BRANY’s IRB and Clinical Trial Services teams stand ready to support institutions and sponsors through COVID-19

Research institutions may need to transfer some or all of their clinical trials as they adjust operations in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

BRANY, a national organization that provides IRB review and clinical trial start-up services, announced today that its team of experts is standing ready to support institutions impacted by COVID-19.

Extraordinary measures, from “shelter in place orders” to ramping down non-essential services, have significantly disrupted IRB and clinical trial research operations. Front line health care providers are focusing their time and energy on myriad patient care issues. Clinicians who may have served on IRBs have necessarily shifted their focus to patient care. Meanwhile, research professionals, such as clinical research coordinators, are working from home, sometimes without the appropriate set-up or resources.

“Research institutions, hospitals and academic medical centers across the United States are all deeply impacted by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic,” says Paddy Mullen, chief executive officer of BRANY. “We are a national company, owned by four academic medical centers in New York. Our deep expertise and knowledge of IRB and clinical trial start-up operations at academic medical centers, health systems, and hospitals, puts BRANY in a unique position to offer IRB and clinical trials support services that can be seamlessly incorporated into an organization’s day-to-day research operations.”

At this time, when staffing and resources for research oversight may be sparse, BRANY offers a seamless, integrated model of support. This may be particularly needed when research administrators may be pulled away from research oversight to tend to other organizational priorities. BRANY can support any institution, even those in a hardship situation, to help their IRB and Clinical Trial Offices remain compliant with regulations and institutional requirements.

“Several institutions are implementing investigator-initiated trials focusing on COVID-19,” says Ms. Mullen. “These urgently-needed protocols require swift IRB review, and we are positioned to provide that. We can also alleviate the burden of maintaining existing trials while resources are being redirected to COVID-19 trials.”

BRANY offers a wide range of research support services. Some organizations may need to temporarily transfer IRB oversight of some or all of their trials to ensure the protection of human subjects during this crisis. BRANY IRB is prepared to act as an IRB partner and assume IRB oversight. BRANY offers rapid clinical trial start-up services, including IRB review, budget development and negotiation, clinical trial agreement negotiation, and coverage analysis. BRANY also provides web-based technology solutions including SMART, a clinical trial management system, and Protocol Builder, a clinical protocol-writing application.

BRANY’s other divisions, CITI Program and the HRP Consulting Group, are also offering consulting, training and staffing support services to institutions facing a myriad of COVID-19 related concerns.

To discuss how BRANY can support an institution’s research needs, please contact Carmela Shabazz, Director, Corporate Development & Operations Support at 516-470-6979.

BRANY

BRANY is a national organization providing a continuum of research and compliance support services to investigators, hospitals, universities and academic medical centers. BRANY was founded in 1998 by four nationally-ranked academic medical centers: NYU School of Medicine, Montefiore Medical Center, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and Northwell Health. BRANY IRB was the first IRB in New York to be accredited by AAHRPP in 2006.