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The CARE Research Center at Massachusetts General Hospital develops innovative research projects assessing the accessibility and accrual rates to clinical trials, particularly for underrepresented groups.

In addition, CARE works with community nonprofit organizations, individual study teams, research departments and institutions, and clinical trial networks to create accessible, inclusive study designs

Research Consultations

The CARE Research Center offers consulting services to researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital, as well as broadly across the Mass General Brigham system, and to research teams across the United States to help define strategies that improve engagement, recruitment, and retention to clinical trials. Our services include support and suggestions regarding trial design to insure inclusivity for diverse representation, building awareness of clinical trial protocols, engagement with potential participants, establishing appropriate return of value for your study, building in clear retention incentives, creating budgets, timelines and workflows for your research study.

CARE can help:

  • Build workflow from engagement to enrollment
  • Help develop recruitment materials (e.g., flyers) and messaging
  • Recruitment-specific metrics
  • Facilitate access to marginalized / underserved communities
  • Manage recruitment directly, or in concert with CROs / SMOs

Mass General Brigham affiliates can request a consultation through the Mass General Research Institute’s Division of Clinical Research. The first six hours of consultation are provided at no charge.

We additionally offer limited research consultations for nonprofit organizations seeking to investigate research questions of their own or build scientific infrastructure into their organizations. Our services include:

  • Support for study design
  • Biostatistical support
  • Community recruitment and engagement
  • Submission guidance, particularly for federal grants

Consultation requests can be submitted through the Mass General Division of Clinical Research’s website.

Major Research Projects

Fostering Inclusivity in Research Engagement for Underrepresented Populations in Parkinson’s Disease (FIRE-UP PD)

In recent years, scientists have learned that improving representation of all people in clinical research is an important way to fully understand diseases. This ensures that new treatments work well for everyone. However, appropriate representation in clinical research for Parkinson’s disease has been difficult. Some recent studies have reported that more than nine in 10 research participants are non-Hispanic Caucasian even though Parkinson’s disease affects people from all walks of life. While scientists understand some of the barriers preventing certain groups from participating in these studies, many solutions have not been tested. The FIRE-UP PD focuses on improving awareness and participation from groups and communities that are not often part of Parkinson’s research studies. The study tests new ideas to raise awareness of Parkinson’s research studies, particularly for the online study, Fox Insight.

Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative

The CARE Research Center is assisting the Alzheimer’s Therapeutic Research Institute with a research project on minority recruitment for the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI3). We are developing and refining a tracking dashboard for recruitment efforts and directly engage with ADNI3 sites to support and assess ongoing recruitment interventions, including ridesharing support for ADNI research participants and their study collaborators.

Alzheimer’s Clinical Trial Consortium

The Alzheimer’s Clinical Trial Consortium (ACTC) is a clinical trials infrastructure launched by the National Institute on Aging (NIA) in 2017. The ACTC is designed to accelerate and expand studies for therapies in Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. Dr. Jackson serves as a co-investigator in this effort, serving as a member of the ACTC’s Recruitment Unit.

The All of Us Research Program

The CARE Research Center helps guide the engagement and communications work of the All of Us New England team through CARE Director Dr. Jonathan Jackson’s role as a co-investigator in Engagement & Communications. The All of Us Research Program is a National Institutes of Health (NIH) led research program. The mission of the All of Us Research Program is to speed up health research and medical breakthroughs. All of Us New England is an enrollment site and partner of the All of Us Research Program. All of Us New England is led by Mass General Brigham system and its founding hospitals, Massachusetts General Hospital, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Boston Medical Center.

NIA IMPACT Collaboratory

The National Institute on Aging (NIA) Imbedded Pragmatic AD/ADRD Clinical Trials (IMPACT) Collaboratory works to build the nation’s capacity to conduct pragmatic clinical trials of interventions embedded within health care systems for people living with dementia and their caregivers. Dr. Jackson serves as a member on the Diversity and Inclusion Team, focused on developing and implementing strategies to address diversity and inclusion in the conduct of ePCTs among people living with dementia (PLWD) and their caregivers to ensure the IMPACT Collaboratory is a national resource for all Americans afflicted with dementia.