Office of Clinical Trials

Back row: Kimberly Mason, Brenna Adelman, LaWanda Duenckel, Caleb Darby, Carrie Palmer, Emily Byers, Tiffany Taylor, Brandy Herbert Front Row: Amanda Suttles, Janet Parkey, Patti Jones, Jody Huffaker, Lori Bales, Mary Ellen McNeal

As the region’s only academic medical center, The University of Tennessee Medical Center participates in research studies of national merit through its Office of Clinical Trials (OCT).

Our Mission

The OCT’s mission is to support the medical center’s primary mission of healing, education and discovery through the successful execution of privately sponsored clinical trials. To do this, we work with a variety of research partners, performing the most advanced treatment methods using cutting-edge technology.

Some of our research partners include:

• AMGEN
• Astra Zeneca
• Bristol Myers Squibb
• Genentech
• Lilly
• Merck
• National Surgical Adjuvant Breast & Bowel Project
• NCI — National Cancer Institute
• Pfizer
• Our Objectives

The OCT follows specific objectives as we perform our research. Our goals are to:

• Create one unified, centralized operation for performing non-governmental trials
• Ensure that adequate qualified leadership and staff are available and trained
• Establish standards as specified by good laboratory practice, good clinical practice, and the rules and regulations of the Food and Drug Administration
• Ensure compliance with these standards through both internal and external audits and rigid quality control practices
• Attract trials that meet the market’s needs and match the needs of our physicians and patients
• Fulfill our fiduciary responsibility by being a financially self-sustaining operation at UT Medical Center

Expanding Our Reach

The OCT was established in 2014, primarily to perform oncology trials. But we are now growing and branching out into other areas of the hospital, including:

• The Pat Summitt Clinic
• Heart Lung Vascular Institute
• Gynecological Cancers
• High-Risk Maternal-Fetal Medicine
• Infection Prevention

We also anticipate studies with:

• Advanced Orthopaedic Center
• University Rheumatology

To see the entire list of clinical trials being conducted by our office, visit the Clinical Trials Directory.