• Herbert L. Bonkovsky, MD
• Vice President of Research
• Director of Liver, Digestive, and Metabolic Disorders Laboratory
• Professor, University of North Carolina at Charlotte
• Professor, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• Professor, University of Connecticut

Research is one of the three key core missions of Carolinas HealthCare System (CHS), along with patient care and education. Our research programs are many and varied, including about 660 active clinical studies [Carolinas Medical Center Clinical Studies] being carried out by more than 350 investigators and their staffs. Such studies span the full range of types and levels of development, from early phase 1 studies to test the safety and tolerability of potential new drugs, through phase 2 studies to establish optimal doses and effectiveness, to phase 3 studies, designed to lead to FDA approval for new drugs and devices, to phase 4 studies, which provide continual monitoring of new drugs or devices after their initial approval. Such clinical studies are the life blood of future advances in our ability as physicians and as an integrated, comprehensive healthcare system, to offer the very best options for treatment for our patients.  

Clinical Trials Tracker CMC physicians and researchers participate in more than 700 clinical trials and studies offering patients in our region the opportunity to participate in the most cutting edge therapies for a variety of different diagnoses. Search our database.

For the latest news and to learn more about upcoming events, seminars, lectures, etc., please go to News and Events.

Clinical studies for CMC departments, centers, and institutes, as well as Carolinas Physicians Network practices, are administered by the Clinical Research Office. We also carry out bench research, designed to make fundamental new discoveries in computer, cell culture, and/or animal models that we later will translate into advances in clinical care. Such research is carried out chiefly at Cannon Research Center, a well-appointed building of about 60,000 sq. ft. Studies using human blood or other tissue samples also are carried out there as well. The Cannon Research Center houses several key research core facilities, including the following:

• Biostatistics Facility
• Comparative Medicine Facility
• Confocal Microscopy Facility
• Electron Microscopy Facility
• Flow Cytometry Facility
• Histology Facility
• Mass Spectrometry and Proteomics Facility
• Molecular Biology Facility
• Research Machining Facility

These core facilities serve as regional research resources and are available to faculties of all colleges and universities with the training, experience, and need for these resources. Several major items of equipment for these core facilities have been bought with funds provided by a consortium of CHS, UNC Charlotte, and the NC Biotechnology Center.

We have a number of excellent, productive research groups carrying out both bench research and clinical studies, including externally sponsored and internally generated studies. Among these groups are the following:

• Carolinas Rehabilitation Research Laboratories
• Emergency Medicine Research Laboratory
• General Surgery Research Laboratory
• Heineman Medical Research Laboratory
• Liver, Digestive and Metabolic Disorders Laboratory
• McColl-Lockwood Laboratory for Muscular Dystrophy Research
• Microbial Pathogenesis & Infectious Diseases Research Laboratory
• Neuromuscular/ALS Research Laboratory
• OB/GYN Research Laboratory
• Orthopaedic Biology Research Laboratory
• Orthopaedic Engineering Research Laboratory
• Proteomics Lab For Clinical and Translational Research

To learn more about the key personnel and current activities of these laboratories, please click on the hot links to their information.

Our infrastructure for research also includes:

• The Office of Research Administration, headed by Dr. Bonkovsky and by Assistant Vice Presidents for Research Administration and Research Finance.
• The Clinical Research Office, which provides expertise and oversight to investigators and research staff throughout CMC and CHS, including help with development of contracts and master agreements with sponsors.
• Carolinas HealthCare System Foundation, a tax-exempt, not-for-profit foundation that seeks to obtain philanthropic gifts of all kinds and sizes and to grow the endowments of CHS. Currently, staff of the Foundation are responsible for all pre-award grants and contracts activities and local, state, and federal government research-related interactions.
• The CHS Institutional Review Boards (IRBs). These boards consist of two independent boards, both of which are chaired by one Chairman and four Assistant Chairs. The Chair receives institutional support and provides oversight and integration for our IRB functions. Each Board meets once per month (one on the first and the other on the third Wednesdays of each month). Typical turnaround/approval times for complete submissions to our IRB’s are 20 working days. Phase 3 and 4 studies sponsored by external pharmaceutical companies are reviewed by the Copernicus Group IRB, which meets twice weekly and has a similar, rapid turnaround time.
• The Office of Intellectual Property, Patents, and Technology Transfer. This office is directed by the AVP for Research Administration who also serves as the chief ombudsman to help our faculty and staff develop patentable or copyrightable ideas. Our committee on IP/patents, chaired by our VP for Research and composed of persons from within and external to CHS, provides input and oversight to guide development and commercialization of new ideas and concepts and their reduction to marketable products.
• The Mecklenburg Area Partnership for Primary Care Research (MAPPR), which is a research network designed to study barriers to healthcare access for the growing Latino population in Charlotte. The goal of this network is to utilize different sectors of the community to bring about positive change in individuals lives by improving healthcare and quality of life.
• Charlotte Area Heath Education Center (AHEC). On the campus of CMC Main is the Charlotte AHEC Library which provides a comprehensive collection of print and online resources. Special services for healthcare professionals include the AHEC Digital Library, literature searches, document delivery and interlibrary loan, clinical alerts, and training courses.
• Other Support Services. As a comprehensive, integrated quaternary–level healthcare center, CMC has many other capabilities that support to-level biomedical research, including advanced CT, MRI, PET, SPECT scanning, among others.