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The administrative
staff provides
support of writing and reviewing contracts, protocols, human subject
applications, budgets, grants management, and acts as a liaison between the
sponsor and the University.
 OCR
has its own laboratory staff and facilities for a variety of
pre-clinical services. Many of our clinical trials
require clinical samples to be prepared before or after they are used in the
clinic including:
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Implants: In-house expertise
in advanced ceramic and implant restorations;
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Cariology:
The ability to make artificial dental cavities for use in a
clinical crown model;
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Restorative
Materials: For fabrication of a variety of restorations;
and
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Microbial
Research: Plaque formation and DNA sequencing.
The Dental Clinical
Research Center (DCRC) is the outpatient clinic, conveniently located on the
main floor of the Dental College. The Office of Clinical Research interfaces
with The University of Iowa's
NIH sponsored General Clinical Research Center
which is a part of The University of
Iowa College of Medicine.
The Dental Clinical Research Center has:
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DCRC staff: two full-time dental assistants, a staff dentist
and a clinical coordinator who provides clinical trial management services for
each phase in a protocol;
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Seven completely outfitted operatories;
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A private reception area;
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Appointment desk;
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Secured storage for dispensing materials; and
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Full access to the College of
Dentistry's computerized patient record system.
DCRC provides a private area for
participants to receive a comprehensive review of informed consent documentation for
each clinical trial.
Upon request, two demonstration operatories are available within
the College of Dentistry for video taping, surgical demonstration and digital
recording of patient care.
Community-Based Research
The Office of Clinical Research strives to reach
 beyond the College of Dentistry to
integrate the clinic's expertise into special population communities.
For instance, past outreach studies have involved interventions to prevent
dental decay in children enrolled in the
Head Start programs.
 We use the Geriatric Mobile Unit
(GMU) to provide care for outreach clinical
trials located throughout eastern Iowa. This gives us the capability
to provide high quality care to those who have little or no mobility to
visit the Dental Clinical Research Center. In addition, we research
quality
of life issues of medically compromised adults and issues involving
geriatric patient care. |
