Taking Advantage of NIH Funding Increases for Investigator-Initiated Clinical Research Requires Thoughtful Protocol Writing
Earlier this year, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced the approval of a budget appropriation bill for funding through September 2020. In it, the NIH receives $41.68 billion in funding, an increase of $2.6 billion from FY 2019. For NIH, the new budget appropriation includes $500 million for the All of Us precision medicine study and a $25 million increase for HIV/AIDS research. It also included a $350 million increase for targeted Alzheimer’s research, $50 million to support pediatric cancer research, and $212.5 million to increase funding for adult cancer research.
The 2020 appropriation includes grant funding for both early stage and clinical research. One of the challenges in grant submission related to clinical research is developing a well thought out clinical trial protocol that can meet both scientific and regulatory requirements. Some investigators, particularly ones earlier in their career, may feel daunted by the process of writing a protocol.
Having an easy-to-follow, step-by-step protocol-writing tool can promote adherence to regulations and streamline the institutional review processes. Many institutions have developed protocol writing templates for investigators. Unfortunately, many of them are basic word processing documents and can be unwieldy and long, frustrating protocol writers. A cloud-based, guided experience can assist both seasoned protocol writers and those new to protocol writing, such as medical residents.
Physician investigators and medical residents are not the only ones who may benefit from such a tool. Doctoral students in nursing, physical therapy and other allied health fields are discovering that to complete certification in their fields, they must participate in clinical research.
Additionally, a cloud-based protocol writing system allows closer collaboration with co-investigators or research advisors. By engaging collaborators early in the protocol-writing process, investigators benefit from the shared ‘creative thinking’ that is critical to scientific development.
As institutions, including medical centers, support residents and early career investigators, they may wish to consider a more robust solution than Word templates. In identifying and selecting a tool, they should consider the following questions:
- Does the tool allow easy collaboration with mentors or co-investigators?
- Is it a guided experience, offering assistance and education throughout the process?
- Can it be customized to suit the requirements of the individual institution?
- Does it maintain an audit trail of changes?
These and other critical questions can help institutions evaluate the best protocol-writing tools. By supporting investigators in medicine and allied health fields, institutions can realize the benefits of clearly-articulated protocols. This, in turn, may help increase opportunities for developing well thought-out investigator-initiated clinical protocols that can help strengthen a grant submission.
Interested in protocol-writing tools? Check out Protocol Builder by BRANY.
