He is a member of the Libin Cardiovascular Institute, and the O’Brien Institute for Public Health at the CSM.
Canadian Innovation Week at UCalgary
As part of UCalgary’s partnership with the Rideau Hall Foundation, we are celebrating Canadian Innovation Week. Join UCalgary experts and researchers May 17-21, for a week of conversation, inspiration and ideas. Learn more.
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