If you're interested in a career in
clinical research that's outside of academia, you may want to start with a CRO. There are many Contract Research Organizations (CROs) that work on various types of research projects for pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies (and even for the government). You often find these companies scattered throughout the country (and all over the world). Why would you want to work in a CRO? To gain exposure to a wide variety of therapeutics. Also, working in a CRO can also be a springboard to a career in
pharma/biotech.
You may have heard of some of these companies:
- ACORN
- Advanced Biologics
- Averion
- Clinical Research Consulting
- MDCI
- MDS Pharma Services
- PPD (Pharmaceutical Product Development, Inc. - not the Tuberculosis skin test)
- RCRI
- Synteract
- And many more
CROs also also called Clinical Research Organizations (CROs). According to Wikipedia, "Services offered by CROs include: product development, formulation and manufacturing; clinical trial management (preclinical through phase IV); clinical, medical and safety monitoring; preclinical, toxicology, and clinical laboratory services for processing trial samples; data management, biostatistics and medical writing services for preparation of an FDA New Drug Application (NDA), Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA), or Biologics License Application (BLA); regulatory affairs support; and many other complementary services."
Here are some snippets from a recent news story about PPD, a global contract research organization or CRO:
