The Medical City (TMC) announces the establishment of the Clinical and Translational Research Institute (CTRI) designed to meet the evolving needs of the medical community. The CTRI will also serve as a platform for the institution to assume a leadership role in bridging the gap in clinical research from the laboratory setting to its bedside application.
In short, translational research aims to translate findings in fundamental research into medical and nursing practice and meaningful health outcomes.
Researchers and Clinician-Scientists nationwide face common barriers in clinical and translational research that can delay the development of new interventions for patients in need. These challenges include difficulties in recruiting, mentoring and retaining a critical mass of qualified clinical and translational investigators; increased research costs and complexity; low patient recruitment and retention in clinical research studies; inflexible study designs, and increased regulatory burdens.
The creation of TMC-CTRI will bring in experts in clinical and biomedical research to address relevant health issues and find sustainable solutions through innovative research.
TMC-CTRI will support the innovative flagship programs of The Medical City which include the Institute of Personalized Molecular Medicine, Liver Center, Cancer Center and other clinical centers that are constantly finding ways to speed discoveries from bench to bedside.
It will also seek research partnerships and collaborative work in both local and international research institutions and institutions of higher learning. Basic and translational biomedical researches can be structured based on the current unmet medical needs, from diagnostics to therapeutic researches such as on new chemical entities (NCE’s), biologics and cellular therapeutics.
While TMC-CTRI believes in the diversity of knowledge and the explosion of scientific disciplines, the institute feels that, it is time that such wide ranging expertise would have to be integrated again into translational discipline. To achieve this goal, TMC-CTRI will forge research alliances between clinical trialists, Clinician-scientists, MS and PhD holders and biomedical researchers that will serve as the heart of innovation and research translation.
“With TMC’s Institutional Review Board (IRB) reaching Level III accreditation, The Medical City is now poised to venture into providing the haven for relevant and life-saving clinical researches and drug trials for both local and international clienteles,” says Dr. Raul V. Destura, multi-awarded clinician and scientist and director of TMC-CTRI.
The IRB provides independent guidance, advice, competent review and free from bias decision on health research or other specific research projects involving human subjects. This important unit will ensure that patient’s rights and safety are safeguarded at all times.
TMC-CTRI will also integrate the existing network of hospitals, clinics and laboratories of The Medical City and create a “research highway” that is facilitative and research engaging.
TMC is currently the largest healthcare network in the country with one flagship health care complex, four provincial hospitals and over 40 clinics in Metro Manila and in select provinces in the Philippines.
It has taken its brand into the global arena through the ownership and operation of Guam Regional Medical City (GRMC), the first and only private hospital in Guam and the establishment of ambulatory clinics in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries.
“True to its mission of keeping the ‘patient at center stage, service of greater worth,’ TMC-CTRI will use patient’s health and well-being as its universal compass in achieving its goals of providing innovative and state-of-the-art health interventions for the benefit of the Filipino people and beyond,” says Dr. Destura.
The formal launch of TMC-CTRI was held on April 26 at the Augusto Barcelon auditorium of The Medical City in Ortigas, Pasig City. Dr. Eva Cutiongco De La Paz, Vice Chancellor for Research and Executive Director of the National Institute of Health, University of the Philippines – Manila, was the guest speaker.
TMC Senior Vice President for Medical Services Group Dr. Eugenio Jose F. Ramos delivered the welcome remarks while President and CEO Dr. Alfredo R.A. Bengzon congratulated Dr. Destura and his team for this innovation in his closing statement.
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