Dr. Cynthia Brown, Professor of Clinical Medicine, was recently named the Medical Director of the Clinical Research Centers (CRC) at Indiana University School of Medicine. The CRCs at IU School of Medicine are a vital part of the clinical research culture and are under the direction of the Indiana Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute (CTSI). The CTSI was established in 2008 with a grant from the NIH and brought the previously established CRCs at IU School of Medicine under its broad ranging research umbrella. Currently there are four CRCs at IU School of Medicine including the University (CRC) and Phase I Center, the Children’s Clinical Research Center at Riley Hospital for Children, the Neuroscience Clinical Research Center, and the Clinical Research Center at Purdue University, a center that supports a wide variety nutrition and exercise studies. Over the past three years, more than 4,000 volunteers annually have participated in clinical research across these campuses with the CRC's supporting more than 10,000 outpatient research encounters and over 200 overnight stays annually. Each year, the CRC supports 400 new research protocols.
Dr. Brown assumed this new role as Medical Director of the CRCs in spring 2022, taking over leadership from Dr. Scott Denne who had led the CRCs for 16 years. Dr. Brown is excited to have this opportunity and especially to learn from his established leadership and institutional knowledge. Dr. Brown plans to work closely with the CRC Operations Manager Laurie Trevino and leaders of the CTSI to ensure that the CRC’s continue to provide the highest quality research infrastructure to support the research mission of IU School of Medicine. One project of particular focus is to increase access to phase 1 clinical trials. Dr. Brown will be working closely with the phase 1 director at the IU Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center to support this exciting initiative. In addition, Dr. Brown will also work with Purdue CRC to support the development of phase 1 device research in conjunction with the Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering.
Dr. Brown comes to this role with an extensive background in clinical research. She is a Professor of Clinical Medicine in the Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, Occupational, and Sleep Medicine and is Director of the Adult Cystic Fibrosis Program. She completed her medical training at Johns Hopkins Medical Center and subsequently received a Master’s Degree in Clinical Investigation with honors at the University of Virginia. Since arriving at Indiana University in 2014, she has been highly involved in a variety of clinical research efforts. She has been principal investigator for more than two dozen clinical trials from phase 1 to phase 3 and has also successfully competed for grant funding from the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation to support her research. Notably, she also was principal investigator for the AstraZeneca phase 3 study of the AZD1222 COVID vaccine. As the PI of this trial, more than 500 Hoosiers were enrolled in a matter of 8 weeks, making this the largest and fastest enrolling clinical trial in IU history.
