General Information
The General Clinical Research Center at Baylor College of Medicine has been open and supported through the National Center for Research Resources at the NIH for over 40 years. The goal of the GCRC Program is to provide clinical research infrastructure for medical scientists who conduct patient-oriented research. The GCRC is meant to be used primarily by investigators who are supported by NIH individual research project grants, but investigators who are supported by funds provided by other federal, state and local agencies, and the private sector are also eligible for GCRC support.
The GCRC offers use of its facilities and resources for clinical studies, which have been approved through the BCM IRB and the GCRC Scientific Advisory Committee. These resources include:
- Inpatient and outpatient facilities
- Financial support for selected ancillary laboratory costs associated with inpatient stays or outpatient visits
- Research nursing services
- Bionutritionist services
- Biostatistician services
- A cell and gene therapies core laboratory
The GCRC is structured to accommodate patient-oriented research activities at appropriate sites throughout the patient care facilities utilized by BCM. A single administrative structure supports both the pediatric and adult units of the GCRC. The pediatric unit at Texas Children's Hospital is located in the West Tower of Texas Children’s, 10th floor. This discrete inpatient unit consists of six inpatient rooms, an infusion room which can serve as an additional private room, an outpatient clinic, and a specialized neonatal research satellite unit located within the neonatal intensive care unit. The adult unit consists of per diem beds within The Methodist Hospital.
