Emergency Department Research Associate Program (EDRA)

The Emergency Department Research Associate (EDRA) Program is a resource available to investigators who wish to harness the more than 200,000 patients seen in the Strong Memorial and Highland Hospital Emergency Departments each year. The program which began in 1996, has successfully screened, consented and enrolled tens of thousands of patients into studies of varying complexity. The EDRA program has a robust quality assurance process that ensures research protocols are followed and provides regular feedback on study enrollment, successes and challenges to investigators. Research Associates are initially trained in fundamental concepts of clinical research, confidentiality, consent and procedural skills followed by a continuous hands-on learning model that provides them with ongoing research education, study specific training and quality improvement driven learning. Investigators are expected to provide information and protocol testing materials for the EDRA program to utilize in training, and are also welcome to present their research design and expectations at one of the regularly scheduled EDRA staff meetings.