Pr. Dominique Deplanque

Pr. Dominique Deplanque

Professor of medical pharmacology Director of the Clinical Investigation Center (CIC 1403 Inserm-CHU de Lille) and of the Clinical Trial Unit dedicated to diabetes.

For this new issue, Prof. Dominique Deplanque presents the CTU (Clinical Trials Unit) of the National Center PreciDIAB in order to better understand what a Clinical Trial Unit is and what are the ambitions and objectives attached to this innovative project.

What is the role of a CTU and why create a CTU dedicated to clinical trials on diabetes within PreciDIAB?

The CTU dedicated to diabetes at the PreciDIAB National Center is not only a place for carrying out clinical and therapeutic trials, it is above all an organization that allows the development, under the best conditions, of clinical trials in partnership with the various actors (patients, medical specialists and town doctors, academic or industrial partners).

Thus, the CTU is organized around a single point of contact whose main role is to act as a link between the various actors to organize and carry out the tests under the best conditions. Depending on the needs, it can thus be proposed to set up therapeutic trials as close as possible to the care of patients in the various medical specialty services which welcome diabetics, to carry out early phase trials in an expert professional structure. and specifically authorized or to support any research project within the framework of partnerships.

In addition to the single point of entry, the operational coordinator of the CTU Diabetes will have an excellent knowledge of all internal organizations and points of contact necessary for the implementation of research projects as well as the necessary availability with all actors, whether they are hospital doctors, patients, the various technical and administrative services and all external partners.

To carry out such a project, you need a clearly defined vision and objectives. Can you describe them to us?

As evidenced by various surveys, the Lille University Hospital occupies a very good place both in care and in medical research. While the quality of care in the area of ​​diabetes management is well established, research in this area can increase significantly. The contribution of additional financial and human resources as well as the new organization will initially make it possible to increase the number of clinical trials opened within the framework of research on diabetes as well as and especially the number of patients included in these. testing.

The 5-year goal is to become an essential platform in France and even in Europe for research on diabetes and a privileged partner for the development of ambitious research projects. Strong recruitment given the incidence of these pathologies in the region, a level of excellence in more fundamental research, effective tools and organization including connections with city medicine , such an objective must be achievable for the benefit of patients in our region. The development of a training program for health personnel in precision medicine research will also be an asset for the research developed in the future.

What are the resources (human and financial) at your disposal to achieve these objectives?

In order to facilitate the development of this activity, we benefit from the advice of Prof. Michel Marre, a world-renowned expert in this field. The funding received by the ANR and the communities within the framework of the National PreciDIAB Center will facilitate the recruitment of several cohorts of diabetic patients in order to explore in particular the occurrence of cardiac, renal or cerebral complications. In addition, strong financial support from the European Metropolis of Lille awarded in June 2018 has already made it possible to optimize the organization of the CTU by recruiting an operational coordinator and a clinical research associate.

Existing infrastructures such as the Clinical Investigation Center, the “adult” part of which is located within the Heart-Lung Institute or the “pediatric” branch located within the Mother-Child Hospital, make it possible to welcome patients or healthy volunteers in the best conditions (respectively 12 and 2 rooms fully dedicated to clinical research activity). Finally, the Research library makes it possible to manage the flow and conservation of samples dedicated to research with a high level of security and traceability, while the various functional exploration or imaging platforms present on the campus make it possible to ‘consider a large evaluation panel.

As of today, all staff are mobilized on this ambitious project and will be even more so on December 1, the official launch date of the National PreciDIAB Center.

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