ASTS-Approved Multiorgan Transplantation Fellowship

Clinical Research Program

Overview

The core purpose of the Recanati/Miller Transplantation Institute’s (RMTI) Clinical Research Program is to efficiently study and apply developments in basic research to our ever-growing cohort of patients. It is our intent to enroll each of our patients into an appropriate clinical study as this best assures the continued advancements of the field as well as the best outcome for the patients.

An ongoing scientific and clinical research program keeps Mount Sinai School of Medicine (MSSM) at the forefront of discovery and assures that our patients have access to the newest and most effective medical, surgical and diagnostic treatments.

Overall Goals

Enhancing the RMTI’s working relationship with federal agencies including the National Institutes of Health, private drug manufactures, and other major medical institutions.

Assisting the RMTI faculty in offering the newest and most innovative approaches to treatment in liver, kidney/pancreas, small bowel/intestine, and lung transplantation, liver diseases, kidney diseases and other related diseases such as diabetes, infectious diseases and cancer, while simultaneously investigating the cause, progression, prevention, control and cure of these illnesses.

Encouraging and supporting the collaboration between the basic science and clinical scientists both from within MSSM and from other institutions.

Developing expertise in the field and to use the knowledge gained through our research to stay at the forefront of the development of better intervention strategies for limiting both disease progression and graft loss.

We further expanded our program by enhancing the ability to market our growth to the research and development (R&D) industry, by attending conferences, participating at investigator’s meetings and assisting in the development of protocols.

Our reputation in the field of research is superior to other sites due to our commitment to protecting the rights and welfare of human subjects, enrolling the appropriate patients, following and monitoring those patients accordingly, and providing excellent and timely data with limited queries and protocol violations.

Finally, the clinical research program also serves to train other health professionals interested in clinical research including fellows, residents, nurse coordinators, floor nurses, and operating room technicians.

The team is also assisting and collaborating with faculty from other departments within MSSM including but not limited to the Departments of Medicine; Psychiatry; Pediatrics; Radiology; Anesthesiology; and the Divisions of Infectious Diseases; Endocrinology; Pulmonology, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, Hematology and Medical Oncology; and so on.

The Clinical Research Program includes

Rosemarie Gagliardi, c.Ed.D., M.P.H., C.R.A.

Program Director

Marjorie Small, R.N., C.C.R.C.

Regulatory Compliance Manager

Jenny Figueroa, R.N., B.S.N., C.C.R.C.

Clinical Research Supervisor

Sherif Mikhail, M.D.

Clinical Research Coordinator

Mark Siegal, M.D.

Clinical Research Coordinator

Hurdley Freemantle, B.S., C.C.R.C.

Clinical Research Coordinator

Sri Venkatesh Ganeshan, M.D.

Clinical Research Coordinator

Salvador Cuellar, B.S.

Clinical Research Coordinator

Inci Bijan, M.D.

Clinical Research Coordinator

Sanobar Parkar, M.D.

Clinical Research Coordinator

Nabil Rezk, M.D.

Clinical Research Coordinator

Dominick Morrone

Research Assistant

We are currently coordinating the research projects for our liver/small bowel surgeons; kidney/pancreas surgeons; hepatologists, nephrologist; pediatricians; hepatobiliary; along with assisting faculty from infectious diseases, endocrinology; hematology; oncology, and psychiatry.

We attend various national and international meetings to represent MSSM and RMTI and to increase our knowledge in the field.

We train fellows, residents, nurse coordinators, floor nurses (in the Care Centers, SICU, MICU, PACU), OR nurses and staff at the GCRC on new therapeutic agents and research protocols.

We work closely with the Institutional Review Board (IRB), Pharmacy, and the General Clinical Research Center (GCRC) to assure good clinical and ethical conduct of research trials. Our expertise in the field of clinical research has invited us to participate in research committees within MSSM to assure the institution, as a whole is compliant.