Center Overview

The Aiken Center for Clinical Research (ACCR) is a privately owned, independent research facility located in Aiken, South Carolina. ACCR was founded in 2005 by Dr. Bauer Vaughters, III, MD, and is located within an 8,000 square foot private-practice endocrinology office. Dr. Vaughters has privileges at Aiken Regional Medical Center, which is located 1 mile from our office. He is also the Director of the Aiken Diabetes and Nutrition Teaching Center.

It is our mission to conduct clinical research trials of the utmost quality while maintaining the highest ethical standards and respect for study subjects. Our research staff is committed to upholding GCP guidelines and is aware of the need to deliver accurate and timely data.

Clinical Research Experience

The Aiken Center for Clinical Research has been conducting clinical trials for the past three years. Our Research Department has a combined experience of over 60 years in the clinical research field. Our research center conducts Phase II- IV trials in the following therapeutic areas: Diabetes, Osteoporosis, Thyroid Disease, Obesity, Cardiovascular Disease, and Renal Disease.

Sponsors we have worked with include:

• Novartis
• Pfizer
• NovoNordisk
• Amylin
• Takeda
• Ortho-McNeil Janssen
• Hoffman-La Roche
• Auxillium
• Genzyme

CRO’s we have worked with include:

• PPD
• Kendle
• Covance
• i3 Research
• Pharmanet
• Quintiles
• ICON
• Omnicare
• Medpace

The Aiken Center for Clinical Research has been conducting clinical trials for the past three years. Our Research team has combined experience of over 60 years.

Facility Description

Our outpatient facility is located in downtown Aiken, SC. We are 30 minutes from Augusta, GA and 45 minutes from Columbia, SC, and are only a few miles from Interstate-20. Our local hospital, Aiken Regional Medical Center is within 5 minutes from our clinic. Our downtown location makes our office convenient to public transportation. Offices and drug storage for the Aiken Center for Clinical Research are located on the second story of our building, while the ground floor offers five fully equipped patient exam rooms and a large waiting room.

Our outpatient facility if equipped with the following:

• Certified laboratory with centrifuge and specimen storage
• DEXA machine
• Eyetel (for diabetic eye exams)
• Thyroid ultrasound for FNA
• 12 lead ECG
• -20 Degrees Celsius Freezer
• Temperature controlled drug storage space

We also routinely perform the following diagnostic tests in our office:

• Pulmonary function testing
• Total Body Composition
• Bone densitometry
• Heel DEXA
• ABI (ankle brachial index)
• HbA1C

In addition, we have onsite emergency medicines, a crash cart and a defibrillator, and our staff maintains current CPR certification.

We provide our sponsors and CRO's with a quiet conference room for their monitoring activities, with unrestricted telephone and high speed internet access. Also, our research staff schedules dedicated time to work with monitors during their visits.

Investigator Experience

Principal Investigator: Dr. Bauer Vaughters, III, MD is the Medical Director of our research center. He is Board Certified in Endocrinology and Internal Medicine, and has been in private practice since 2002. He has acted as a primary investigator for our site since 2005, and has conducted over 15 trials. He is active in our community through outreach and public speaking programs.

Sub-Investigator:
Jeanne R. Martin, PA-C is a certified Physician Assistant with 30 years of experience caring for Family Practice and Geriatric patients. She is also a Certified Diabetes Educator.

Staff Expertise

Cheryl Stephens, RN, BSN, CRCC, is the Clinical Research Manager of our facility. She has over 10 years of research experience and has coordinated over 60 trials. Her clinical areas of expertise include endocrinology, urology, oncology and women’s health.

Our other research staff include a full-time patient recruitment specialist, 1 research assistant, a certified phlebotomist, and a certified DEXA technician.

Kim Rayfield, our Patient Recruitment Specialist has extensive healthcare marketing experience in our geographical area. She also has a B.S. in Human Nutrition, and provides dietary counseling to subjects as needed.

Paula Martin is our Research Assistant. She has over 13years of clinical trial experience and is a Medical Lab Technician.

Other Research staff include a full-time phlebotomist and a certified DEXA technician.

Patient Demographics

Our data base has over 6,500 patients.

55% male - 45% female

Caucasian 65%
African-American 30%
Hispanic 4%
Asian 1%

Diabetic 35%
Thyroid disease 35%
Osteoporosis 20%
Other 10%

Other Information

We prefer to use the services of a central IRB, although we may utilize our local hospital IRB if needed.

These are studies we are currently enrolling for include:

• A multi-center, randomized, double-blind, active-controlled clinical trial to evaluate the safety and tolerability of 24 weeks treatment with XXX (50mg qd) versus sitagliptin (25 mg qd) in patients with type 2 diabetes and severe renal insufficiency
• A Phase 4, Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Study to Evaluate the Effect of Pioglitazone Compared to Placebo on Bone Metabolism in Impaired Fasting Glucose, Postmenopausal Women for 1 Year of Treatment
• A Multi-center, Randomized, Double-Blind Study to Evaluate the Efficacy and Safety of XXX Compared to Glipizide in Elderly Subjects with Type 2 Diabetes
• A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo- and Oxycodone Immediate Release(IR)-Controlled Study of XXX for the Treatment of Acute Pain Caused by Vertebral Compression Fractures Associated with Osteoporosis.
• A Prospective Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Study to Assess the Safety and Efficacy of XXX in Patients with Severe Hypercholesterolemia on a Maximally Tolerated Lipid-Lowering Regimen and who are not on Apheresis
• A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group study to determine whether, in patients with type 2 diabetes at high risk for cardiovascular and renal events, XXXX, on top of conventional treatment, reduces cardiovascular and renal morbidity and mortality.
• A phase III, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel group, safety and efficacy study of XXXX (5mg), compared to placebo as add on to pre-existing antidiabetic therapy (insulin or any combination with insulin; sulphonylurea or glinides as monotherapy; pioglitazone or any other antidiabetics, excluding only DPP-4 inhibitors other than XXXX) over 52 weeks in type 2 diabetic patients with severe chronic renal impairment

PLEASE NOTE: Our mailing address is Post Office Box 1132, Aiken, South Carolina 29802

Contact Information

Cheryl Stephens, RN,BSN, CCRC
Clinical Research Manager
Aiken Center for Clinical Research, LLC
526 Richland Avenue
Aiken, SC 29801
USA
Phone: 803-648-9948
Fax: 803-648-9860
EMail: aikenccr@hotmail.com

If you are interested in contacting this center to discuss placing a clinical trial there, please complete and send the E-mail form below. A representative from the research center will then follow up with you.