Research Advisory Council

The Research Advisory Council (RAC) is composed of a multi-disciplinary group of clinicians who possess skills in the elements of scientific inquiry. RAC meets the first Tuesday of each month from 7 to 8 a.m. Members include clinicians from major departments. The Director of Nursing Research, a member of the Nursing Research Council, the VP of Academic Affairs, and the Director, Tower Health Research, are also represented. The Chair is selected by the committee at large. The Council mission:

  • Provide informal guidance to members of the Reading Hospital community who wish to participate in investigator-initiated research.
  • To formally review all investigator-initiated research proposals prior to Institutional Review Board (IRB) review, and to provide the IRB with an opinion regarding the scientific merit of the proposal.
  • In addition, the Council will review competitive grant requests and appropriate grant funds from a yearly pool, donated by the hospital and Medical Staff.

REDCap

REDCap is a secure, web-based platform for building and managing your online databases and surveys. The process is streamlined for rapid creation and design of projects that can be tailored to any data collection project.

REDCap provides export procedures for data downloads as PDF, CSV, or into Excel and other statistical software (SPSS, SAS, Stata, R). Other features include a built-in calendar, scheduling module, ad hoc reporting tools; advanced features, such as branching logic, file uploading, and calculated fields; and custom searches for generating reports and databased triggers and alerts.

REDCap administrators are available for those who require assistance or have any questions.

For more information, visit redcap.trhmc.org/redcap.

TriNetX

From TriNetX: "TriNetX is the global health research network that connects the world of drug discovery and development from pharmaceutical company to study site, and investigator to patient by sharing real-world data to make clinical and observational research easier and more efficient. TriNetX combines real-time access to longitudinal clinical data with state-of-the-art analytics to optimize protocol design and feasibility, site selection, and patient recruitment, and enable discoveries through the generation of real-world evidence. The TriNetX platform is HIPAA and GDPR compliant."

TriNetX Live platform: Trinetx.com.

To request access or obtain more information, email research@towerhealth.org.

Additional Research Resources

In addition to the research resources listed above, Tower Health Academic Affairs and Tower Health Research also include a biostatistician, SPSS software, and Medical Library staff to help support the needs of the investigators in their research being conducted. Also included are how-to write biological sketches from the NIH and NSF for grant applications.