# Vasculitis Clinical Research Consortium (VCRC)

> **NIH NIH U54** · UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA · 2020 · $200,000

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
The Vasculitis Clinical Research Consortium (VCRC) is a founding member, in 2003, of the Rare Diseases
Clinical Research Network (RDCRN). The VCRC is the major clinical research infrastructure dedicated to the
study of vasculitis. The VCRC has grown to include 90 academic medical centers conducting investigator-
initiated clinical and translational research. The VCRC conducts observational cohort studies, biomarker
development, studies of genetics and genomics, clinical outcomes research, studies using an online research
resources, including a patient registry, pilot clinical projects, and multicentered, randomized clinical trials. Core
components of the VCRC include the VCRC Coordinating Center, the VCRC Longitudinal Study, the VCRC
Clinical Trials Program, the VCRC Pilot/Feasibility Core, the VCRC Clinical Data, Biospecimen, and Tissue
Repositories and VCRC Laboratory, VCRC Online Research Resources [Vasculitis Patient-Powered Research
Network, the VCRC Patient Contact Registry, VCRC Website], the VCRC Steering Committee, the VCRC-NIH
Data and Safety Monitoring Board, all coordinated through the VCRC Administrative Core. The VCRC also
hosts a public website providing information to patients about vasculitis and our research programs.
Partnership with Patient Advocacy Groups has been a critical component of the success of the VCRC.
The VCRC-VF Fellowship provides support for mentored training focused on clinical care and research in
vasculitis. The VCRC-VF Fellowship Program in Clinical Investigation has successfully trained new clinical
investigators, each of whom remains engaged in academic research in vasculitis.
The VCRC currently has >3,000 patients enrolled at study sites in clinical research projects in 12 types of
vasculitis and several thousand more patients involved in our Online Research Resources that are important
for patients worldwide. VCRC Investigators have successfully obtained ancillary funding to allow for the
expansion of the Consortium work.
The VCRC has clearly demonstrated its clinical trial readiness and this proposal outlines 4 separate clinical
research projects, including the VCRC Longitudinal Study, the VCRC Genomics and Informatics Program, the
VCRC Clinical Trials Program that include 4 separate randomized controlled trials of new treatments for
vasculitis, a novel Platform Trial Program for early-phase testing of new treatments for large-vessel vasculitis,
the VCRC Pilot/Feasibility Core, and the VCRC Career Enhancement Core.
This application seeks refunding of the VCRC to support the critical administrative, clinical, laboratory, and
biostatistical cores, allow completion of ongoing projects, launch of exciting new scientific initiatives, and
training of new investigators in clinical research in vasculitis.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10025564
- **Project number:** 5U54AR057319-18
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
- **Principal Investigator:** Peter A Merkel
- **Activity code:** U54 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $200,000
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2003-09-30 → 2022-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10025564

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10025564, Vasculitis Clinical Research Consortium (VCRC) (5U54AR057319-18). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10025564. Licensed CC0.

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