Clinical Research Informatics
Clinical Research Informatics (CRI) is a subdomain of biomedical and health informatics that focuses on the application of informatics to the discovery and management of new knowledge relating to health and disease. It includes management of information related to clinical trials, and also involves informatics related to secondary research use of clinical data. Clinical research informatics and translational bioinformatics are the primary domains related to informatics activities to support translational research[1].
Background
The definition of CRI is in flux as it emerges as subdiscipline. A 2009 definition focused CRI specifically on the domain of clinical research (human clinical trials and studies) but acknowledged that CRI also touches on the domain of translational research (in medicine, research focused on what precedes and follows human clinical research [colloquially known as "bench to bedside" and and "bedside to practice" research approaches, respectively])[2].
A 2012 definition, however, took a wider view, suggesting that CRI "...focuses on developing new informatics theories, tools, and solutions to accelerate the full translational continuum: basic research to clinical trials, clinical trials to academic health center practice, diffusion and implementation to community practice, and 'real world' outcomes."[3]. If this broader definition becomes widely adopted, CRI could merge with another emerging subdomain, Translational Research Informatics (TRI).
CRI is rapidly evolving, in part due to an escalating level of activity in clinical research itself. Reasons for this evolution include:
- The rapid pace of biomedical science and the need for advances in medicine, which create pressure for clinical research to be conducted in a timely and efficient manner and to produce high-quality results [2]
- The corresponding need to make clinical care data available for secondary use in support of clinical research [2].
- The use of sophisticated biomedical research techniques that generate large and ever-increasing quantities of data [4]. Common Fund Makes New FY2010 Awards for National Centers for Biomedical Computing https://commonfund.nih.gov/bioinformatics/overview.aspx
- The need for computer programs and other tools that can evaluate, combine, and visualize these large quantities of data not only on supercomputers, but also on PCs and workstations [4].
- The increasing complexity of clinical research [2]
- Challenges of regulatory requirements associated with conducting clinical studies, including a trend toward conducting clinical trials in community practice settings instead of large academic health centers (AHCs) [2]
Initiatives
Related concepts
References
- Informatics areas: clinical research informatics [Online]. 2012 [cited 2012 Nov 25]; Available from: URL:http://www.amia.org/applications-informatics/clinical-research-informatics
- Embi PJ, Payne PR. Clinical research informatics: challenges, opportunities and definition for an emerging domain. J Am Med Inform Assoc 2009;16:323, 325.
- Kahn MG, Weng C. Clinical research informatics: a conceptual perspective. J Am Med Inform Assoc 2012 Apr [cited 2012 Nov 25]; 19(e1):[e36-42]. Available from: URL:http://jamia.bmj.com.liboff.ohsu.edu/content/19/e1/e36.full.pdf+html
External resources
- AMIA Clinical Research Working Group fosters interaction, discussion, and collaboration among individuals and groups involved or interested in the practice and study of CRI
- JAMIA issues focused on CRI
- CRIwiki is a wiki dedicated to topics in CRI
- Researchinformatics.org is a website devoted to topics in CRI and TRI
- Center for Clinical and Translational Sciences
- Institute of Translational Health Sciences
Submitted by Deb Woodcock
