Division of Clinical Research (DCR)

Chief: Nandini Raghuraman, MD, MSCI

The Division of Clinical Research (DCR) at Washington University School of Medicine provides specialized facilities and services to support clinical research in women’s reproductive health. Together with the Center for Reproductive Health Sciences (CRepHS), the clinical research division supports the ob/gyn department’s overall research enterprise.

Clinical research in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology has grown exponentially over the past 10 years. The department is currently ranked among the top 10 in NIH research funding among ob/gyn departments and holds substantial foundation grants.

The goal of the DCR is to build on this record of excellence while further expanding the success and impact of our clinical research. We aim to accomplish this by providing support to established investigators while grooming new investigators to independence.

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Division of Clinical research mission »
Investigator resources, support and services »
Training and education opportunities »
Faculty and staff »
Active clinical trials »

Our mission

The Division of Clinical Research serves as the hub for clinical and translational research within the department by:

Providing shared research infrastructure
Coordinating and improving efficiency of clinical research activities
Enhancing existing clinical research training and education
Fostering cross-collaboration with basic science and public health research

Shared research infrastructure and services

The DCR provides comprehensive services to support clinical investigators. Our excellent support team – which includes research assistants, nurse coordinators, data managers, epidemiologists, a statistician and project coordinators – can assist with multiple phases of study planning, as well as data management and analysis.

We also provide a dedicated clinical research facility that has patient exam rooms, a processing lab, workstations and secure storage. Obstetric exam rooms are also available in the Center for Outpatient Health for the purpose of seeing patients for clinical research studies.

Learn more about the clinical research building »

Need to utilize or inquire about clinical research services or facilities?

We are happy to help! Please email obgynresearch@email.wustl.edu or complete one of the intake forms below. Please note, investigators outside of the WashU OBGYN department should utilize the external inquiry form.

Internal Intake Form

External Research Inquiry Form

Department-wide resources for researchers

In addition to the facilities and services provided by the DCR, resources available to investigators in the ob/gyn department include:

Scientific manuscript editing
Grant-finding and -writing assistance
Ob/gyn, oncology, and other tissue and data banks

See all resources for researchers »

Efficiency of clinical research activities

The DCR coordinates and improves efficiency of clinical research activities by providing:

Centralized data management support
Centralized IRB and regulatory support
Coordination of multicenter studies: database, randomization, interim analysis, DSMB reports
Scientific review of grant applications

Clinical research training and education

Clinical research learning opportunities in the ob/gyn department include a variety of research seminars and a training program in clinical and reproductive epidemiology. Our division supports education and training at every level of medicine.

For fellows: Annual applied epidemiology seminar; one-on-one research consults
Learn more about research seminars »
For residents: Monthly Journal Club (with Dr. Raghuraman & Dr. Kuroki); Annual Second Year Residents Research Retreat
Learn more about research training during residency »
For undergraduate and medical students: Coordinate placement with faculty; core clinical research methods lectures in the summer