SoLUtions is a state-of-the-art research center performing, assisting, and managing the development and implementation of high complexity inpatient/extended stay and outpatient Phase I through IV clinical trials, within the University departments and community. Developed to strengthen the research infrastructure of the Health Sciences Center at Saint Louis University focusing in the areas of population-based health care and clinical trials.

Working in synergy with SoLUtions are two additional research centers:

SLUtest, a biomedical and procedural research unit, providing qualified research members outpatient facilities equipped to perform a variety of research related protocol driven procedures and/or testing of investigational devices. SLUtest facilities provide access to Registered Nurses certified to assist with conscious sedation and experienced with procedure assisting and post-procedure recovery.

SLUCOR, (The Center for Outcomes Research), is committed to providing a wide range of research and training support in the area of clinical research, statistical/economic analysis, and data management, as well as conducting primary research on quality-of-life, clinical outcomes, medical economics and systems management.

For more information on SoLUtions, SLUtest, or SLUCOR visit: http://solutions.slu.edu/.

Saint Louis University has been at the forefront of modern medical breakthroughs leading many medical trials including studies of novel drugs, new vaccines, advanced medical device technologies and diagnostic probes of individual disease subspecialties. SoLUtions members are dedicated to the excellence in clinical trial planning, execution and management across the spectrum of investigation studies, accepting and implementing Phase I through IV trials.

SoLUtions is a Clinical Research Organization located in 43,000 sq. ft. of newly renovated space in the Salus Center, 3545 Lafayette Street, 2nd floor, St. Louis, MO 63104-1314. Salus Center is conveniently located in Mid-town St. Louis with easy access from highway 44 and 40. View online map: www.slu.edu/campusmap/salus9.html.

SoLUtions' facility offers separate fully equipped exam rooms for subject visits and separate office areas for research coordinators, a business office, phlebotomy suite, pharmacy services, meeting facilities, and ample area for site visits and record review. In addition there are eight (8) fully equipped inpatient/overnight stay rooms to accommodate extended stay research trials. Within the SLUtest facility there are four (4) procedure suites with recovery facilities.

Additionally, conveniently located on the 5th and 6th floors of the Salus Center is the Water Tower Inn. Water Tower Inn is complete with 62 guest rooms, five meeting rooms, food service and a fitness center, the Water Tower Inn is perfect for both short term and extended stay guests of Saint Louis University. For more information, please visit: http://www.slu.edu/events/water_tower_inn.html.

SERVICES OFFERED

SoLUtions Services:

• Certified Clinical Research Coordinator Study Management
• Protocol Recruitment
• Negotiation/Contract Agreements
• Budget Development
• Research Pharmacy Services
• Database Management/Data Entry
• Biostatistical Support
• Investigator Initiated Protocols/Grant Writing Assistance
• IRB Formatting and Submission
• Patient Recruitment Assistance/Web Site Management
• Physician Consultation Workstations
• Centralized Clinical Research Coordinator Orientation Course
• Extended Stay Facility

SLUtest Services:

• Core Laboratory
• Procedure Rooms
• Stress Physiology & Metabolic Testing
• Diagnostic Unit Offering:
  • Ultrasound
  • Echocardiogram
  • Endoscopy
  • Fluoroscopy
  • Biopsy

SLUCOR Services:

• Statistical support
• Study design for investigator initiated protocols
• Development of protocols, presentation and publication materials
• Creation of specifically defined databases
• Response to insurance companies
• Seminars in research design and biostatistics

Allergy

Raymond G Slavin, MD
Professor of Internal Medicine, Division of Allergy, Saint Louis University School of Medicine.
Areas of Interest: Sinusitis, asthma, and anaphylaxis.

Mark S. Dykewicz, MD
Professor of Internal Medicine, Division of Allergy, Saint Louis University School of Medicine;
Director, Postgraduate Training Program in Allergy and Immunology, Saint Louis University School of Medicine.
Areas of Interest: Rhinitis, asthma, and sinusitis.

Anesthesiology

Mark Comunale, MD
Professor and Chairman, Department of Anesthesia and Critical care, Saint Louis University School of Medicine.
Specialty: Cardiac Anesthesiology.
Areas of Interest: Blood substitutes, myocardial protection, coagulopathies associated with cardiopulmonary bypass, infusion/warming device development.

Cardiology

Frank Bleyer, MD
Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine, Division of Cardiology, Saint Louis University School of Medicine.
Area of Interest: Cardiology, coronary risk factor modification.

