ACRP Enters Alliance with Shanghai Clinical Research Center

ACRP Enters Alliance with Shanghai Clinical Research Center

Alexandria, Va.—The Association of Clinical Research Professionals (ACRP), a nonprofit organization that provides global leadership to promote integrity and excellence for the clinical research profession worldwide, has entered into an alliance with the Shanghai Clinical Research Center (SCRC), a leading organization in China.
 
As a result of the collaboration, SCRC will promote ACRP training on a national basis in China by developing multiple training centers throughout the country, as well as promote the ACRP Certification Examination, the international standard in clinical research. In meetings throughout the fall with Dr. BingZhang Bao, Vice District Mayor of the XuiHui District in Shanghai, Dr. Gan Rongxing, CEO of SCRC, Mr. Zhang Gongda, Deputy Director of Shnghai Xuihui State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, and Jenny Zhang, ACRP China Chapter President, plans were agreed for the roll out of ACRP products in China.
 
Vice District Mayor Bao said, “Through our visit to ACRP in November 2008, we gained more confidence for our cooperation to better improve the implementation of Good Clinical Practice in China. We hope that our cooperation will open a window for Chinese clinical researchers and their international colleagues to learn from each other, and also provide a chance for the international experience to be synergistic with the fast development of China into an innovation-based country.”
 
Dr. Gan added, “China has increasingly played an important role in clinical research in recent years. The increasing opportunity for global clinical trials in China requires more physician investigators, clinical research associates, and clinical research coordinators with professional skills. The cooperation between SCRC and ACRP targets these market demands, and will quickly bring the international experience to China. We wish our cooperation a fruitful success.”
 
Based on current government planning, SCRC is expected to become the National Clinical Research Center of China in the future. The SCRC training center for clinical research functions both as the organization’s professional advisory body and as its resources platform arm. Aiming at the top-end clinical research market in China, the training center has the personnel, skills, and experience to deliver and administer a wide variety of courses, conferences, and examinations.
 
ACRP President and CEO Thomas L. Adams stated, “ACRP weighed, over a two-year period, a number of potential alliance partners in China. We believe that the strong backing of the Shanghai government positions SCRC to be at the forefront in developing education for the Clinical Research Team in China. We appreciate the leadership of Vice District Mayor Bao and Dr. Gan in facilitating ACRP’s entry into China.”
 
SCRC seeks to deliver exclusively training courses developed by ACRP or by the alliance partners jointly in China, to administer and run an annual national conference and ACRP Certification Examinations for clinical research professionals in China, and to license its own ready-made training courses to ACRP.
 
ACRP sent one of its approved trainers to Shanghai to teach a Good Clinical Practice course for physicians on December 2-3, 2008. Future steps include offering ACRP Certification Exam Review courses in January/February 2009 in preparation for the March Certification Exam, as well as holding a formal inauguration of the alliance with SCRC and making a wider announcement of the relationship with ACRP. SCRC has invited ACRP’s Adams to participate in the inauguration and meet with government and industry leaders.
 

**ACRP**

Founded in 1976 and based in Alexandria, Va., the 20,000-member nonprofit ACRP is the leading global association for the clinical research team of professionals conducting clinical trials for testing new drugs, medical devices, and therapies on volunteer subjects. For more information about the association, visit www.acrpnet.org <http://www.acrpnet.org> .