BRANY and ACRES to Recognize Excellence at Clinical Trial Sites in Strategic Alliance

The Biomedical Research Alliance of New York (BRANY), a national organization providing expedited "end-to-end solutions" for clinical trials support to sponsors and investigators, and the Alliance for Clinical Research Excellence and Safety (ACRES), announced a strategic alliance today. One of the first initiatives will be collaboration on development and testing of standards for clinical research sites and principal investigators as part of the ongoing ACRES Site Accreditation and Standards Initiative (SASI).

BRANY, founded in 1998 by nationally-ranked academic medical centers, today includes: NYU School of Medicine, Montefiore Medical Center, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, and North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System and a robust network of more than 200 affiliated clinical research sites.

“BRANY and ACRES have a shared interest in developing and promoting standards that will enhance the quality and efficiency of clinical trials and protect clinical trial participants,” says Kimberly Irvine, CIP, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of BRANY. “Our organization has been offering research site certification as part of its vetting process for years, and this has helped research sponsors and CROs more easily identify high-performing research sites and principal investigators for their studies.”

Although there are comprehensive laws, regulations and guidelines covering virtually every aspect of running and managing clinical trials, third party accreditation has not been used effectively to ensure the highest standards for research sites and investigators. Research sponsors and CROs are increasingly relying on centralized vetting processes to identify and select clinical research sites. An effective site-oriented accreditation process will facilitate this process by recognizing and rewarding excellence.

“ACRES is a collaborative effort to build a global system for clinical research that serves the interests of all stakeholders. A fundamental requirement of this systems approach is to develop uniform, comprehensive standards to promote professionalism and operational excellence at clinical trial sites worldwide,” says Greg Koski, PhD, MD, President and co-founder of ACRES. “Our mission fits perfectly with the philosophy and expertise of BRANY, and we are delighted to join forces to realize our shared goals on a global scale. We welcome BRANY’s affiliated sites to the growing ACRES Global Network.”