The Southern California Permanente Clinical Trials (SCPCT) program believes that all research should focus on advancing the practice of medical care to improve health outcomes. Southern California Permanente Clinical Trials investigators are practicing physicians bridging the gap between research and clinical practice. Typically, research in Kaiser Permanente is aimed at evaluating the impact at the bedside and using this perspective to develop study designs that answer meaningful questions. SCPCT clients are able to recruit study participants from within the Kaiser Foundation Health Plan's 3.1 million Southern California membership.

Kaiser Permanente (KP) is the largest vertically integrated private health care delivery system in the United States. The Permanente Medical Groups of physicians provide prepaid medical care to nearly 9 million members of the Kaiser Permanente Medical Care Program. The Permanente Medical Groups represent one of the oldest Medical Research Organizations in the United States and have been conducting research into health care intervention and delivery since the 1950s. Research is important to Kaiser Permanente because it is not only a part of our organizational mission, but it provides Kaiser Permanente Health Plan members access to innovative new technologies and medicines.

SCPCT is a Kaiser Southern California regional resource for coordinating all aspects of clinical trials services. The SCPCT staff acts as an interface between investigators, sponsors, and KP regulatory bodies. From the sponsor's perspective, we help find investigators appropriate for trials. Once an investigator is identified, we work with the sponsor and the investigator to facilitate their application through IRB, finance, and contracting. We also hire and provide study coordinators and research associates to facilitate the study.

Kaiser Permanente is the world's largest integrated clinical research organization. Southern California Permanente Clinical Trials (SCPCT) combines the clinical expertise of one of the largest medical groups with a research organization.

In Southern California, over 4,700 physicians take care of over 3 million patients in fourteen geographic areas. With this resource, SCPCT is capable of conducting any clinical research project, from the smallest pilot studies to drug trials to outcomes and quality of life analyses. Our experience stretches from Phase II to Phase IV and beyond, encompassing post-marketing analyses. SCPCT conducts studies in more than 26 therapeutic areas: Allergy, Bio-chemotherapy, Cardiac surgery, Cardiology, Endocrinology, Gastroenterology, Gynecology oncology, Hepatology, Infections diseases, Internal medicine, Nephrology, Metabolic genetics, Neurology, Adult oncology, Pain Management, Pediatric oncology, Ophthalmology, Plastic surgery, Surgical oncology, Urology, Pediatrics, and Vascular surgery.

Southern California Permanente Clinical Trials research is conducted at all 11 strategically located Kaiser Permanente Medical Centers of Southern California: Baldwin Park, Bellflower, Fontana, Harbor City/South Bay, Los Angeles, Orange County, Panorama City, Riverside, San Diego, West Los Angeles, and Woodland Hills.

Our investigators are all practicing physicians to these specialties, applying state-of-the-art research in their own practices. Their informed input on study design and interpretation creates more efficient, practical, and pertinent research. Our investigators also focus strongly on disseminating research results, publishing more than 300 articles per year in peer-reviewed journals. Their effects on patient care and the state of medicine are felt around the world.

Southern California Permanente Clinical Trials (SCPCT) staff has experience with all aspects of clinical trials management such as study coordination, data management, project, human subjects protection, budget development, and contracting. The Regulatory Services group was officially formed at SCPCT in 2002. This group provides support for regulatory processes, filing and maintenance of investigator-initiated INDs/IDEs, protocol review, new project consultation, and training. SCPCT also provides site management and clinical monitoring capabilities for some of our investigators. SCPCT Site Management assists our investigators with qualification/selection and site recruitment, investigative site start-up and training, clinical trial enrollment, site regulatory compliance, CRF completion, data collection, and query resolution.

The SCPCT staff include: Azucena Luna, MD, who oversees every aspect of SCPCT Operations, and Barry Grubs, who coordinates protocol review and identifies appropriate investigator. In addition, there are regulatory, IT, nursing and non-nursing research support staff located in the regional SCPCT office and in the medical centers.

Kaiser Permanente Southern California (KPSC) provides comprehensive health care on a pre-paid basis to 3.1 million residents of Southern California. The population served by the program is diverse and broadly representative of the population of Southern California ethnically and in terms of education and income.

Clinical Trials in SCPCT is supported by the Kaiser Permanente Southern California Institutional Review Board (KPSC-IRB).

SCPCT investigators use the iMedRIS clinical trial management tool to help track participant and study activities, research compliance, and conduct.

For more information, please contact:

Daniel J. Pinion
Clinical Trials Research
Kaiser Permanente Southern California Clinical Trials
100 South Los Robles, 2nd Floor
Pasadena, CA 91101 USA
Phone: 626-564-5667
Fax: 626-564-7872
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 July 1, 2008