PARC Clinical Research

Adelaide RNA

About PARC Clinical Trials

PARC Clinical Research is a high acuity clinical trials unit within the Royal Adelaide Hospital and a research group conducting specialised research into multiple medical disciplines, led by Professor Guy Ludbrook.

Developed and operating in collaboration between Adelaide University and CALHN, PARC meets the continuing demand for high quality clinical research infrastructure in the State, builds research capacity for pharmaceutical and biotech industries, and provides ongoing opportunities for healthcare innovation and collaboration. PARC Clinical Research completes a range of clinical trails through all development phases (phase 1 through to phase 4).

Our safe and high-quality facilities, staff and equipment offer outstanding experience, expertise and end-to-end delivery across all stages of complex and high acuity clinical trials for academics, investigators, industry and community participants to further medical innovation. 

PARC has extensive experience in the conduct of clinical trials in a broad range of therapeutic areas and across various development stages. Our physical location in the RAH and our University heritage allow us access to many specialist clinicians, many who require a unique, flexible facility such as PARC with experienced nursing staff to conduct their clinical research studies, or who can provide patient referrals.

Key capabilities

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Delivering end-to-end expertise in clinical trials, including planning, strategy, product development and funding.

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Strengthening research acumen with academics, investigators and industry through research collaboration.

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Building strong partnerships with industry to deliver high-quality research and operations.

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Offering capabilities from outpatient through to intensive care to cover all stages of the medical research pipeline.

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Enabling participation in research to deliver better outcomes for patients and providers.

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Delivering a collaborative, participant-centred clinical trial experience that prioritises safety, wellbeing, inclusion and high-quality care throughout every stage of the clinical trial journey.

Explore PARC Clinical Research

PARC operates as a 24 hour/7 day week testing facility within the Royal Adelaide Hospital (RAH), and as a research group embedded within the School of Medicine at Adelaide University. 

We have extensive experience in the conduct of clinical research with compounds of narrow therapeutic index, such as opioids and products in early phase of development that require specialised management. In addition to our own academic-led studies, we undertake contract clinical research for the pharmaceutical and biotech industries and provide a safe and suitable environment for academic clinical studies. 

Our industry and academic positioning allow us access to a large number of specialist clinicians, many who require a unique and flexible facility such as PARC to conduct their clinical research studies, or who can provide patient referrals.

Our highly specialised clinical facility allows for intensive monitoring for narrow therapeutic margin (higher risk) therapies, and our non-hospital allocated beds allow for overnight and participant studies to be conducted with ease, providing greater flexibility to sponsors and clinicians. 

Our highly trained and skilled staff has expertise in trial conduct across most formulations, with special expertise in the dosing and handling of schedule 8 and intravenous and infusion therapies. We have considerable experience in the administration and monitoring of participants involved in first in man and early phase studies.

Learn more about our functionalities below. 

We have an exemplary record recruiting for both healthy volunteer and patient studies. PARC has frequently led recruitment for multi-centre studies, both locally and globally. For all studies conducted to date, recruitment targets have been met on time and on budget. 

Additionally, we have access to an extensive database of healthy volunteers and patients with various disease indications and have developed strong relationships with many local media partners for both print and television advertising campaigns.

PARC is managed by a team of highly trained and experienced staff with a broad range of expertise, experience and qualifications. Our staff include medical personnel, registered nurses, science/bioscience graduates and PhD candidates and recipients.

Our staff are experienced in site establishment and study monitoring and can ensure your study complies with all regulatory requirements. Notably, PARC has a pool of experienced Registered Nursing staff who have expertise in the conduct and management of volunteers and patients enrolled in studies. This includes intensive monitoring such as cardiac output (both invasive and non-invasive), adverse event monitoring and treatment, drug delivery, cannulation and venepuncture and data recording.

PARC also has a dedicated approach to ongoing education for unit staff and facilitates clinical research education access for other users in the health sector and outside of the University.

PARC can provide education to clinicians, investigators and clinical trial site staff in protocol development and design, ICH / GCP and local regulations including conforming to the NHMRC National Statement, study conduct and document design.

We offer extensive services to students and investigators undertaking Higher Degree Research (HDR) projects or Investigator initiated studies, spanning all aspects of clinical trial development and management.

Our services began specialising in studies requiring Pharmacokinetic/Pharmacodynamic (PK/PD) analysis. As such Pharmacokinetic/Pharmacodynamic (PK/PD) analysis and population pharmacokinetic analysis are performed with the assistance of experienced professionals in this field. We have a range of medical professionals able to perform Data Analysis.

PARC has an onsite laboratory facility and expertise to perform clinical laboratory sample handling techniques with access to refrigerated centrifuge on site. Freezer storage (monitored and alarmed -80 °C) is also available on site. PARC also has access to state-of-the-art laboratories at Adelaide University.

PARC can provide a quality service in Source Document and CRF design to ensure your project data is captured accurately and concisely in accordance with local and international regulations.

PARC principals and affiliates are available for consulting on the interpretation of pre-clinical data, the need for additional pre-clinical data, the adequacy of data for a regulatory package and advice on design and interpretation of studies. PARC principals are members of Scientific Advisory Boards of local and overseas pharmaceutical companies. They are also available for assessment of project feasibility and technical due diligence.

We can provide input into study design both as a single centre for proof-of-concept trials and as a participating centre in later phase multicentre trials.

Professor Guy Ludbrook provides extensive consulting services to the international Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology industries. Their expertise can help ensure you project design is fit for purpose and will satisfy regulatory licensing bodies.

PARC Clinical Research conducts a range of clinical trials that involve healthy participants as well as studies that investigate a range of disease indications. Our clinical trials are high-quality, ethical and safe research studies that accelerate the development of life-changing medicines and technologies.

