ECRIN’s organisational model is based on country membership. Countries can either be full Members or Observers. Current Members include Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Norway, Portugal and Spain, and Observers include Switzerland and Slovakia.
ECRIN has a national Scientific Partner in each Member or Observer Country. These partners, which are usually networks of clinical trial units (CTUs), are described below.
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CZECRIN is headquartered in the Department of Pharmacology in the Faculty of Medicine of Masaryk University, Brno. CZECRIN is recognised as a Large Infrastructure by the Czech Government and is included in the Roadmap for Large Research, Development and Innovation Infrastructures in the Czech Republic of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports.
At the centre of CZECRIN is a collaboration between Masaryk University, which leads the University Module of CZECRIN, and St. Anne´s University Hospital, Brno, which leads the Clinical Module. The University Module groups together clinical trials centres located in universities. The clinical trials centres provide coordination and service support for investigator-initiated clinical trials, training activities and methodological support. The Clinical Module currently comprises six clinical trials units at various medical facilities. The clinical trials units conduct trials and communicate with regulatory authorities. The modules are connected to each other and to ECRIN via Masaryk University.
F-CRIN, created in 2012, is the single contact point facilitating the participation of France in clinical studies. F-CRIN unites the major academic and commercial stakeholders in clinical research in France, including clinical research and innovation departments in university hospitals (Direction de la Recherche Clinique et de l'Innovation –DRCI), clinical investigation centres (Centre d'Investigation Clinique –CIC) and interregional groups for clinical research and innovation (Groupement Interrégional de Recherche Clinique et d'Innovation –GIRCI).
F-CRIN enables multinational or multicentre, investigator-driven, clinical trials and early phase proof-of-concept studies. Clinical trial support is provided through F-CRIN by the EUCLID and PARTNERS platforms of professional services. These platforms have expertise in the full spectrum of clinical trial services from seeking funding, through design, approval and logistics to data analysis and reporting.
F-CRIN also maintains connections and collaborations with networks specialised in specific diseases or areas of medicine including cardiology (FACT), nutrition (FORCE), inflammatory disease (IMIDIATE), cardiorenal diseases (INI-CRCT), thrombosis (INNOVTE), vaccinology (I-REIVAC), Parkinson’s disease (NS-PARK), and sepsis (TRIGGERSEP). These networks offer expertise and collaboration opportunities in clinical trial aspects related to this fields.
KKS-Netzwerk (KKSN), the German network of coordinating centres for clinical trials, was established in 1999 and comprises 20 coordinating centres for clinical trials (as of July 2015) as well as the German Surgical Trial Network (CHIR-Net), which itself consists of 12 regional centres. The KKSN headquarters has branches at the University Hospital of Cologne and the Medizinische Fakultätentag (MFT) in Berlin.
Clinical trials units in KKSN provide full trial services ranging from consultancy on protocol design, budgeting and regulatory and ethical submissions to conducting trials, including project management, site management, data management, monitoring, (pharmaco)vigilance and reporting.
Training is also a significant focus of the network, with courses available for investigators, study nurses and students based on the development of standardised curricula for certified training programmes. In addition, network members are involved in various clinical research projects, both national and international, and have various cooperations with study groups, researchers associations, pharmaceutical enterprises, companies in medicine technology, research centres etc. Ten permanent expert groups have been formed within KKSN to increase quality and efficiency and build synergies in the fields of education, quality management, data management, biostatistics, information technology, project management, site management, vigilance, monitoring and sponsor-related tasks.
HECRIN currently comprises nine hospitals and medical institutes in Hungary and has as its mission to extend the membership nationally of the network and establish clinical trial coordinating centres at member sites. HECRIN central office is at the University of Pécs.
