Clinical Research Management
Program Information
The Clinical Research Management program at Vanderbilt prepares advanced practice nurses to serve the profession by preparing you for a leadership role in clinical research management with a strong foundation in regulatory and ethical aspects of clinical research, management of clinical drug, device and biologic trials, informatics, organizational dynamics, human resource management, and business and financial practices. The curriculum for this program is drawn from the Vanderbilt School of Nursing, including courses from Health Systems Management and Nursing Informatics.
Our Faculty Make the Difference
Program Director
Lois Wagner, PhD, APRN-BC
Dr. Wagner is the Program Director and an Assistant Professor in the Clinical Research Management Program. She has over 21 years of experience in coordinating, managing and conducting clinical research trials. Her clinical trials experience includes managing vaccine and drug trials sponsored by the National Institutes of Health and major pharmaceutical companies. She has designed, coordinated and conducted clinical research educational programs in United States, the Caribbean and in South America, and has coordinated online training programs on research ethics. Her own research involves cognitive-behavioral interventions to improve psychobiological outcomes and quality of life in chronic illness. She also serves as the Associate Director for Research for the Tennessee Center for Nursing which conducts and supports research focused on nursing workforce development. Her previous research has focused on cognitive-behavioral interventions to improve psychobiological outcomes in persons with HIV infection and other chronic conditions.
Debra Wujcik, PhD, RN, AOCN
Dr. Wujcik is Director of Clinical Trials Training and Outreach at the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center. Her current position involves project management for the cancer clinical trials collaboration between Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center and Meharry Medical College and she directs the clinical trials staff at Nashville General Hospital at Meharry. In addition she is an Associate Professor at the Vanderbilt University School of Nursing. Dr. Wujcik is a frequent lecturer on many aspects of clinical trials, targeted therapies, and symptom management. She has multiple publications in clinical areas of expertise including hematologic malignancies, symptom management and cancer clinical trials. Dr. Wujcik's research interests are barriers to completion of cancer screening and clinical trial participation.
Kyle Rybczyk, MSN, RN-BC, FNP
Mr. Rybczyk is a Family Nurse Practitioner and the Director of the Vanderbilt HIV Vaccine Trials Unit at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Prior to assuming directorship of the program in 2001, he served for nine years as a Clinical Research Coordinator for the HIV Vaccine Trial Unit. His current responsibilities include oversight of the day to day activities of the clinical trials unit, supervision of the unit's clinical, recruitment, and educational outreach staff, management of multiple government and industry-sponsored studies, and oversight of all clinical, regulatory, and administrative activities. He has been a member of the Vanderbilt University Medical Center Institutional Review Board since 1998 and currently serves as chairman of the Health Sciences committee. He holds a faculty appointment as a Senior Associate in Medicine in the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. His research interests include social implications of trial participation, the involvement of adolescents in clinical trials, and mucosal immune responses to vaccines. He received his MSN from Vanderbilt University School of Nursing.
Modified Class Schedule for Nurses and Non-Nurses
Whether you have a nursing background or not, you will complete your Nursing Informatics specialty program through a modified learning format that includes on-line conferencing and distributed course delivery methods which allow for continued faculty contact between sessions.
