The CCIT will help to position London Ontario as a globally-recognized centre of excellence in translational clinical research. The facility will be one of the first, if not the first centre in Canada focused on enabling investigator initiated clinical research while also retaining the capability and capacity for industry-sponsored clinical trials.

The latest high-tech equipment, such as mass spectrometers for drug level analysis, access to other core facilities in genotyping and imaging technologies will allow researchers to conduct more meaningful clinical research that will assess mechanisms of drug action and drug response. Teams of specialized staff will include technicians to operate and maintain equipment, support personnel to recruit patients for clinical trials, and data analysts who will assist researchers to interpret their findings.

CCIT will be a truly collaborative and enabling clinical research environment. We will create a peer-review system to evaluate the merits of studies our investigators would like to conduct and provide the resources necessary to conduct such studies at the highest level possible. In addition, CCIT by its very nature and location within the hospital, will ensure the highest level of safeguards are in place for conducting all types of clinical research.

In addition, we will systematically grow and support investigator initiated research that will become the building block to growing world-class expertise in clinical research where the knowledge generated by our clinical researchers will become the standard of care. The ultimate beneficiary will be our patients. Construction of the new facility will begin in spring of 2009. The CCIT is expected to be completed by December of 2010.