Current members of HECRIN are: University of Szeged Semmelweis University, Budapest National Insitute of Oncology, Budapest State Hospital for Cardiology, BalatonfüredNational Insitute of Rheumatology and Physiotherapy, Budapest National Insitute of Clinical Neurosciences, Budapest Gottsegen György Hungarian Institute of Cardiology, Budapest Korányi National Insitute of Pulmonology, Budapest Heim Pál Children's Hospital.
Istituto Superiore di Sanita (ISS) coordinates the national network ItaCRIN aiming to sustain independent clinical research and helping investigators/sponsors to promote (and to join) multinational trials supported by ECRIN.
ItaCRIN currently comprises nine participants capable of providing services for clinical research. The network includes Clinical Trial Units (CTUs) - academic and from IRCCS - and Contract Research Organisations (CROs) dedicated to independent clinical studies: Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche Mario Negri –IRFMN; Consorzio Italiano per la Ricerca in Medicina – CIRM; GIMEMA Onlus; Clinical Trial Centre - CTC of the Policlinico Agostino Gemelli - Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore; CRO of the Ospedale Pediatrico Bambino Gesù – OPBG; Centro Studi Associazione Nazionale Medici Cardiologi Ospedalieri – ANMCO; YGHEA; Center for Outcomes Research and clinical Epidemiology – CORESEARCH; Clinical Research Technology - CR-Technology.
NorCRIN’s aim is to facilitate clinical research by supporting the many complex elements of this type of research, such as study design, the application process, conduction and good clinical practice (GCP) reporting. The main objective is to strengthen and simplify the collaboration within all categories of clinical research in Norway. NorCRIN is the Norwegian hub of a larger European research network – ECRIN. The Ministry of Health and Care Services in Norway initiated the founding of NorCRIN, and Trondheim University Hospital (St. Olavs Hospital) is responsible for coordinating and operating the network.
PtCRIN is the national research infrastructure for clinical research in Portugal. PtCRIN is composed of 14 members who represent the leading Portuguese clinical research institutions, including hospitals, medical centres, universities and a research organisation.
PtCRIN is currently working on development of a network of academic CROs and development of clinical sites. PtCRIN will position Portugal strategically in the rapidly evolving field of clinical research, giving Portuguese investigators an opportunity to influence the development of ethical guidelines, best practices and new standards. In addition, European researchers will have access to Portugal as a clinical research venue.
ECRIN's Slovakian national scientific partner is 'SLOVACRIN' - Slovak Clinical Research Infrastructure Network, headquartered at the Faculty of Medicine of the Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice.
SCReN is a network of Spanish Clinical Trials Units (Unidades de Investigación Clínica y Ensayos Clínicos, UICECs), which are based in clinical centres of the Spanish National Health Service. There are currently 30 clinical trials units in the network spanning 11 Spanish autonomous communities.
The SCReN coordinators are based in the Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria del Hospital Clínico San Carlos (IdISSC) in Madrid. In addition, three working groups specialise in regulation and monitoring (PRM), methodological assessment, data management and statistics (PMEGDA), and pharmacovigilance (PFV).
SCReN aims to foster excellence and quality in clinical research through networking, international cooperation and providing support to clinical research projects, translating them into benefits for the Spanish National Health Service. SCReN also works on education and training of clinical research professionals through the coordinating team in Madrid.
The Swiss Clinical Trial Organisation (SCTO) is the central cooperation platform for patient-oriented clinical research in Switzerland. Its primary objective is to attractively and competitively position Swiss clinical research in the international competition with respect to innovation and quality. The SCTO intends to achieve this mandate by:
Promoting a high-quality and nationally harmonised study culture – including the continuing education necessary for this purposeSupporting the formation of a national networkBoosting integration of national clinical research into international networksBuilding bridges between academia, industry and public authorities
Moreover, the SCTO generally advocates favourable framework conditions in the field of clinical research, and assumes coordinating functions with regard to multicentre studies and intermediation of studies.
The SCTO is a joint initiative of the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) and the Swiss Academy of Medical Sciences (SAMS). Since 1 January 2013, the SCTO acts as an independent organisation.
