Summer 2024 - Vol. 19, No. 2 Editor’s note: This is the 19th in a series of articles from the Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health Research Institute that describes ongoing research studies. Members of the LG Health staff who are conducting research and wish to have their studies described here are encouraged to contact the offices of JLGH at 717-544-8004.

In the summer of 2015, when Penn Medicine acquired Lancaster General Hospital, the future of what that partnership would look like was far from realized. We continue to see, even now, the development of that relationship through the five-year strategic plan and new collaborative pathways. One of those pathways is the One Penn Medicine. One Research, initiative that “drives integrated, innovative research across the Penn Medicine Health System, providing technology advancements and care for our patients and community.”

Penn Medicine boasts a robust academic research center overseen by the Office of Clinical Research (OCR) at the Perelman School of Medicine within the University of Pennsylvania. OCR manages all clinical research at Penn and ensures it meets high levels of conduct, as well as maintaining compliance with all applicable regulatory and compliance standards. The University of Pennsylvania Institutional Review Board (IRB) maintains eight boards that review a wide variety of different types of research.

Lancaster General Health’s research infrastructure, while smaller than Penn’s, is well organized and comprehensive. The Research Institute employs a team of about 20 people, including clinical research nurses, research coordinators, research assistants, project managers, and administrative support staff. The oncology research program at the Ann B. Barshinger Cancer Institute is currently a distinct entity and not included in the Research Institute tally. Similarly, the trauma research team led by Lindsey Perea, DO, the nursing researcher program led by Christian Burchill, PhD, RN, and other independent practices conduct research projects within their specialties.

The Human Research Protection Program, the Compliance Department, and Business Intelligence are just a few of the departments that support research in invaluable ways at LG Health. The Lancaster Gener.al Hospital (LGH) IRB, which previously operated independently, is in the process of merging with Penn’s IRB. Together, they will offer a more streamlined approach to collaborative studies and allow for consisten.cy of processes (e.g., legal review, contract execution) without sacrificing the local expertise that LGH’s IRB possesses.

The One Penn Medicine. One Research, initiative is an exciting aspect of the evolving relationship between Penn Medicine and LG Health. It will facilitate our access to Penn research projects and allow the LGH research community to be more involved in exciting academic studies.

Now, as more departments and groups merge across the health system, we are able to diversify how LG Health supports these studies. For example, there is a new Master Reliance Agreement between Penn’s IRB and LGH’s IRB that covers most research studies. This has shortened the start-up time required for collaborative studies and decreased the need for superfluous study documents.

For some studies, Penn continues to operate largely independently and the LG Health component is simply to provide regulatory oversight and local support as needed. For many others, there is a spectrum of involvement that could include an LG Health research coordinator conducting the informed consent process only, or it could see LG Health being an independent study site with its own study team and full participation in all aspects of the study. A small selection of current Penn studies taking place at LG Health is summarized in Table 1 below.

One Penn Medicine. One Research, provides opportunities for our community in Lancaster County to access research studies at other Penn Medicine hospitals without needing to travel to Philadelphia or surrounding areas. This not only benefits our patients, but also our providers and staff who are interested in research. A collaborative study with a Penn team is a great way to ease into research for those who do not have prior research experience.

If you are interested in learning more about the research being done between LG Health and Penn Medicine, or if you want to get involved in a research study, contact the LG Health Research Institute at LGHResearch@pennmedicine.upenn.edu.