Clinical trials are the cornerstone of translational research and our service is committed to supporting the development and delivery of clinical trials.

Between 2019 and 2020 our service coordinated, receipted, processed and distributed over 44,000 samples for national and international clinical trials. These samples were from multi-centre studies, both industry and cooperative group, covering clinical areas ranging from oncology, to diabetes, neurogenerative disease and maternal health.

On a local scale our service works closely with the Clinical Cancer Research Network (CCRN) to ensure that Hunter New England residents have access to ground breaking research opportunities. In 2020, the CCRN was awarded Premiers award for Outstanding Cancer Clinical Trials.

Our facility provides an all inclusive clinical trial service including:

• Support with the establishment of trial protocols though the HMRI Clinical Trials Facility 2013 inclusive ethics, governance and logistics
• Patient recruitment through the Clinical Cancer Research Network 2013 a network of public and private hospitals with one of the highest rates of trial recruitment in NSW and speciality trial units experienced in the disciplines of medical oncology, haematology, radiation oncology, paediatric and young adult and surgical studies.
• Development of biospecimen collection protocols
• Management of multi-centre collections inclusive of sample transport and distribution
• Central laboratory capabilities in immunohistochemistry, tissue microarray, DNA and RNA extraction and next generation sequencing.