Clinical Innovation and Research Institute (CIRI)
Memorial Hermann Healthcare System is dedicated to improving the health of the people in our community. Providing the best patient care is an important part of that goal. While the face of healthcare will continue to change in coming years, one fact remains: the role of clinical research will remain vitally important to the future of medicine.
In 2011, Memorial Hermann reached an unparalleled research milestone of 1,000 studies across the System. The exponential growth of research in Memorial Hermann Hospital System is due to several factors, including the 2006 expansion of CIRI and joint Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center/UTHealth Medical School Clinical Research Unit to a 16,000 square foot facility, significant research grants received by UTHealth Medical School, and increased research participation by medical staff, community hospital physicians and private practice physicians.
Current Memorial Hermann Hospital System research studies involve all service lines, with particular focus on the areas of neurology and neurosurgery, cardiology and cardiovascular surgery, oncology, pediatrics and neonatology, trauma, neuro-rehabilitation and advocacy for persons with disabilities.
Federal grants support approximately 40 percent of this research, and the pharmaceutical industry funds an additional 30 percent, with the remaining 30 percent involving standard of care procedures or no procedural interventions not requiring outside funding.
The high volume of in-house research conducted in our system has many benefits for healthcare providers and their patients, including an enhanced local and national medical reputation, improved clinical practices and new, state-of-the-art treatment options for patients.
CIRI facilitates the promotion and establishment of collaborative relationships between Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center and The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) Medical School, Memorial Hermann Hospital System, private practice clinics, and the community.
We foster collaborative partnerships between clinicians, academicians, industry and public sectors to conduct and produce meaningful, quality research to benefit society.
To further medical knowledge by encouraging and supporting translational and clinical research in order to improve the health of the community and provide innovative, breakthrough treatments to our patients.
- To facilitate clinicians’ and researchers’ aim to further link the basic and clinical sciences, also known as translational medicine, and develop more personalized solutions for treating individual patients
- To foster an environment supportive of high quality innovative research
- To support clinical research education
- To serve as an advocate for research subjects by creating an environment supporting good clinical practice in research We are proud to provide the best healthcare to our community, and to contribute to the future through our research today