Clinical and Translational Science Institute
Advancing today’s discoveries to improve health for all.

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News

Events

Events

Established Investigator

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Established Investigator

Opportunities for experienced investigators to acquire new research capabilities and to engage in mentor trainings to help early career researchers become more effective researchers.

Research Mentoring Training

Are you a faculty mentor or would you like to be a mentor? 

The Clinical and Translational Science Institutes (CTSI) presents up to three mentoring workshops a year to develop your competency as a mentor. The training is designed to help faculty who mentor early career researchers, whether junior faculty, postdoctoral trainees or graduate students to become more effective research and career mentors. 

The two-session workshop uses a case-based, discussion-oriented curriculum designed by the Center for the Improvement of Mentored Experience in Research (CIMER). CIMER develops theoretically-grounded, evidence-based and culturally-responsive training materials. The training is designed to help faculty who mentor early career researchers, especially junior faculty, to become more effective research and career mentors. A randomized controlled trial of this mentoring curriculum demonstrated that this training improved the skills of mentors. 

Topics include:

  • Approaches to research mentoring  
  • Maintaining effective communications  
  • Assessing understanding 
  • Establishing expectations
  • Promoting professional development
  • Fostering independence

two woman looking at research documentation posted on a whiteboard

Business of Science

The Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) and partner the Fisher College of Business Executive Education, present “The Business of Science,” a workshop designed to provide faculty researchers in the health and biomedical sciences with enhanced skills in innovation, project management and team leadership. The sessions are practically oriented, interactive and introduce participants to methods they can implement immediately in their research projects.

This event is held in the fall during even numbered years.

View the Event

Community Engagement Toolkit for Community Members

Community Engagement Toolkit for Community Members

Explore community engagement resources for community members and partners.

The CTSI Community Engagement program provides the list of resources below to help community partners and Ohio State and Nationwide Children's Hospital research teams identify a place to start when it comes to engaging stakeholders in the translational research process.

Investigator-Initiated Clinical Research Guidebook/Checklists

Investigator-Initiated Clinical Research Guidebook/Checklists

Clinical trials in which the investigator conceives the research, develops the protocol and may also serve as the sponsor.

We also provided a toolkit for Investigator-Initiated Clinical Research in the form of a guidebook. Many times when investigators write a clinical trial they do not realize that they are not only taking on the responsibility of the investigator, but also the legal responsibility of that of a sponsor. That distinction adds some significant tasks to trial oversight than a study designed and initiated by industry.

Download the Guidebook (PDF)

Clinical Research Center

Clinical Research Center (CRC)

As part of the Center for Clinical Research Management in the College of Medicine, the CRC provides clinical research services and currently collaborates with investigators to implement around 100 active research protocols at any given time.

With nursing, nutrition research and laboratory support cores, the CRC staff provide Ohio State investigators with the cutting-edge tools and services needed to explore important clinical questions as well as the pathophysiology and treatment of disease.

Discover the CRC

REDCap

REDCap

A secure web application for building and managing online surveys and databases.

While REDCap can be used to collect virtually any type of data in any environment and it is specifically geared to support online and offline data capture for research studies and operations.

Explore REDCap

NOTE: REDCap has not been validated for compliance with Title 21 Code of Federal Regulations Part 11 and may not be used for eConsent and/or electronic data capture in FDA-regulated research or for any other research with requirements for which REDCap at Ohio State has not been validated. If you have questions, please contact rit-edc@osumc.edu.

Request a Consultation

Recruitment and Retention

Supporting researcher's efforts to recruit participants efficiently and effectively.

Consultation

Identify, reach and enroll your target population, overcome barriers and achieve your recruitment goals.

Consultations are available to help research teams with:

  • Understanding potential participants' motivation to enroll in studies
  • Design of marketing materials (brochures/flyers/cards)
  • Creating and implementing Meta marketing advertisements
  • Assistance with the process of obtaining IRB approval to use ResearchMatch for recruitment and best practices
  • Guidance with listing research studies on StudySearch
  • Creating a positive environment for the research team and study participants
  • Connecting with the university's marketing and social media opportunities
  • Research Informatics Resources, including Clinical Trials Alerts, IHS for research and Information Warehouse requests (feasibility)

Request a Consultation

By requesting a consultation with Recruitment and Retention Services early in the design of a research study can help to reduce the burden of study participant recruitment, which can often be more challenging than expected.

