UAMS News Bureau
Office of Communications & Marketing
4301 West Markham #890
Little Rock, AR 72205-7199
www.uams.edu/newsbureau
News Release
Monday, September 17, 2012
Leslie W. Taylor, 501-686-8998
Wireless phone: 501-951-7260
Leslie@uams.edu
UAMS Offering Text Message Alerts About New Clinical Studies
LITTLE ROCK – People interested in new clinical studies at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) can now receive mobile telephone text message alerts from the UAMS Translational Research Institute.
The service is provided at no cost, although standard text rates apply, and it requires that people request the text notices.
The purpose of the program is to help UAMS increase its number of available research participants. When a new study begins enrolling participants, people who have signed up for the text service will receive a text message that briefly describes the study and provides contact information for those who may be interested in participating.
“Quality clinical studies depend upon a deep and diverse pool of participants,” said Curtis Lowery, M.D., director of the UAMS Translational Research Institute. “Having that pool of readily available, eligible participants has always been a challenge for clinical researchers, and we hope this can be a tool that helps.”
People can join the text update service by entering 772937 in place of the phone number, then texting the word UAMSresearch.
The UAMS Translational Research Institute’s mission is to help accelerate research that will improve the health and health care of people in Arkansans and across the country. It was established with major funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in 2009 and is one of 60 NIH Clinical and Translational Science Awardees. The institute’s funding from NIH flows through the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS).
UAMS is the state’s only comprehensive academic health center, with colleges of Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Health Professions and Public Health; a graduate school; a hospital; a statewide network of regional centers; and seven institutes: the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, the Jackson T. Stephens Spine & Neurosciences Institute, the Myeloma Institute for Research and Therapy, the Harvey & Bernice Jones Eye Institute, the Psychiatric Research Institute, the Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging and the Translational Research Institute. Named best Little Rock metropolitan area hospital by U.S. News & World Report, it is the only adult Level 1 trauma center in the state. UAMS has more than 2,800 students and 775 medical residents. It is the state’s largest public employer with more than 10,000 employees, including about 1,000 physicians and other professionals who provide care to patients at UAMS, Arkansas Children’s Hospital, the VA Medical Center and UAMS’ Area Health Education Centers throughout the state. Visit www.uams.edu or www.uamshealth.com.