Alberta Clinical Research Consortium (ACRC)

A provincial initiative that brings together researchers, healthcare providers, patients, and industry to support the advancement of clinical health research in Alberta.

Clinical Health Research (CHR) 

Clinical health research is vital to improving quality of life. The Alberta Clinical Research Consortium (ACRC) is dedicated to the development of best practice clinical health research in our province. This is achieved by fostering collaboration, reducing barriers, facilitating connections, and developing resources that enable a more cohesive and functional CHR ecosystem. 

Our Impact  

The ACRC supports high-quality, integrated and efficient clinical research in Alberta by: 

  • Making clinical health research in Alberta clear, simple, transparent, and efficient.  
  • Creating partnerships and promoting participation in clinical health research.  
  • Identifying the actions, assets, resources and infrastructure required for sustainable, integrated, and impactful clinical health research.  

Focus Areas 

Guided by our strategic plan (Phase III), the ACRC focuses on priorities that support our stakeholders, leverages existing provincial strengths, and builds capacity and capabilities for high-quality CHR.  

Refer to the ACRC Strategic Priorities page for more information. 

Advocacy and Thought Leadership:

Promoting relevant conversations on emerging trends and issues important for the advancement of clinical health research in Alberta.  

Data and Digital Health:

Supporting the digital transformation of clinical health research while ensuring best practices in data management and security.  

People and Training: 

Helping to establish a sustainable and qualified clinical health research workforce.  

Integrating Research into Care: 

Facilitating the embedding of clinical health research processes as a routine and integrated component of the healthcare system. 

Pathways to Commercialization: 

Providing clarity, connections and capabilities for researchers and SMEs to navigate the regulatory pathway for health product validation and commercialization in Alberta.  

Operational Excellence: 

Enabling the conduct of clinical health research in an efficient and effective manner.  

Collaborations and Working Groups

Like every successful consortium, our value is in harnessing the knowledge, skills, and expertise of its members.

Learn more about our current collaborations

More About the ACRC

Clinical Research Concierge Services

The ACRC concierge service connects researchers & their teams with the resources necessary to conduct research more effectively. We help you navigate the complex clinical health research environment from study start-up to finish. We provide general consultation to help you assess research needs, navigate the research administration and regulatory processes, and connect you with the right resources and services.

Visit the Concierge Services

ACRC Research Roadmap

The provincial clinical research roadmap provides interactive step-by-step instructions on how to navigate a clinical health research study.

View the Roadmap

Alberta's Clinical Research Source

Stay current with Alberta’s reliable source for clinical research updates, news, and events. The Clinical Research Source is an educative monthly release that keeps the clinical health research community updated about changes to relevant regulations, guidelines, processes, and practices. Subscribe now by emailing us at acrc@albertainnovates.ca.

Access the Newsletter

Strategic Priorities

Our strategic plan outlines priorities relevant to our stakeholders’ vision and presents action plans, key steps, and proposed outcomes. The Phase III Strategic Priorities identified in the plan support the increase of high-quality, integrated, efficient clinical research in Alberta.

Read the ACRC Strategic Priorities

Learn more about clinical health research support

Our ACRC site is a one-stop shop for clinical health research needs, with tools, templates, and resources.

Visit the ACRC site

Our Guiding Principles

Clinical health research exists to improve quality of life. Through the Alberta Clinical Research Consortium (ACRC), we are proud to contribute to the development of best-practice clinical health research in our province.

Five principles form the foundation for the development of all ACRC projects, and its aim to streamline clinical health research in the province with the goals of:

  • Providing Albertans with access to the best and most innovative health care possible, and
  • Attracting both researchers and investment to the province

1. Collaboration

  • Promote active engagement and participation of academic and community-based researchers and representatives from the healthcare organizations from across the province.
  • Maximize the applicability to and accessibility in different types of clinical research environments.
  • It is through this collective participation that this provincial initiative is able to achieve shared the vision beyond the capabilities of a single organization.

2. Best Practice

  • Build on the province’s strengths by leveraging existing solutions that incorporates best practices and applicable guidelines in the development of the sub-projects.
  • Promote quality research and clarity that reduces risk to the researchers and institutions through adherence to standardized and common processes.
  • Align and benchmark with national and international organizations.

3. Simplification

  • Reduce non-value added steps including those that do not contribute to quality, efficiency, informed decision-making and risk mitigation.
  • Reduce duplicative work and processes, seeking efficiencies including through technology.
  • Promote clarity and transparency in the processes with real time information.

4. Coordination

  • Create efficiencies and simplicity through coordination of processes and the partner organizations.
  • Identify links between the sub-projects and in the roadmap.

5. Accountability 

  • Enhance accountability throughout the research study process.
  • Promote informed decision-making that helps maximize resource allocation and long-term value.

Initiative Contacts

Ryan Mercer, PhD

Director, Clinical Research Innovation

780-429-6890

ACRC

Resources

Alberta is open for business and ready to support innovative studies – the combination of local resources available to researchers, innovators, sponsors, and companies is unparalleled in Canada. Our latest report, Alberta’s Clinical Research Ecosystem: Driving Innovation for Care, is ready for your review!

Alberta’s Clinical Research Ecosystem: Driving Innovation for Care

High quality research stems from training and a knowledgeable research team. We’ve developed the following table to guide individuals on the training courses that are recommended and applicable to their work.

ACRC Provincial Training Recommendations

Developing streamlined province-wide processes requires the use of consistent terminology. We've compiled a glossary of common terminology for reference.

ACRC Glossary and Common Terminology

ACRC 2023 Annual Conference Program

Find all of the information you need to get the most valuable experience out of the event.

ACRC 2023 Annual Conference Program

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