The Research Advocacy Network

Yesterday (Feb. 18), Elda Railey and Mary Lou Smith from the Research Advocacy Network (RAN) addressed the weekly PredictER meeting at the IU Center for Bioethics. RAN facilitates cooperation between research advocates (often disease survivors) and researchers. With access to the energy and resourcefulness of patient and research advocates, RAN accelerates the translation of clinical research. Researchers receive assistance with participant recruitment, public engagement, and patient and clinician education. In turn research advocates and patients have the pleasure of making a real difference in the progress of biomedical science, while also ensuring enhanced patient care in the future.

For readers interested in patient and research participant education, RAN provides print and electronic resources. Including a booklet for patients on the importance of tissue donation, a tutorial for advocates on the clinical trials process, and a training manual for advocates interested in genetic and genomic oncology research.

Also a guest at the PredictER meeting, Cynthia Burkhardt, a research site coordinator, discussed RAN’s collaboration with the Hoosier Oncology Group.

Visit the Research Advocacy Network website to download these and other RAN publications:

“Why is it important for me to consider donating my tissue for research: A booklet for prospective donors”. Research Advocacy Network, 2005. 12p.

Perlmutter, J. Understanding Clinical Trial Design: A Tutorial for Research Advocates.

Genomics in Cancer: An Advocate’s Guide and Training Manual. [Forward by Francis S. Collins, MD, PhD.] Research Advocacy Network, 120p. Research Advocacy Network, 52p.

Next at PredictER:

CANCELED - February 25 – 3:00 pm: Anna Maria Storniolo, M.D., (Director, Catherine Peachey Breast Cancer Prevention Program) will share the progress of the Mary Ellen Tissue Bank.

March 3 - 3:00 pm: Andrew J. Saykin, M.D., (Director, IU Center for Neuroimaging, IU School of Medicine): Neuroimaging, Cognition and Genetics in the Early Detection of Alzheimer's Disease.

If you are in the Indianapolis area and would like to attend, visit the Indiana University Center for Bioethics website for more information. - J.O.