Wisconsin Network for Health Research

Wisconsin Network for Health Research (WiNHR)
WiNHR was established to provide and support infrastructure for statewide translational research to help make Wisconsin the healthiest state in the nation. The goals include improved healthcare provider and consumer access to state of the art healthcare and medical knowledge. It will also provide the opportunities for collaborative research between institutions and communities around the state. The four founding members of WiNHR are UW Health, Aurora Healthcare/Center for Urban Population Health, Gundersen Lutheran Medical Foundation and the Marshfield Clinic Research Foundation.

The goals of the program are to expand clinician and researcher’s ability to do research, by providing the infrastructure for recruitment through other sites, shared IRB information, data management and the ability to access electronic medical records from across all institutions to better study outcomes in order to improve them in the future. The research does not focus purely on bench or clinical trial research, but rather supports projects that can be translated into real health gains for patients across the state in all clinical settings.

Background
Visit the WiNHR homepage (http://www.cuph.org/projects/101/) for additional information and a list of current research activities, or schedule a research consultation.

The Wisconsin Network for Health Research (WiNHR) was developed in response to the National Institutes of Health’s Roadmap Initiatives, which stressed improved clinical/translational research through more efficient “regionalization” of research and Wisconsin researchers’ desire for a more streamlined approach to multi-site research in Wisconsin.

Funding Sources
WiNHR was funded in January 2006, by the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health Medical Education and Research Committee Wisconsin Partnership Program. It received additional funding from the Institute for Clinical and Translational Research (ICTR) in 2007.

Vision
Our vision is to be a nationally recognized collaborative research network that improves the health of the people of Wisconsin.

Mission
Our mission is to develop a collaborative research partnership which promotes the discovery and application of scientific knowledge for researchers throughout the State of Wisconsin. This will be accomplished by aligning our objectives with state and national priorities, facilitating applied research to improve patient care, and performing population-based studies throughout the state.

Objectives

• Develop the infrastructure via core membership and operating principles.
• Develop and recruit investigator-initiated studies that meet the WiNHR mission.
• Develop collaborative relationships with other research groups/entities.

Partner Institutions

• University of Wisconsin Hospitals and Clinics
• Center for Urban Population Health/Aurora Health Care
• Gundersen Lutheran Medical Foundation
• Marshfield Clinic Research Foundation

Current Studies and Initiatives

• Warfarin Dosing in African Americans and Hmong
• Warfarin Dosing Calculator Pilot Study
• Implications of Bacterial Infection in Pregnancy
• Common Variables in Health Databases
• Collaborative Institutional Review Board

For more information about WiNHR programs, contact Ann Schensky at aes@medicine.wisc.edu or at 608-263-5375.