Change Announced Regarding Costs for Clinical Research Unit Nursing Services

Side-by-side headshots of Dr. Nasia Safdar and Dr. Allan Brasier

From the desks of Nasia Safdar, MD, PhD, and Allan Brasier, MD

For more than 30 years, ICTR has been able to provide Clinical Research Unit (CRU) nursing and dietary services at no cost for non-industry studies.  This support has largely been provided by the Clinical Research Center (CRC) grant. With expiration of the CRC mechanism, CRUs across the United States have adopted fee recovery mechanisms.  For the CRU to be sustainable, investigator-initiated studies will be asked to pay for CRU nursing services starting in July 2024. Other CRUs around the country have also implemented such a change many years ago.

Please note, this will only affect new studies activated after the go-live date of July 1, 2024 and ongoing active federally funded studies when their grant cycle is renewed. Exceptions may be granted on a case-by-case basis as approved by ICTR leadership when the study application is submitted for CRU services for studies with a career development, K or Pilot award or extenuating circumstances.

More detailed communication is forthcoming as the process develops. If you have questions when you prepare your budgets, please connect with Tammy Kiger at Tkiger@uwhealth.org.

Please let us know if you have any questions, and we appreciate your understanding as we shift towards a more sustainable model for research.