Duke Office of Clinical Research (DOCR) Core and Duke Early Phase Research Unit (DEPRU) are service centers within the School of Medicine managed by the Duke Office of Clinical Research (DOCR).  In general, DOCR Core provides personnel to support all aspects of a clinical study (clinical research coordinators, regulatory, lab, recruitment, etc). DEPRU provides nursing personnel, as well as other services needed, to support study teams and enable clinical research to be conducted at Duke.

DOCR Core Service Center is associated with an outpatient facility located at 3024 Pickett Road called Duke Research at Pickett (R@P).  We are also aligned closely with the Duke Early Phase Research Unit service center who can do overnight and outpatient visits as well and is located on Duke’s main campus. The facility associated with this service center is located at 40 Medicine Circle, Clinic 3N, Durham NC.

• Flexibility: you can have as little or as much support as your project needs each day, week, or month
• Cost Efficiency: you only pay for time spent on your project, not for estimated effort
• Predictable Pricing: you pay the same price regardless of which staff member takes care of your service
• Team Approach: 2-3 staff are trained on every project to ensure seamless coverage if someone is sick or out of the office

Our mission is to support high-quality clinical research at Duke by providing a comfortable and accessible research space, and an efficient, diverse, and inclusive research team.

History

In July 2020, DEPRU was incorporated as a service center managed by DOCR in the Duke School of Medicine.  R@P and the Core Service center were originally established in October 2020 by the Duke School of Medicine to enable rapid investigation of COVID 19 outpatient trials. Both facilities and staffing service cores are now open to researchers and their studies across any therapeutic area. In developing the research facility and team, we have focused on easy and comfortable access for research participants, a diverse workforce, and quality processes. We are dedicated to maintaining a research environment that can optimally service our research and participant communities.

All work requires a service agreement that outlines services provided and where services will occur. A single agreement may include work from both service centers. The service agreement must be reviewed by the study's owning Clinical Research Unit (CRU) and signed by the study’s Principal Investigator (PI).

To request services: Complete the Service Request Form and an intake coordinator will contact you for clarifications or to arrange a virtual meeting.

In addition to staffing and services, we offer two fully equipped clinical research sites:

DOCR Service Centers are Duke School of Medicine service centers with approved rates that are reviewed annually. New rates are available each July and posted on this website. CoreResearch @Duke is utilized to distribute invoices monthly. Generally, invoices include charges from the 21^st of the previous month through the 20^th of the current month and post the first week of the following month (end of Fiscal year and holidays may affect the invoice period). While estimates are provided prior to the start of services, actual hours logged by DOCR personnel will be charged. Personnel who provide services track their time through a REDCap database. If a study utilizes both the DOCR Core and DEPRU service centers, you will receive two separate invoices. Each month, details for the invoices are shared through a study specific Box folder. We encourage team members to monitor their invoices closely and notify us immediately if you have any questions or concerns by emailing ResearchAtPickett_Request@dm.duke.edu.