Collaboration inquiries are welcome. Please fill out a collaboration application linked below.
Application Process:
- All requests start at the COLLABORATION REQUEST FORM which allows you to submit the necessary information for an ancillary study.
- Once BESTMED team receives your request form, a representative will reach out to assess initial feasibility of the proposed research and its conformation to the BESTMED study policies.
- If, based on the discussion, it is decided to proceed, the application will be reviewed by the BESTMED Steering Committee.
- During review process applicants should expect clarifying questions and another round of review.
- Once the application is approved, BESTMED Steering Committee can provide a Letter of Support for a grant proposal.
Funding:
Extramural funding will be required for all ancillary studies. Funding will be used to support additional data acquisition (if any), variable calculation and statistical analyses by the BESTMED study Data Coordinating Center. If additional data pulls and / or any other work by BESTMED study sites is needed, funding to support that work at individual sites will be expected. Budget to support activities of the BESTMED study Data Coordinating Center and individual study sites required to support the ancillary study must be approved by the BESTMED Data Coordinating Center prior to submission of funding proposals for the ancillary study. Funding sources can include government (e.g. NIH), non-government non-profit organizations (e.g. PCORI or American Diabetes Association) or for-profit organizations (e.g. pharmaceutical companies). Funding does not need to be in place to submit and application to collaborate with us.
Regulatory:
When funding becomes available, prior to study initiation, ancillary study must submit the following regulatory documents to the BESTMED Data Coordinating Center:
• Study protocol
• Evidence of IRB approval by the ancillary study’s principal investigator’s institution Subcontracts and / or data use agreements with all individual BESTMED study sites contributing data will be required for all ancillary studies.
Participation by BESTMED Study Sites :
Participation by BESTMED study sites in each ancillary study is voluntary. For approved applications, each BESTMED study site will decide individually whether they will participate in the study. Data from BESTMED study sites that chose not to participate in the ancillary study cannot be used for the ancillary study analyses.