CLEVELAND--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Ohio Clinical Trials Collaborative (OCTC) announces the appointment of Robert A. Salata, MD, as Chair of its Infectious Diseases Working Group. An internationally renowned infectious disease expert, Salata is Chief of Infectious Disease and HIV Medicine Division at University Hospitals Case Medical Center and Professor of Medicine at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine.
“Infectious diseases represent the greatest proportion of new diseases discovered over the past 35 years, and emerging and re-emerging infections continue to represent a global threat to human health,” said Salata. “I am pleased to lead this statewide initiative related to infectious diseases clinical trials for the OCTC to help industry develop new treatment and prevention strategies.”
The OCTC provides centralized access to Ohio’s premier medical centers for clinical trial development. The pharmaceutical industry faces a challenging and expensive process for conduct of clinical trials. The OCTC streamlines the contracting, budgeting, approval of human subject use and patient recruitment/enrollment processes so that medical discoveries can move to market faster.
“The OCTC seeks to establish Ohio as one of the most efficient and effective states in which to develop new medicines and treatment strategies. Infectious diseases are an area of unmet need where we look to support industry sponsored clinical trials,” said James Chmiel, MD, MPH, Chief Executive and Director of the OCTC.
About the Ohio Clinical Trials Collaborative
The OCTC is an
initiative under Governor John Kasich’s vision of a premier research
medical corridor in Ohio that is co-founded by the Clinical and
Translational Science Collaborative at Case Western Reserve University,
the Center for Clinical and Translational Science at The Ohio State
University and the Center for Clinical and Translational Science and
Training at the University of Cincinnati. With offices at Case Western
Reserve University’s School of Medicine, the OCTC seeks to establish
Ohio as one of the most efficient and effective states in which to test
new medications and treatment strategies. The OCTC offers economies of
scale and unique capacity, leveraging expertise from across the state of
Ohio to conduct clinical trials on behalf of industry sponsors. For more
information, please go to www.ohioclintrials.org.
About University Hospitals Case Medical Center
UH, the
second largest employer in Northeast Ohio, serves the needs of patients
through an integrated network of hospitals, outpatient centers and
primary care physicians in 16 counties. At the core of our health system
is University Hospitals Case Medical Center, one of only 18 hospitals in
the country to have been named to U.S. News & World Report’s most
exclusive rankings list: the Best Hospitals 2013-14 Honor Roll. The
primary affiliate of Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine,
UH Case Medical Center is home to some of the most prestigious clinical
and research centers of excellence in the nation and the world,
including cancer, pediatrics, women's health, orthopaedics and spine,
radiology and radiation oncology, neurosurgery and neuroscience,
cardiology and cardiovascular surgery, organ transplantation and human
genetics. Its main campus includes the internationally celebrated UH
Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital, ranked among the top children’s
hospitals in the nation; UH MacDonald Women's Hospital, Ohio's only
hospital for women; and UH Seidman Cancer Center, part of the
NCI-designated Case Comprehensive Cancer Center at Case Western Reserve
University. UH Case Medical Center is the 2012 recipient of the American
Hospital Association – McKesson Quest for Quality Prize for its
leadership and innovation in quality improvement and safety. For more
information, go to www.uhhospitals.org.