The March 2026 issue of the Research Resource Nexus highlights CRConnect, a shared resource that provides flexible, cost-efficient clinical research coordinator support across disease states and disciplines at the University of Pittsburgh. CRConnect operates as a fee-for-service model within the Clinical Research Support Office (CRSO) and offers full-service coordination or as-needed support depending on an investigator’s needs.
What CRConnect Offers
CRConnect provides a comprehensive suite of coordinator services that span the full lifecycle of a clinical study. Services include study start-up, regulatory support, budget and contract negotiation, participant outreach and recruitment, screening and enrollment, research visit execution, data entry and query management, protocol compliance, safety oversight, blood draws and study closeout. The team can also serve as a coordinating or participating center for multisite trials. Investigators can choose between full support or a subset of services to meet their needs.
A key advantage of CRConnect is the ability to deploy experienced coordinators for only the services or amount of time needed. This model is a particularly valuable option for investigators who do not need, or cannot sustain, a full-time coordinator, offering both cost savings and immediate or short-term coverage. CRConnect’s highly skilled coordinators bring nearly 50 years of combined experience and are cross trained to support any type of clinical research or therapeutic indication. Coordinators are assigned based on the complexity and the anticipated level of effort, allowing them to support multiple projects simultaneously.
CRConnect works seamlessly within both Pitt and UPMC systems, including studies conducted at Clinical and Translational Research Centers (CTRCs). They support all types of clinical research, including investigational new drug trials (phases 1-4), multicenter studies, investigational device exemption trials, interventional and observational studies. Services are available across disciplines, and CRConnect collaborates with other Pitt and UPMC shared resources, such as Pediatric Clinical Research Services, the Multidisciplinary Acute Care Research Organization and UPMC Hillman Cancer Center to direct investigators appropriately.
Support is billed based on study complexity, duration and level of effort. To learn more or request support from CRConnect, fill out the intake form or email crso@pitt.edu.
Testimonials
Afshin Beheshti, professor of surgery and of computational and systems biology, School of Medicine, and director, Center for Space Biomedicine, is leading initiatives to explore space health challenges and their parallels to human health on Earth. One of Beheshti’s studies aims to evaluate how the body absorbs and processes Kaempferol (KMP), a naturally occurring compound found in many plant-based foods, and explore the biological responses to KMP using multiomics profiling. The goal is to determine if KMP supplementation can improve mitochondrial activity, which may have implications for diseases involving mitochondrial damage, a problem that intensifies rapidly in space. Funding for the KMP study was provided by the Japanese company Otsuka and was confirmed late in 2025 with a requirement to enroll two participants by the end of December. CRConnect took on the project and immediately initiated all start-up activities. With their help, the trial successfully launched and enrolled participants by the December deadline. CRConnect continues to provide support for recruitment, consent, blood draws and coordination with the Montefiore CTRC for sample processing. Beheshti shared, “They have been wonderful to work with, and I highly recommend CRConnect. This trial would not have been possible to get started on the short timeline without them.”
Robyn Domsic, associate professor of medicine and clinical director of the University of Pittsburgh and UPMC Scleroderma Center, leads multicenter clinical trials investigating potential therapies for the management of scleroderma and Raynaud’s phenomenon. Domsic experienced an employment coverage gap during the seasonal recruitment period of her ASScERT trial, a study testing the efficacy of a wearable device to improve symptoms and quality of life in systemic Sclerosis patients. After a brief training period, CRConnect stepped in to recruit participants during the peak window, coordinate with other sites, perform data entry, ensure participant adherence and continue to provide additional support during the trial. Domsic emphasized that CRConnect was essential to maintaining recruitment targets and noted its value for junior investigators or anyone facing coordinator shortages due to turnover, retirement or personal leave.