Mary Becker

Recruitment and Retention Program Manager

Email

mary.becker@osumc.edu

Recruitment Methods for Researchers

Recruitment Methods for Researchers

Support in recruiting for your study.

Recruitment of Study Participants

Scientific progress depends on successful recruitment and retention of participants in research studies. Often the most difficult and challenging aspect of conducting research studies can be the execution of efficient and effective recruitment and retention strategies of research study participants.  Implementing these strategies can dramatically contribute to increased workload and complexity of managing research studies but can be pivotal to the success of achieving key research objectives.

It is also important to design a protocol that will clearly identify the study population and allow for easy identification and enrollment of participants. Complex protocols should be reviewed for recruitment feasibility. If the complexity is not necessary for answering the scientific question, then the researcher should consider revising the protocol for easier participant recruitment.

HRPP Policy on Recruiting Methods, Recruitment Materials and Participant Compensation

Social Media Recruitment

The CTSI Recruitment and Retention Office offers social media advertising consultations to researchers and investigators who are interested in advertising their studies to attract more participants.

Targeted social media ads allows researchers to utilize the Meta Ad System. Meta Ads will be hosted on the CTSI Meta Ad Account once they have been IRB approved. As part of the ad, researchers will choose a target audience, a total budget and the duration of time the ad will run.

Building a target audience is done by determining specific characteristics of the audience you want to target with the ads (the characteristics of the potential participants). Meta will then attempt to display that post on the Facebook and Instagram newsfeeds of those that fit the demographics selected (such as age, location, interests, behaviors, etc.)

After an ad has completed running, you will be provided with performance metrics so that you can best determine your recruitment goals.

If you are interested in recruiting with Meta advertising, request a consultation with our Recruitment and Retention team.

MyChart for Recruitment

MyChart for Research Recruitment allows investigators to notify patients directly about research opportunities. By working with the Center for Clinical and Translational Science’s Recruitment Office and Research Informatics Services, researchers can design a search for potential volunteers that can be identified from the electronic health record information repository.

The identified patients’ medical record number will be sent to an honest broker who will send a message containing a study description to patients via the patient portal. The patient may communicate directly with the study team through in-basket messaging.

Get Started on MyCTSI

Participant Retention Planning and Recruitment of Study Participants

The expectations of the number of visits, length of visits, tasks involved at each visit, duration of the overall study and potential costs should be clearly discussed with the potential participant prior to enrollment. If the trial is a randomized placebo or comparative controlled study design, then extra attention should be given to this discussion. All these aspects of participating in a research study can dramatically impact the participant’s willingness or ability to commit to the full length of the study.

Study participation is completely voluntary, and participants can withdraw from the study at any time. Providing consistent and informative visit reminders in the form of a letter and phone call can be helpful to participants and may positively contribute to participant retention. Also, writing protocols that allow flexibility in study visits to accommodate the busy schedules of participants may also yield a higher retention rate.

Resources for Locating Available Clinical Trials

ClinicalTrials.gov
NCI Clinical Trials
The James Clinical Trials
StudySearch

Clinical Trials/Studies Toolkit

Paper checklist with a pen.

Clinical Trials/Studies Toolkit

This toolkit provides essential steps for addressing all areas of clinical research and is a comprehensive guide for research coordinators and investigators to navigate the process.

woman in Ohio State lab coat sitting in a lab writing in a notebook

Pre-Award

Steps to complete and consider before funding is secured.

two women in ohio state lab coats discussing data in a lab next to microscopes

Study Start-up

Support in the beginning stages of your study.

a clinical researcher watches as another researcher performs lab tests

Active Trial

Key steps to take during an active trial.

three women in a laboratory setting looking over a list of documents

Study Closure

Best practices after the completion of a study.

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