The primary objective of the Vanderbilt Clinical Research Center is to provide space, hospitalization cost, laboratories, equipment and supplies for clinical research by any qualified member of the faculty in any department of the Medical School. It is not intended to replace in any way the usual mechanism of grant-in-aid for project research by individuals. The use of the Center is justified on the basis of three criteria: first, the quality and significance of the research; second, the special need for the Center's common facilities; third, the common usefulness or collective justification for facilities or personnel. In the process of achieving its primary objective, the Clinical Research Center can also serve as a resource for teaching students and site for research in the methodology of patient care systems and apprenticeship for young clinical investigators.

The center is organized under a grant to the School of Medicine. As such, it is called a grant to "Medical Administration". The Program Director and the Principal Investigator of the Center grant are appointed by the Dean of the School of Medicine through recommendation of the Executive Faculty. The Principal Investigator is responsible to the NIH for the administration of the grant.

It is the Principal Investigator's responsibility to see that the money received is spent for the purposes for which it was granted. Secondly, he is responsible for the conduct of the research and hence is charged with maintaining standards in the quality in research commensurate with those present at the time the grant was awarded.

The Program Director is responsible for operation of the Clinical Research Center. He is thus responsible for organization and management of the Center staff, operation of the laboratories and oversees the care of the research patients admitted to the Center.

In order to facilitate management of the Clinical Research Center and to maintain the quality of its contribution to medical science, a "Clinical Research Center Advisory Committee" is appointed by the Dean and is composed of both preclinical and clinical members of the faculty. The CRC Advisory Committee makes recommendations to the Center Director on all aspects of the Center. While this includes advice concerning the operation and management of the Center and the relationship of its activities to the Medical and Hospital functions, its primary responsibility is to pass judgment on projects proposed for the use of the CRC facilities and to review the quality and productivity of the research being carried out on the Center. It is also responsible for the classification of projects as to their relationship to proprietary sponsors.

The Committee consists of nine members who serve alternate terms of three years each, with the Program Director, the Associate Program Directors, and the Associate Dean for Biomedical Sciences as ex officio members. Committee members are drawn from both the basic science faculty and clinical science faculty. The committee also includes a faculty member in biostatistics and a faculty member in informatics. Since the primary responsibility for approval of research projects and assignment of priorities rests with the Advisory Committee and not with the Staff, the ex officio members do not have voting rights in these matters. Although Staff and Directors join in the discussion of the projects and make recommendations, they do not vote on approval or disapproval. This committee meets twice monthly (the second and fourth Wednesdays of each month) throughout the year.