The Research Associate Program at Hackensack University Medical Center is now part of the National Alliance of Research Associates Programs (NARAP), a consortium of emergency departments and colleges joined to generate research and quality improvement projects. The program has research associates (RAs) enroll large numbers of participants over short time frames with minimal impact on clinical operations and at extremely low cost. HackensackUMC is one of 15 NARAP member-institutions throughout the United States.
RAs are pre-health professional college and post-baccalaureate students who volunteer in the emergency department for one, four-hour shift per week over the course of academic semesters enrolling participants in clinical research and providing service based on that research.
HackensackUMC’s Research Associate Program is led by Joseph Feldman, M.D., chairman of Emergency Medicine, and Chinwe Ogedegbe, M.D., section chief for Research in the Emergency Trauma Department, who oversee and ensure that the various aspects of the newly established program run smoothly. They also advise and guide four Chief Research Associates (CRAs) in their functions and duties. Each CRA is given a designated role of recruiting, personnel management, communications and website development, or database management. The four individuals serving these roles for the current year are Ryan King, Carissa Jeannette, Christopher Walker, and Ronak Shah.
“This program provides a tremendous advantage to our most innovative research efforts,” said Dr. Feldman. “We’re able to utilize the RAs in screening and enrolling patients for the various emergency department studies being carried out at the medical center, which has dual benefits – building research capacity at the medical center, and providing an invaluable opportunity for students to gain significant clinical exposure for their future as health professionals.”
An example of one such study is the MediciNova Asthma Study – a multi-center study on an experimental drug aimed to provide prompt relief of acute asthma exacerbations that do not respond to available medications. RAs will continue to be used in this and future emergency department studies such as Sepsis, NETT, and any others that give these individuals hands-on clinical experience.
For the 2012 year, the Research Associate Program is preparing for a national study on tobacco cessation in emergency departments, the premier large, outcomes research study at HackensackUMC. This study aims to approach and enroll more than 75,000 participants and provide referrals to the tobacco quitline for those who are trying to quit tobacco or remain tobacco-free. The national tobacco study will be a part of a series of future studies aimed to sustainablyaddress various primary care and public health issues in emergency departments.
For more information on HackensackUMC’s Research Associate Program, please call 201-996-4614.
About Hackensack University Medical Center
HackensackUMC is a 775-bed not-for-profit, tertiary care, teaching and research hospital and provides the largest number of admissions in New Jersey. Founded in 1888 with 12 beds and as Bergen County's first hospital, HackensackUMC has demonstrated more than a century of growth and progress. HackensackUMC is a nationally recognized healthcare organization offering patients the most comprehensive services, state-of-the-art technologies, and facilities. Honors include being named one of America’s 50 Best Hospitals by HealthGrades® for five years in a row. HackensackUMC is the only hospital in New Jersey, New York, and New England to receive this honor for five consecutive years. HackensackUMC was also named one of the 50 Best Hospitals in America by Becker's Hospital Review. U.S. News & World Report ranked HackensackUMC eighth in the New York Metro Area in its first-ever Best Hospitals metro area rankings, giving it the top ranking out of all the New Jersey hospitals listed. Additionally, HackensackUMC has been ranked in geriatrics, heart and heart surgery, and cancer in U.S. News & World Report's 2011-12 Best Hospitals. The U.S. News Media Group also named the Joseph M. Sanzari Children’s Hospital to its “2011-12 Best Children’s Hospitals” list – ranking as one of the top 50 in the specialty of neurology and neurosurgery – the first hospital in the State of New Jersey ever to be ranked in a Best Children’s Hospitals specialty. HackensackUMC is a Magnet® recognized hospital for nursing excellence, first in New Jersey, second in the nation, receiving its fourth designation in April 2009. HackensackUMC is the hometown hospital of the New York Giants and the New Jersey Nets.