General Clinical Research Center

The General Clinical Research Center (GCRC) at Texas Children’s Hospital and Baylor College of Medicine is supported by funds from the National Center for Research Resources at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

The goal of the GCRC is to provide a clinical research infrastructure for medical scientists to conduct patient-oriented research in the patient care facilities affiliated with Baylor College of Medicine. The GCRC is used primarily by medical investigators supported by NIH individual research project grants. Investigators supported by other federal, state and local grants or the private sector are also eligible to use the facilities and are encouraged to apply for GCRC support. All studies supported by the GCRC are approved by the Baylor Institutional Review Board and the GCRC Scientific Advisory Committee.

GCRC resources include:

• Inpatient and outpatient facilities
• Financial support for select laboratory costs associated with patients
• Research nursing services
• Bionutritional services
• Cell and gene therapies core laboratory

There is no limitation on the ages of individuals participating in research studies at the Texas Children’s Hospital GCRC. The unit is open 24 hours a day, Monday through Friday, and every other weekend, with intensification of use during the summer and on holidays to accommodate the needs of school-aged children.

This unit consists of six inpatient rooms, an infusion room which may also serve as a private room, an outpatient clinic, and a specialized neonatal research satellite unit located within the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. The center includes two playrooms for patients, a consultation room, and a kitchen with two full-time diet technicians.

Current areas of investigation include chemotherapy of childhood malignancies, prevention of childhood diabetes, optimal nutritional support for infants born very prematurely, gene therapy of inherited disorders, study of childhood neurological abnormalities, and clinical treatment trials in children with HIV/AIDs.

The adult GCRC unit is housed within The Methodist Hospital.