Participant and Clinical Interactions Program (PCI)

The Participant and Clinical Interactions Program (PCI) complements the work of the Integrating Special Populations Program, incentivizing clinical studies in special populations typically underrepresented in research, including pregnant women, infants and children, adolescents and young adults, elderly, rare orphan diseases, underserved/underrepresented minorities, rural populations, and populations with low socioeconomic status. PCI collaborates with the Community Engagement and Research Program and the Network Capacity Program to conduct Community Engagement Studios to understand community priorities for clinical research. In addition, PCI offers a Clinical and Translational Research Center WithOut Walls (CTRC-WOW) to facilitate community-based studies with mobile technologies, including wearables and virtual reality devices. In collaboration with the Regulatory Knowledge and Support Program, PCI will continue to implement and enhance processes for scientific review, ClinicalTrials.gov registration and reporting, by providing tools and education for young investigators and investigators with limited experience conducting clinical trials. Building on the infrastructure previously established by the state-funded UCLA Health Alpha Clinic, PCI has created a Phase 1 unit providing highly specialized support to stem cell and gene therapy trials.