We are pleased to welcome Pareen Shenoy, MBBS, MPH as our Clinical Research Navigator. Clinical and translational research faculty and trainees at the LSU and Tulane Health Sciences Centers (LSUHSC and TUHSC) and Pennington Biomedical Research Center (PBRC) now have a partner to assist in the development of innovative, investigator-initiated clinical trials. Dr. Shenoy serves as a resource for PIs from all three institutions to help enrich and facilitate the progress of clinical research protocols from conception to analysis and publication of data.

Dr. Shenoy is the first point of contact for trainees and junior faculty interested in pursuing investigatorinitiated clinical research. She will help guide the clinical investigator throughout the life of the study.

She will meet with the PIs as they draft their study and become familiar with the needs for their protocol. Dr. Shenoy will then facilitate the PI's use of biostatistics, bioinformatics, clinical research resources, and other resources and services available at the three institutions through the established cores. She will also assist the PIs in negotiating the administrative and regulatory pathway in order to accelerate a protocol's implementation. Once a study begins to accrue patients, she will help the PIs troubleshoot a variety of protocol issues, including accrual, compliance, data management, and the eventual publication of the study's findings. Additionally, Dr. Shenoy is a critical link to the established clinical and translational investigators who serve as mentors at the three institutions.

The access to navigator help will be prioritized. LA CaTS meritorious scholars, roadmap scholars and the PIs of the pilot grants program and their mentors have preferred access. Faculty can apply for clinical research navigator assistance by contacting Dr. Pareen Shenoy at CareerDevel@lacats.org. Remember...giving someone a fish is valuable; teaching someone how to fish is more valuable.

The above schematic illustrates the role of the clinical research navigator.