The Schubert Research Clinic (SRC) has a long history of providing high-quality clinical resources to support researchers throughout the Academic Health Center. As the patient interaction arm of the CCTST, it serves as a “one-stop shop” for studies, providing virtually whatever study teams need, from providing physical space for research study visits to collecting patient biological samples and study data necessary for clinical research.

Our clinic was named for Dr. William Schubert, the founding program director of the original Clinical Research Center (CRC) starting in 1963 here at CCHMC. Over the years, the clinic has gone through several iterations, and in 2015, we honored Dr. Schubert by renaming the CRC to the Schubert Research Clinic, moving into the first floor of the T building.

Today, the SRC offers a vast array of facilities, space, and services for patient-oriented research. A few examples of our resources include the availability of research nurses, dietitians, imaging services, biochemistry, and processing labs. The SRC was designed with the comfort and convenience of our research study participants in mind. It has 28 exam rooms fully equipped for data and specimen collection, as well as safety and comfort for the study participant. The clinic also houses areas for monitoring exercise and play activities, as well as rooms to accommodate special populations.

The SRC clinic staff comprises experienced clinical research nurses who maintain clinical competencies and research certifications. The clinic staff provide a high level of care to participants and are trained to professionally handle complex, detailed research observations and precise collection of specimens. We offer scatterbed services where our clinic staff go to an inpatient or outpatient unit elsewhere in the hospital to collect specimens or perform observations.

Our services are available to investigators based at UC as well as CCHMC. We are licensed and credentialed to perform research services at UC as well as off-site locations in the community such as nursing homes, schools, or conference centers.

The Sample Processing Laboratory is located in the center of the SRC and houses specialized equipment for prepping samples. This includes centrifuges, a vortex, a water bath, a dry incubator, and several freezers and refrigerators. Two research assistants staff the lab during SRC operating hours and provide the convenience of sample preparation once collected in clinic. Blood, urine, stool, saliva, and other biological specimens can be stored as needed until shipped or analyzed elsewhere.

The Bionutrition Core of the SRC is led by a registered dietitian and staffed by technicians with expertise in obtaining research quality data in nutrition and body composition. Bionutrition offers the following resources and services for clinical research:

• Dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) and peripheral quantitative computed tomography (pQCT) for analysis of body composition, bone density, and other bone measures

• Detailed analysis of dietary intake of study participants by certified interviewers, using NDSR software

• Resting metabolic rate/resting energy expenditure assessment using indirect calorimetry

• Anthropometric measurements including height, weight, circumferences and skinfold thicknesses

• Assessment of body fat, lean mass, and body water using DXA or InBody 570 bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA)

• Development and preparation of study-specific meals in our metabolic research kitchen

 The Biochemistry Core Laboratory is a CLIA/CAP-certified lab that provides investigators with the expertise, facilities, and services necessary to execute most commercially available clinical and research assays. We offer an analyte testing service for Investigators in the following disciplines: Bone health, bone research, nutritional status, endocrine, cytokine, general clinical chemistry. Our equipment includes seven automated analyzers sufficient to perform a wide array of assays such as general clinical chemistry, chemiluminescent immunosassay, HPLC/UPLC, RIA and ELISA. Also available is a Vetscan VS2 benchtop chemistry analyzer for murine testing, comprised of an expansive menu that includes chemistry, electrolytes, acid-base and immunoassay tests.

Ready to start your study in the SRC? During IRB submission for the study, select SRC as a location and fill out the SRC intake form. When the study has IRB approval, you’ll be connected with an SRC Protocol Nurse to start the process for study implementation. Our protocol nurses are experienced clinical research nurses who facilitate study implementation by serving as the liaison between the study team, SRC clinic staff and all other service providers needed to carry out the study (ie: Investigational Pharmacy, Radiology, Clinical Lab, etc.). The protocol nurse will develop data collection flowsheets and study-specific physician orders and work closely to ensure a successful visit for the SRC staff, study team and participant.

