Clinical Research Infrastructure Initiative

The RCMI Clinical Research Infrastructure Initiative (RCRII) was established to expand the capacity for clinical research at Research Centers in Minority Institutions with affiliated medical schools by providing resources to develop the appropriate infrastructure. The long-range objectives of this initiative are to:

• assist participating institutions to conduct clinical research to improve the health of the Nation's citizens, especially racial and ethnic minorities;
• enhance the clinical research capacity of RCMI institutions with affiliated medical schools; and
• enhance their probability of success in competing for federal funds to perform clinical and translational research

Five of the 18 RCMI-supported institutions have clinical research centers, and a sixth hosts an NCRR-supported General Clinical Research Center (GCRC).

Confidentiality Notice

Certificates of Confidentiality are issued by the National Institutes of Health to protect the privacy of research subjects by preventing investigators and institutions from being compelled to release information that could be used to identify individuals who are participating in a research project.

These certificates, issued to institutions where research is being conducted, allow investigators–and others who have access to research records–to refuse to disclose identifying information in any civil, criminal, administrative, legislative, or other proceeding, whether at the federal, state, or local level. The availability of such a document frequently helps an investigator to accrue participants into a protocol that addresses issues that are of a particularly sensitive nature. READ MORE

Usually, a request for a certificate of confidentiality is addressed to the NIH Institute funding the clinical study. However, in cases where the research project is not funded by NIH and the protocol is being performed within a GCRC, the investigator should request assistance from the Certificate of Confidentiality coordinator at the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute.

Contact Information

Shelia A. McClure, Ph.D.
Director, RCMI Program
Division of Research Infrastructure
National Center for Research Resources
National Institutes of Health
One Democracy Plaza, Room 932
6701 Democracy Boulevard, MSC 4874
Bethesda, Maryland 20892-4874 (20817 for express mail)
Telephone: 301-451-6536
Fax: 301-480-3770
E-mail: McClurSh@mail.nih.gov