A
collaborative research team at The Rockefeller University Center for Clinical
and Translational Science (CCTS) and Clinical Directors Network (CDN) has received a
$2.8 million award from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute
(PCORI) to study a home-based intervention to prevent recurrence of a
community-acquired drug-resistant Staphylococcal aurea infection (MRSA). PCORI
was established under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to fund research
on clinical effectiveness. The
Community Acquired MRSA Project will enroll patients with skin infections,
provide English- and Spanish-language health education materials about
community-acquired drug-resistant staph infections, and test in a randomized
fashion whether household decontamination helps prevent reinfection and
transmission. An
electron micrograph shows clumps of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus
(MRSA) bacteria, the pathogen responsible for an increasingly common
community-acquired infection. (Image by Janice Carr, Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention.) The
project, known as CAMP2, will be led by Jonathan N. Tobin, president and CEO
(CDN) and co-director of community-engaged research and an adjunct faculty
member at Rockefeller, Alexander Tomasz, Dr. Plutarch
Papamarkou Professor and head of the Laboratory of Microbiology and Infectious Disease, and Rhonda G. Kost,
co-director of community-engaged research and clinical research officer of The Rockefeller
University Hospital. “This
is an innovative, patient-centered project to determine the best method to
prevent recurrence of community-acquired MRSA,” says Barry Coller, director of the
Center for Clinical and Translational Science and physician-in-chief of The
Rockefeller University Hospital. “By focusing on what patients and clinicians
identified as their highest priority in combating this disease, we are
confident that we are devoting our scientific expertise to the community’s
major concern.” The
PCORI award is among $102 million committed this fall to projects selected from
among 409 proposals. Awards were made through a competitive review process by a
committee composed of clinical scientists, patients, clinicians and other
stakeholders. “This
project was selected for PCORI funding not only for its scientific merit and
commitment to engaging patients and other stakeholders, but also for its
potential to fill an important gap in our health knowledge and to give people
information to help them weigh the effectiveness of their care options,” said
PCORI Executive Director Joe Selby. “We look forward to following the study’s
progress and working with Clinical Directors Network and The Rockefeller
University to share the results.” PCORI is an independent, nonprofit organization authorized by
Congress in 2010 to fund patient-centered clinical comparative effectiveness
research that will provide patients, their caregivers and clinicians with
evidence-based information needed to make better-informed healthcare decisions.
PCORI has approved $671 million to support 360 research studies and initiatives
since it began funding research in 2012.