Advancing Health’s Chief Clinical Research Officer, Erin Cherban, has begun her term as Chair of the Network of Networks (N2). N2 is a not-for-profit organization and a partnership of clinical research networks and organizations across Canada, with the goal of enhancing national clinical research capability and capacity.
Cherban has been involved with the Network for over 13 years, starting early in its inception as a board member, secretary, and now Chair. The organization was originally launched by a small group of researchers and research managers who found the need for standardized clinical trials training modules and standard operating procedures (SOPs) when Health Canada adopted international trial standards in 2001.
“N2 provides a common platform for sharing best practices, resources and research-related content and documentation,” she explained. “By removing the need for individual groups, particularly academic researchers, to create their own SOPs and training resources makes the research process more efficient, less expensive, and less time consuming.”
N2 and Health Research BC: Minimizing administrative burden
The Network offers memberships for all sizes of research organizations, from small research groups to province-wide agencies. In BC, Health Research BC, via Clinical Trials BC, has funded and managed the provincial BC membership of N2 since 2017. This means that N2 benefits are available to clinical researchers working in health authorities and academic organizations in BC, including Providence Research, Providence Health Care, and UBC.
“Researchers should work on research not administration,” said Cherban. “The provincial membership means that the Health Research BC’s approvals process and site onboarding is aligned with N2 and streamlined to avoid unnecessary administrative burden.”
Since 2022, researchers in BC have accessed over 6,400 courses and standard operation procedures.
Advancing Health services add further streamlining
Similarly, research services organizations like Advancing Health provide support to academic investigators to minimize the time spent on non-research activities.
“Investigators and programs who support their research using grant funds are acutely aware that administrative burden can quickly cut into project budgets,” said Cherban. “Our expert research staff provide services that work with these budgets to help maximize the output of each study.”
Staff at Advancing Health support a range of project types and scopes, from a few hours a week or a small short-term project, right up to international, multi-centred trial management and protocol development. Starting with a free one-hour consultation, investigators can access the support needed for trial development (including Health Canada submissions), program and developmental evaluation, health economics, and a Knowledge Mobilization Hub that services various types of CIHR-funded networks.
Cherban notes that Advancing Health’s ability to maintain long-term, expertly trained clinical research personnel, along with access to organizations like N2, helps investigators to focus on their research without being mired in administrative red-tape.
