by Alice Braga, Ph.D. | Sleep Research Network
The SRN Task Force is a subgroup within the Sleep Research Society that is focused on promoting multi-site studies within sleep and circadian research by developing infrastructure and educational tools that will support investigators. The SRN was created to address an important gap in the Sleep Medicine field: the need to facilitate multi-site clinical trials. The SRN originally involved sites participating in the NIH nationwide General Clinical Research Center network, later transitioned into the Clinical and Translational Science Institute model. Studies may include genetics, longitudinal cohort studies, and clinical/pragmatic clinical trials. Since its creation, the SRN has assisted researchers in competing for NIH funding worth tens of millions of dollars. Training the next generation of sleep and circadian investigators is also integral to this mission. Examples of specific tasks include:
- Support the development of data repositories and common data elements
- Facilitate subject recruitment for prospective research (intervention trials, implementation trials, observational studies)
- Support assembling datasets for retrospective research
- Advisory role for clinical trials
- Conduct workshops on effective clinical trials and networking opportunities for trainees
In future posts, we’ll discuss each of these items in more detail. The members of the SRN have an extensive body of experience conducting clinical research studies at diverse institutions. Their expertise covers areas such as data informatics, subject recruitment, clinical trials oversight, data harmonization, and outcomes assessment. Ultimately, the activities of the SRN Task Force will allow sleep and chronobiology researchers to successfully obtain funding for large scale trials exploring key questions relevant to the field.
To learn more about the SRN specifically, please visit the SRN webpage or contact Melissa McKinzie at coordinator@srsnet.org.