We investigate areas including but not limited to: 

  • Healthy volunteers
  • Knee osteoarthritis
  • Women’s and reproductive health 
  • Depression
  • Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia
  • ACTH-Dependent Cushing’s Syndrome
  • Homocystinuria
  • Phenylketonuria
  • Cystic Fibrosis.

You can find out about our trials through multiple ways: 

Feedback 

Have you participated in a PARC Clinical Trial? We welcome feedback regarding your experience and stay in PARC Clinical Research. The information you submit remains confidential and is used to improve participant experiences in our facility. 

Fill in our participant feedback form. 

PARC is staffed by highly experienced clinical research professionals, and a large pool of other trained medical, nursing, scientific and technical staff available to assist on complex studies.

  • Aalborg University
  • Abbvie
  • Akaal Pharma
  • Allergan
  • Antisense
  • Aospine
  • Astra Zeneca
  • Atacas
  • Avigen
  • Bioassets
  • Biogen
  • Biomarin
  • Bionomics
  • Biota
  • Carpets
  • Cephalon
  • Coda
  • Cytometix
  • Durect
  • Eisai
  • Haisco
  • Innate Immunotherapeutics
  • Ix Biopharma
  • Lawley
  • Limerick
  • Lipotek
  • Madeleine Pharm
  • Medicinova
  • Merck
  • Metabolic
  • Mundipharma
  • Novartis Cushing's Disease
  • Opko Biologics
  • Patrys
  • Pfizer
  • Progen Pharmaceuticals
  • Rah Research Grant Funded
  • Roxro
  • Shionogi
  • Tibotec
  • US Department of Defense
  • Grant funded.

  • Professor Guy Ludbrook
  • Professor Brian Freeman
  • Dr Richard Walsh
  • Dr Tom Painter
  • Professor Louise Hull
  • Professor Paul Rolan
  • Professor Michael Brown
  • Professor Ruth Marshall
  • Professor G. Wittert
  • Dr John Maddison
  • Professor Stephen Worthley
  • Dr Drago Bratkovic
  • Professor Mark Hutchinson
  • Dr David Ketteridge
  • Dr J. C. Hodge
  • Dr Roula Ghaoui
  • A/Professor Judith Morton
  • Professor David Torpy
  • Dr Scott Clark.

PARC offers end-to-end functionality for academics and investigators to plan and deliver industry clinical trials across all stages of development, from outpatient up to and including intensive care studies. 

We are a ten-bed clinical facility, fully equipped with all the latest medical technology to ensure the health and safety of our volunteers, patients, visiting guests and academics. Ranging from privately screened beds for assessment through to shared entertainment and meeting room facilities, we provide a comfortable environment for close and intensive monitoring of participants involved in complex studies such as first in man dosing studies, through to outpatient-based studies.

Our experienced staff are proficient in multiple disciplines and offer extensive experience with specialised testing and are available to support studies that require intensive participant monitoring.

Through our location within the Royal Adelaide Hospital and our affiliation with Adelaide University, our unit has all the facilities of a major public teaching hospital and a leading Australian university to deliver the best possible outcomes for your study. 

We also welcome CRO and Sponsor site assessment visits.

A snapshot of our offerings is available below. Please contact us for more detailed information about our capabilities. 

  • Physical examinations
  • Endurance testing 
    • 6- and 12-minute walk test
    • 3-minute stair climb
    • Timed 8-minute walk
  • Punch biopsies
  • Pain models: 
    • Cold pain model
    • Quantitative Sensory Testing (QST)
    • Electrical pain
    • Pressure thresholds
    • Ischaemic pain
    • Intradermal capsaicin pain model
    • Specialised temperature bars
    • Bond and lader VAS pain scoring questionnaire
    • NRS pain scoring
  • Computerised testing 
    • Computerised pupillometry
    • Saccadic eye movements
  • MBG scales of ARCI scores
  • Anthropometric measurements
  • Multiple sclerosis functional composite testing. 

  • Secure electronic storage
  • Schedule 8 drug storage
  • Ultrasound
  • Cardiovascular monitors with ECG, oxygen saturation, non-invasive blood pressure
  • Bedside 5 lead ECG monitors
  • 12 lead ECG
  • Quantitative Sensory Testing (QST) stimulator - MEDOC (Pathway model)
  • Non-invasive cardiac output monitoring (NICOM device)
  • Resuscitation trolley with defibrillator
  • Infusion pumps/syringe drivers
  • ESCO CLASS 2 Biosafety cabinet
  • Oxygen and suction
  • Monitored and alarmed -80°C freezer
  • Monitored and alarmed Refrigerator
  • Technical laboratory with temperature-controlled centrifuges
  • Anaesthetic machine. 

All PARC equipment is certified yearly.

  • Emergency management through the 24 hour on-call medical team at the hospital
  • Monitored alarmed facilities
  • Secure storage onsite and offsite
  • Secure electronic storage
  • Schedule 8 storage and supply
  • 24-hour security services
  • Onsite laboratory with monitored and alarmed storage, centrifuge, fridge and freezer facilities
  • Utilities area
  • Pharmacy services
  • Study monitor (CRA) area
  • Accessible lavatories
  • Dedicated bathroom suites for PARC participants
  • Easy access to outdoor areas and internal gardens
  • Wireless technology and Internet
  • Participant lounge and TV area and kitchen
  • Cafés, Food Court and Post Office located within the RAH.

Contact us

PARC Clinical Research

Location

Location
College of Health, Adelaide University
Level 4C, Wayfinding 4C610,
Royal Adelaide Hospital, Port Road,
Adelaide, South Australia 5000

Telephone

Phone: +61 8 7074 4404

fax

Fax: +61 8 7074 6162