We hope you’ve enjoyed this overview of the Schubert Research Clinic at CCHMC. If you would like to know more, please visit our website Schubert Research Clinic or email us at schubertresearchclinic@cchmc.org.

We are now accepting abstracts for the 2020 Nutrition Research Day Poster Session, held on April 10, 2020 at Cincinnati Children’s.  If you have a poster that was presented in the past year, is about to be presented elsewhere this year, or you have new data that you would like to present, we encourage you to submit your work.  The goal of this event is to promote awareness of nutrition research and quality improvement projects happening at UC, CCHMC, and other institutions, and foster collaboration.  Posters from faculty, staff, or students in the categories of clinical research, basic science, and quality improvement are all welcome. 

Select poster authors will be invited to present a brief overview of their work in the Poster Symposium, to be held in conjunction with the Poster Session. 

• Click here to download the abstract application.

• The abstract submission deadline is March 2, 2020.

Cincinnati Children’s Hospital hosted the Middle School Science Symposium (MSSS) on Friday, October 25, 2019.  Supported through a generous grant from the Charlotte R. Schmidlapp Foundation of Fifth Third Bank, the MSSS, a component of the Schmidlapp STEM Scholars (Sᶾ) Program, was created to provide girls with opportunities to learn about careers in biomedical research and healthcare, and to strengthen the pipeline of racially/ethnically and/or socioeconomically underrepresented women for careers in those fields. Thirty-five (35) students from two local middle schools participated in the program and had an opportunity to meet and learn first-hand about the work of doctors, scientists and allied health professionals who work in clinical and research facilities at CCHMC.

“Early exposure to careers in biomedical research and healthcare is critical if we are to increase the representation of young women from groups historically underrepresented in these fields.  Through the generosity of the Charlotte R. Schmidlapp Foundation, we are able to expose these students to the vast array of career options in these fields. Waiting until high school, college, or post-graduate training is simply too late. We must build the pipeline, and that work has to start in middle school or earlier if we are to achieve optimal ethnic/racial/socio-economic diversity in higher-level positions in biomedical research/healthcare.”  (Dr. Jamilah Hackworth, Sᶾ Program Director)

Representatives from many different careers participated in the MSSS including: occupational and physical therapy; radiologic technology; physicians from Adolescent Medicine, Endocrinology, and Hospital Medicine; mental health and psychology from Behavioral Medicine and Clinical Psychology and Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics; nursing; 3D printing; cell biology and analysis, cardiology research; social work, and the Schubert Research Clinic.

A program within the Center for Clinical Translational Science and Training (CCTST), the Schubert Research Clinic (SRC) brings together all services supporting clinical trials in one location making the process of planning and conducting trials convenient for both investigator and participant.  Within the clinic are four service areas: Research Nursing Core, Bionutrition, Body Composition, and a Biochemistry Laboratory. The Bionutrition Core is equipped with a metabolic research kitchen for preparing and delivering meals for feeding studies or food challenges.

Students from the MSSS prepare for a nutrition experiment in the SRC metabolic kitchen led by Suzanne Summer.

Two groups from the MSSS visited the SRC metabolic kitchen for an introduction to the research-focused registered dietitian (RD) career, including required education and job responsibilities.  Suzanne Summer, RD, Manager of SRC Bionutrition and Body Composition, led and facilitated these metabolic kitchen sessions.  The career-focused discussion led one student to inquire more about the registered dietitian profession, asking about what Suzanne learned in school and what her job was like in a hospital setting.

Following the presentation, the students conducted an experiment analyzing the varying levels of antioxidants in fresh foods (e.g. blueberries) versus packaged, processed foods (e.g. blueberry Kool-Aid).  The experiment demonstrated how foods high in antioxidants fight-off the cell damaging free radicals inside the human body, helping protect us from disease.

When reflecting on the session in the metabolic kitchen, one student noted, “it was an interactive learning experience that helped us understand the importance of health”.  Another student commented, “I liked that we got to do an experiment because it actually showed us how it worked instead of just telling us.”

To learn more about the clinic, the metabolic kitchen, and other SRC services, visit the SRC website.