What is investigator-initiated research?
- A physician/researcher has an idea from a pattern they see in treating their patients, which leads to a hypothesis, which leads to building a study plan
- The researcher can be creative and explore their own novel ideas of how they can ultimately help patients
- Differs from a "sponsored study" which is developed and supported financially by an organization such as the National Institutes of Health, a pharmaceutical company, or a device manufacturer
Examples of this type of study
Secretin infusion for pain due to chronic pancreatitis
Dr. Tim Gardner from Gastroenterology is evaluating a medication called Secretin which causes the pancreas to empty its enzymes.
- Key question the study is looking to answer: How effectively can Secretin help eliminate pain for patients with chronic pancreatitis?
- How this study started: Dr. Gardner noticed that his patients taking Secretin to help treat their pancreatitis seemed to feel better after receiving the medication.
- How this clinical trial works: Patients come in for 3 days and get various doses of Secretin and their pain level is measured.
- Results so far: 12 Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center (DHMC) patients have completed the study and most have seen an improvement in their immediate pain.
- What's next?: Since there have been some positive results from this small study, the GI team will be setting up a larger placebo-controlled study involving other hospitals to further investigate the role of Secretin and the best dosing to help with pain from chronic pancreatitis.
OPERA: outcomes, preferences, education, resource utilization, assessment
This study involves a group of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) specialists from the US, Canada, and Australia; however, the program was started by DHMC's Dr. Corey Siegel in Gastroenterology.
- The work: A web-based patient database is used to look at novel and controversial research topics in IBD.
- Why this work is unique:
- Patients enter their own health and quality of life information in the database and agree to be available for future research studies.
- Researchers gain an understanding of the broad range of personal, clinical, social, and economic variables contributing to the IBD patient's daily life.
- The future: The research group collectively cares for over 10,000 IBD patients which means data on health outcomes and patient preferences will build up fast; the information from patients will ultimately help create more effective ways to deliver care to and educate IBD patients across the globe – an effort that began at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center and Dartmouth Hitchcock Clinics.
- Learn more at the BRIDGeIBD website.