Newsroom
NICHD award supports efforts to improve healthcare and outcomes for newborns
RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. — RTI International, a nonprofit research institute, has been competitively awarded a seven-year grant extension from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) of the National Institutes of Health to serve as the data coordinating center for the Neonatal Research Network (NRN), which supports research to develop new approaches to treatment for newborn babies.
RTI will continue to provide data management and biostatistical support for participating clinical centers, along with consultation in the areas of design, execution and analysis for the network studies. RTI also assists in the development of study materials, including the protocols, study manuals and forms. RTI’s biostatistical leadership and data coordination support helps realize the vision set for the NRN, which is to conduct definitive, rigorous and reproducible multicenter clinical research that guides clinical practice to improve outcomes for newborns.
“While the NRN has made significant progress and provided critical data to inform clinicians on the best treatment protocols for newborns, critical gaps in neonatal research remain, underlining the continued need for targeted and rigorous multicenter research to develop better, evidence-based, and broadly applicable treatment and management strategies for neonates that improve long-term outcomes,” said Abhik Das, Ph.D., RTI Distinguished Fellow, biostatistics, and the principal investigator for the network coordinating center. “We are excited that we can bring RTI’s long experience and expertise in this area to the NRN team and continue our collaborations with network institutions.”
Founded in 1986, the NRN is a cooperative group of 15 academic medical centers from across the country that investigate the safety and effectiveness of treatments for sick or premature newborn babies. Research findings are then disseminated to practitioners and scientists to improve clinical practice to benefit newborns and their families. The NRN involves clinicians and researchers from regions across the U.S.
