MIT/IMES Clinical Research Center at MIT (CRC@MIT)

The MIT Clinical Research Center (CRC) was established in 1964 with grant support from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), to provide a facility in which MIT investigators and their collaborators could apply the Institute’s expertise in basic biochemical and biophysical mechanisms to the analysis of normal and pathologic processes in humans. The Center’s founders Nevin Scrimshaw, Hans-Lukas Teuber and Albert Seeler guided its development into a major center for the study of human nutrition and metabolism in addition to the neuropsychological effects of injuries and neurocognitive function. MIT’s CRC was the first federally supported clinical research center located in an academic unit with no medical center, i.e. housed within the university not within a hospital, and remains one of only two such centers. It was anticipated that in spite of its university venue, physicians and clinical scientists from MIT’s faculty and staff would utilize CRC to study disease processes, prove concepts critical to emerging concepts in biology in normal volunteers, and patients with chronic diseases. Now overseen by the MIT Vice President of Reseach and formally housed in the Institute for Medical Engineering and Sciences, the CRC represents, both symbolically and practically, MIT’s commitment to the humanitarian mission of the translation of basic research to clinical applications that can help people with diseases that impoverish or threaten their lives.

Through a historic, close relationship with the Harvard Catalyst Program, a consortium of Human Research Laboratories including Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Children’s Hospital Boston, and Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), the MIT CRC has continued to serve as a link between MIT and the extensive network of area hospitals.

The CRC seeks to facilitate the translation of researchers’ scientific discoveries into practical solutions to advance human health. The CRC provides researchers with a full spectrum of clinical research resources to help them execute studies safely and effectively, from early study planning, clinical consultation, and assistance with regulatory and IRB navigation, to specialized clinical research spaces, study management tools, and an experienced clinical staff. Through its extensive network of partners, the CRC can also assist researchers in managing multi-site and follow-on studies, and can connect researchers with the resources they need to further development. We are committed to helping investigators realize their discoveries’ clinical potential. To arrange for a consultation, please contact us at clinicalresearch@mit.edu.