Improving outcomes and enhancing quality of life are at the core of NorthShore’s surgical research and clinical trials programs. Our commitment to discovering “what’s next” to treat a wide array of conditions greatly benefits patients: from access to the latest implantable devices and minimally invasive tools to groundbreaking genomic studies used to better predict disease and personalize treatment.
The Department of Surgery’s research activities encompass broad clinical and translational research initiatives, including:
- National multicenter trials as well as industry-sponsored studies to bring leading-edge care to patients in our community. We offer more than 150 active clinical trials a year overseen by a dedicated group of nurses, research managers and research coordinators.
- A Surgical Outcomes Research Program to analyze national databases for surgical treatment trends and outcomes for cancer patients. These databases also allow us to compare NorthShore’s surgical outcomes to those reported in national health databases. This benchmarking against the nation’s top hospital systems helps us to identify areas for improvement, and design and implement clinical trials to enhance patient care.
- A Program for Personalized Cancer Care (PPCC) that showcases NorthShore’s unique approach to (medically and surgically) treating cancer. This exciting new translational research program harnesses the predictive power of genomics to better individualize cancer care strategies and risk assessment based on a patient’s unique DNA.
- Quality of Life studies for a wide range of abdominal surgeries, breast reconstruction and breast surgery and patient decision aids.
- Translational research looking into lipid markers for tumor progression, tumor heterogeneity and other cancer pathways.
- Computational informatics
Additionally, our Grainger Center for Simulation and Innovation (GCSI) serves as a destination site for industry testing of new surgical instruments and design. The GCSI is a rich source of clinic research, from developing novel minimally invasive techniques to studying the effects of the simulated surgical environment on training surgeons and achieving optimal outcomes.
Clinical Trials by Surgical Service