Towards a European Clinical Research Infrastructures Network: the ECRIN programme

On the basis of the interconnection of national networks of clinical research centres (CRCs) and clinical trials units (CTUs), the European Clinical Research Infrastructures Network (ECRIN) programme aims to develop an infrastructure allowing for bottom-up harmonisation of the support and training for, and practice of, clinical research, and to provide public sponsors for biotechnology small and medium-sized companies (SMEs) with support for translational research and multicentre clinical studies in Europe. This will be achieved through an application to the next FP6 'Integrated Infrastructure Initiatives' call. However, prior work is required to improve the reciprocal knowledge of partners in the ECRIN consortium and, as a first step, country-specific workshops will be organised by national networks in order to address the organisation of CRC/CTUs and national networks, and their interaction with the national environment of clinical research; this will enable in-depth discussion addressing the bottlenecks hampering transnational studies.