February 2023 Edition
Our previously published newsletters are available on our website. You can find them here.

We very much welcome your comments and suggestions – please drop us a line with your thoughts at clinicaltrials@rbhs.rutgers.edu.
Research Spotlight:
Image courtesy of Heartrecovery.com
The RWJMS Cardiology Research Unit had their first two enrollments in the STEMI-DTU trial at the end of January. The STEMI-DTU trial is sponsored by Abiomed, and Dr. Ramzan Zakir is the Principal Investigator for the RWJMS site. In this groundbreaking trial, patients experiencing an anterior STEMI (ST Elevational Myocardial Infarction) are randomized to either a standard of care arm (i.e. percutaneous intervention [PCI] immediately) or intervention arm to have the Impella CP® heart pump inserted for 30 minutes prior to PCI (delayed reperfusion.) The heart pump acts to “unload” the left ventricle, and the hope is that the infarct size will be decreased as a result and outcomes will be improved. 
 
The Impella CP® has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration and is currently used for severe heart attack with cardiogenic shock, but is experimental in this trial of patients with less severe illness. 

Congratulations to Dr. Zakir and the RWJMS Cardiology Research Unit and best wishes for continued success on this important study!
Please shoot us an e-mail to clinicaltrials@rbhs.rutgers.edu if you have a new study, grant award or publication from your area that you’d like to share with your fellow RBHS study teams!
New Quarterly ALL-RBHS Clinical Research Workgroup calls! 

Please complete the post-meeting survey
Thanks to all who attended our first ALL-RBHS Clinical Research Workgroup on 2/6/23, and thanks so much to Hila Feldman Berger, Asst. VP for Research Regulatory Affairs for her excellent presentation. We want to make future calls as helpful and informative as possible for RBHS study teams, and also to be sure that we hold them at times that are convenient for most. So we ask, if you haven’t completed the survey already, that you please do so by clicking the link below to let us know your thoughts. 
Announcing a new Participant-facing website for ClinCard Users 
As part of a process to re-vamp the informed consent language for ClinCard, the CTO has worked with a team at Rutgers HRPP to develop a new website, designed to be an information portal specifically for research participants who are paid using ClinCard. The URL for the site will be inserted into the new template consent language, which will be posted on the HRPP website in the upcoming weeks. The website is live now, so you can feel free to check it out and share with your study participants.
Regulatory Tip of the Month
New Tool Available
The Rutgers HRPP office recently released a new “IRB Review Type and Rutgers Template Recommendation Tool” available at https://research.rutgers.edu/researcher-support/research-compliance/human-research-protection-program/interactive-irb-resources

This helpful interactive tool is designed to assist investigators in determining the right protocol template and to de-mystify the selection of the type of IRB review.  
Visitor Logs
Reminder!

Visitors to a Rutgers campus are supposed to be registered on-line. This would apply to visiting monitors. Information can be found at these links:
 
Rutgers Visitors Log App Access the app at visitorlog.rutgers.edu. Anyone with an active NetID can enter a guest through the system. This app replaces all paper logs and other systems. For technical issues please contact OIT at 833-OIT-HELP or help@oit.rutgers.edu.
OnCore Quick Tip:
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How do I see unreleased calendars / new versions in OnCore?
Click on PC Console in OnCore. Go to Protocol Calendar on the left sidebar. Click on Unreleased tab on the top left of the screen as seen below.
Clinical Research Pet of the Month
February’s Clinical Research Pet of the month is Mia! Her owner is Mehreen Bhatt, Clinical Research Coordinator for the NJMS CRU!

Mia is a 9-year old golden retriever. She loves walks in the park with her humans, begging for treats and cuddles and would love to be petted 24/7. Her favorite holiday is Christmas because she loves opening gifts. Mia enjoys spreading love to anyone who enters her home and would be a terrible guard dog because of it. Mia is timid around other dogs because she forgets that she is not human.

Congratulations, Mehreen and Mia!
If you want your favorite pet featured in the next newsletter, reach out to us via clinicaltrials@rbhs.rutgers.edu
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