About the IDCRP
Creation of the IDCRP
The IDCRP was formed in 2005 through an Interagency Agreement between the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and the Uniformed Services University (USU). Recognizing the operational, strategic and scientific importance of infectious diseases to the US military, the NIAID provided all the support needed to expand the existing DoD HIV clinical network into a diverse team of clinical and research partners from the NIAID and the DoD.
Facilitating Research
The IDCRP is designed to build broad collaborations among DoD and NIAID investigators as well as develop affiliations with partners from academia and pharma. The program operates at USU through the Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine (HJF). The IDCRP draws on the unique strengths of both the DoD and the NIAID. The military medical system includes a diverse group of hospitals and clinics throughout the world with access to nearly 9 million beneficiaries. With increasingly useful databases linked to electronic medical records with laboratory and pharmacy data, the DoD patient population is ideal for research. Through the IDCRP, DoD clinicians and investigators treating military beneficiaries now have access to the extensive infectious diseases research experience of NIAID investigators as well as to the robust education, biostatistics, regulatory and clinical trials monitoring activities associated with the NIAID. Research support in the IDCRP is achieved in a different manner than DoD investigators had been accustomed. IDCRP does not “fund” research projects, but, instead incorporates protocols into the network portfolio.
Research Goals
Research concepts brought to the IDCRP are focused on clinical infectious disease questions of importance to the DoD. A concept is brought to one of the IDCRP working groups where the idea is discussed and formulated into a research protocol that is performed primarily by network uniformed and civilian investigators.Collaborating labs and clinics within and outside the IDCRP may also be incorporated.Protocols are crafted by IDCRP working groups and then submitted to the IDCRP Scientific Review Board (SRB) for a rigorous appraisal. Projects obtaining SRB approval are then reviewed by the Regulatory Affairs Department of IDCRP and often the NIAID monitors for regulatory and ethical considerations. After completion of regulatory review the protocol is submitted to the Infectious Disease Institutional Review Board (IRB) at USU. The ID IRB is comprised of members drawn from participating partners. Prior to implementation at the sites, some protocols may undergo additional regulatory review by the NIAID and a second level review by DoD Health Affairs. After local command authorization is obtained studies commence but continue to be executed and monitored through the IDCRP Working Groups up through completion, presentation and publication. The goal is to provide support and training in clinical infectious diseases research while conducting high quality multicentered investigations that ultimately impact and inform DoD Force Health Protection.