• Overview
• Program Contacts
• Public Communication Initiative

Program Services

• Community Connect to Research

  • This website is a publicly available educational and informational Internet health resource for patients and other members of the public to learn more about clinical research, including information about health topics, ongoing clinical trials, understanding the research process, and how communities engage in research.

Determining the most effective methods and models for communicating with the public about health information and the clinical research enterprise is the focus of the Public Communication Initiative.

As more people gain an understanding of the goals and methods of clinical research and of the possibility of participating in that research, there is significant potential for accelerating the clinical research process. When given access to adequate and understandable information, people are much more likely to participate in clinical trials and other research studies.

The Public Communications Initiative has formed a partnership, the Collaborative for Community Engagement and Research, with all Massachusetts NIH-funded Clinical and Translational Science Centers, at Boston University, Harvard University, Tufts University, and University of Massachusetts. The Collaborative strives to encourage collaboration among their institutions and the communities they serve.

Program Contact:

Alexa T. McCray, PhD
Director, Harvard Catalyst Public Communication Initiative
Center for Biomedical Informatics
Associate Professor of Medicine
Harvard Medical School
E-mail
617-432-2144