Lisa Schiller, MD
Associate Professor of Internal Medicine, Division of Cardiology, Saint Louis University School of Medicine.
Areas of Interest: Electrophysiology - drug & device trials.

Denise L. Janosik, MD
Associate Professor of Internal Medicine, Division of Cardiology, Saint Louis University School of Medicine.
Areas of Interest: Electrophysiology - drug, hyperlipidemia, heart failure, atrial fibrillation.

Paul J. Hauptman, MD
Associate Professor of Internal Medicine, Division of Cardiology, Saint Louis University School of Medicine.
Areas of Interest: Cardiovascular disease, heart failure.

Gastroenterology

Charlene Prather, MD
Associate Professor of Internal Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Saint Louis University School of Medicine;
Director of the Saint Louis University Gastroenterology Physiology Laboratory.
Areas of Interest: Gastroenterology and gastrointestinal motility disorders. Gastroesophageal reflux disease, gastroparesis, chronic constipation, irritable bowel syndrome, gastrointestinal disorders in the elderly, fecal incontinence, pelvic floor disorders and gastrointestinal manifestations in the adult cystic fibrosis patients.

General Internal Medicine

George Griffing, MD
Director of General Internal Medicine, Saint Louis University School of Medicine.
Specialty: Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism.
Areas of interest: Osteoporosis, lipids, diabetes, hypertension.

Timothy Rice, MD
Associate Professor of Internal Medicine and Pediatrics, Division of General Internal Medicine, Saint Louis University School of Medicine.
Area of Interest: Sinusitis, Pediatric vaccines; rotavirus.

Hematology/Oncology

Ganesh Kudva, MD
Housestaff Resident/GME Resident Internal Medicine, Division of Hematology/Oncology, Saint Louis University School of Medicine.
Area of Interest: Hematology/Oncology; thrombosis, anticoagulation, thrombocytosis, cancer.

Paul Petruska, MD
Professor of Internal Medicine, Division of Hematology / Oncology, Saint Louis University School of Medicine.
Area of Interest: Hematology / Oncology; breast cancer, bone marrow transplantation, opportunistic infections.

Steven Mark Pincus, M.D., Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Internal Medicine, Division of Hematology and Oncology, Saint Louis University School of Medicine, Saint Louis University Cancer Center;
Director, Allogeneic Bone Marrow Transplantation Program; Acting Director, Autologous Bone Marrow Transplantation Program;
Medical Director, Bone Marrow Processing Laboratory.
Areas of Interest: Hematology, oncology, bone marrow transplantation.

Hans Joachim Reimers, MD
Professor of Internal Medicine, Division of Hematology / Oncology, Saint Louis University School of Medicine.
Area of Interest: Hematology / Oncology; thrombosis, anticoagulation, thrombocytosis, cancer.

John M. Richart, M.D.
Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine, Division of Hematology and Oncology, Saint Louis University School of Medicine, Saint Louis University Cancer Center.
Areas of Interest: Hematology, oncology.

Infectious Diseases

Sharon Frey, MD
Associate Professor of Internal Medicine, Saint Louis University School of Medicine
Division of Infectious Diseases.
Areas of Interest: Gastrointestinal infections: Salmonella, etc.

Geoffrey Gorse, MD
Professor of Internal Medicine, Saint Louis University School of Medicine.
Area of Interest: Influenza, etc.

Nephrology

Kevin Martin, MD
Professor of Internal Medicine, Division of Nephrology, Saint Louis University School of Medicine.
Area of Interest: Nephrology, Calcium/phosphate metabolism, vascular access for dialysis.

Ester Gonzalas, MD
Associate Professor of Internal Medicine, Division of Nephrology, Saint Louis University School of Medicine.
Area of Interest: Nephrology.

Psychiatry

Raymond Tait, PhD
Department of Psychiatry
Professor and Director of Research, Department of Psychiatry, Saint Louis University School of Medicine.
Areas of Interest: Pain, depression, anxiety disorders, and dementias.

Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine

George M. Matuschak, MD
Professor of Internal Medicine, Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Occupational Medicine, Saint Louis University School of Medicine;
Director, Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Occupational Medicine Department of Internal Medicine, Saint Louis University;
Director of Clinical Research, Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Occupational Medicine, Saint Louis University;
Program Director, Residency in Pulmonary Disease and Critical Care Medicine, Saint Louis University School of Medicine;
Director Medical Intensive Care Unit, St. Louis University Hospital.
Areas of Interest: Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS); acute lung injury; severe pneumonia; mechanical ventilation; sepsis/septic shock; vasopressor/inotropic cardiovascular support; ischemia/reperfusion- and oxidant-induced organ injury; multiple organ failure/multiple organ dysfunction syndrome; liver failure; Pulmonary disease: Lung cancer, including chemoprevention; venous thromboembolic disease; environmental and occupational lung health; chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; pulmonary fibrosis.

Wilman Ortega, M.D.
Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine, Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, Saint Louis University School of Medicine. Areas of Interest: Minority healthcare, sickle cell disease and pulmonary hypertension.

Ravi Parameshwar Nayak, M.D.
Clinical Assistant Professor in Internal Medicine, Saint Louis University School of Medicine. Areas of Interest: Cystic Fibrosis

Rheumatology

Terry Moore, MD
Professor of Internal Medicine and Pediatrics, Division of Rheumatology, Saint Louis University School of Medicine;
Director, Division of Rheumatology.
Areas of Interest: Rheumatology; Rheumatoid arthritis, juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, immune complexes.

Rama Bandlamudi, MD
Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine, Saint Louis University School of Medicine, Division of Rheumatology.
Areas of Interest: Rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis.

Peri Hickman Pepmueller, MD
Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine and Pediatrics, Saint Louis University School of Medicine, Division of Rheumatology.
Areas of Interest: Rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, and juvenile rheumatoid arthritis.

Surgery

Catherine M. Wittgen, MD
Assistant Professor of Surgery, Saint Louis University School of Medicine.
Area of Interest: Medical management of Peripheral arterial disease, percutaneous angioplasty and stenting, claudication, anterior approach to spinal instrumentation, surgical education.

SoLUtions clinical research coordinators have diversified backgrounds, extensive experience in clinical research trials and are trained in accepted standards of good clinical practices, Code of Federal Regulations and the International Conference on Harmonization guidelines. SoLUtions follows the Association for Clinical Research Professionals (ACRP) guidelines for certification of coordinators. Additionally, all coordinators must complete a SoLUtions designed clinical research coordinator-training course. SoLUtions staff includes all RN coordinator staff, a RN Nurse Manager, a RN Regulatory Affairs Nurse Manager and a MBA Business Manager. This staff is responsible for clinical trial operations, business development, university wide coordinator education, compliance, regulatory affairs, budget assessments, contracts, billing, facility support and subject recruitment. SoLUtions presents a yearly educational conference for the region's research professionals and the staff presently hold the positions of President and Secretary of the Greater St. Louis Chapter of ACRP.

SoLUtions is located in the St. Louis Metropolitan area. The St. Louis Metropolitan area includes the city and county of St. Louis as well as 5 counties of southern Illinois and 5 additional counties of eastern Missouri. The metro area population exceeds 2.6 million. Eastern and southern Missouri, southern Illinois and northern Arkansas provide Saint Louis University with a diverse subject population. SoLUtions also develops and implements programs, as well as participates in local activities, to provide information about clinical research at the university to the community and to facilitate subject contact and recruitment. Subjects are recruited from all age and ethnic groups, and all socioeconomic backgrounds.

SoLUtions, being a part of the Saint Louis University academic facility, uses the Saint Louis University Institutional Review Board. For more information, view: www.slu.edu/research/irb.

CenterWatch is listing the following trials that are actively recruiting patients at this center.

• A phase II study to assess the clinical benefit and safety of droxidopa in patients with intradialytic hypotension
• Diabetes Mellitus Type II with Chronic Kidney Disease and Anemia - Investigational study to evaluate an FDA approved injectable medication for patients with Anemia.
• Peripheral Arterial Disease with Intermittent Claudication (leg pain/cramping/aching/numbness experienced while walking that goes away with rest) - Study to evaluate an investigational medication in patients with intermittent claudication.
• Saint Louis University invites you to participate in an open-label study evaluating the safety and effectiveness of an investigational formulation combining niacin extended release (ER) and simvastatin in patients with abnormal cholesterol disorders.
• Saint Louis University is looking for study volunteers!

For more information, please contact:

Saint Louis University
SoLUtions
Salus Center, 2nd Floor
3545 Lafayette Avenue
St. Louis, MO 63104-1314 USA
Phone: 314-977-6335 or Toll-Free 866-SLU-WELL
Fax: 314-977-1190
E-mail:

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.

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Last updated on August 21, 2008