Research Opportunities
Many residents and fellows choose their future training program based on research opportunities – we are fortunate here at the Memorial Healthcare System (MHS) to work in a system that supports and celebrates research. In fact, research is part of Memorial’s Vision Statement and therefore forms a vital aspect of our culture. Faculty, residents, and fellows investigate clinical questions, write case reports, perform quality improvement projects, and present and publish this scholarly work regionally, nationally and internationally. The Office of Human Research (OHR) provides support to residents, fellows and faculty in conducting research.
The OHR is our centralized research office at MHS. The vision of the OHR is to offer a research study to every patient who walks through our doors and to support any MHS clinician who wants to perform research. Founded in 2011, the OHR has grown to more than 60 full time employees including a Chief Medical Research Officer; Director of Research Operations; Finance, Compliance and Clinical Directors; Research Specialists/Nurses; Regulatory Staff; and Research PhD Scientists.
With the growth of Graduate Medical Education at MHS, the Office of Human Research has added PhD level research scientists and biostatisticians to our staff to better support investigator-initiated research and scholarly activity for our faculty, fellows, and residents. In May 2024, during Memorial’s Annual Research week, over 180 academic posters were displayed and presented by MPG, fellows, residents, nursing, pharmacy, rehabilitation, and medical students. This collaborative effort across all the clinical areas was a proud display of what is being achieved in scholarly activity across the healthcare system.
The Office of Human Research continues to grow and mature, and we continue to expand the number of new treatment options and innovative care offered at Memorial. Thanks to these ongoing efforts, our community does not have to travel to get the cutting-edge therapy they require.
With over 130 Memorial Physician Group (MPG) doctors involved in clinical trials across 32 sub-specialties, MHS research scope spans over 160 open to accrual studies system-wide, Phase 1 through Phase 4 protocols, with more than 10,000 patients enrolled to date. Adult oncology and pediatric oncology each comprise one third of our studies with the last third consisting of trauma, stroke, cardiovascular, pediatric endocrine and nephrology, cystic fibrosis, multiple sclerosis, and sickle cell studies. These trials range from treatment drug and device studies, offering the latest therapies to our patients, to research registry participation, conferring MHS with the prestige of joining national databases and adding to knowledge for the greater good. Pharmaceutically and federally sponsored trials and grants are ongoing in addition to investigator-initiated research. Strategic research affiliations include Florida Atlantic University (FAU), Sarah Cannon Research Institute, and Moffitt Cancer Center.
Our physician-initiated research in both stroke and cardiovascular has financial support from outside pharmaceutical companies. Memorial’s Neuroscience Institute consists of two national Certified Stroke Centers and two Primary Stroke Centers, where drug and device treatment of ischemic and hemorrhagic strokes are studied. Other areas of research include migraine and multiple sclerosis. Memorial Cardiovascular Institute’s comprehensive research portfolio, produced by attending cardiologists and cardiology fellows, spans cardiac transplant, interventional cardiology, heart failure, and electrophysiology.
The Cystic Fibrosis and Pulmonary Center at Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital is a nationally accredited standalone program with ongoing clinical trials and studies. Memorial is a lead site for a South Florida cooperative group working to advance cystic fibrosis research and treatments.
MHS’s Adult Trauma Program, Pediatric Trauma Center, and Pediatric Surgery Program are all Level 1 centers enabling them to perform tertiary level care which includes organ transplantation, and all require significant research involvement for their accreditations. Meeting the highest standards as delineated by the State of Florida and the American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma, Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital is home to the only Level 1 pediatric trauma center in South Broward County.
Memorial Cancer Institute is one of only seven Cancer Centers of Excellence in the state as designated by the Florida Department of Health, achieved through a strong collaborative research affiliation with FAU and Moffitt, both of which are partners with MHS in our Hematology Oncology and Bone Marrow Transplant program. MHS offers immunotherapy, vaccine and basket trials and we are full members of Alliance – making us partners with some of the greatest cancer institutes in the nation for oncology research. MHS was one of the first sites in Florida to bring CAR-T therapy through research to our liquid malignancy population and are now proud to be offering CAR-T trials to our solid tumor patients, as part of a select group of research sites. In 2024, we have also seen the expansion of our Phase 1 oncology trial portfolio to include more than 15 options for our patients. On the pediatric oncology side, our research team strives to add every patient onto a Children’s Oncology Group study.
Memorial’s commitment to state-of-the-art oncology research is driven by cell therapies, pioneering developments in new treatment options for solid tumors, personalized medicine, genetics, biobanking and treating patients with precision medicine. With grant funding from Broward Foundation, we are proud to partner with FAU in creating the first tumor biorepository for minority groups in the state of Florida.
The Office of Human Research has embraced the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to assist us with our trials and research studies. Using MHS’s research COVID inpatient database, AI investigated common traits and predictors that lead to mortality, resulting in the publication of “Using machine learning to identify patient characteristics to predict mortality of inpatients with Covid-19 in South Florida” in Frontiers in Digital Health. AI is also being utilized to scan medical charts to find patients who are eligible for research studies.
