Medidata (NASDAQ:MDSO), the leading global provider of cloud-based solutions for clinical research in life sciences, today announced that it has been selected to support the Childhood Arthritis and Rheumatology Research Alliance (CARRA) Registry, a 10-year project to collect comprehensive data on pediatric rheumatic diseases and their treatments.

"While we’ve made huge progress in the last decade, 300,000 children and families in the US alone are affected by rheumatic diseases," said Laura Schanberg, MD, professor of pediatrics at Duke University and CARRA president and the principal investigator for the CARRA Registry, an observational study of children and adolescents with major rheumatic diseases. By powering data capture for the scalable informatics infrastructure of the CARRA Registry, the Medidata Clinical Cloud® will help CARRA develop a resource for patients, physicians and researchers seeking to learn more about pediatric rheumatic diseases, and, ultimately, drive better diagnostic and treatment approaches.

In support of its long-term research efforts, the registry is leveraging Medidata’s cloud-based technology for electronic data capture and management (Medidata Rave®) and mobile solution for patient-direct data capture (Medidata Patient Cloud®). A mobile app unified with Medidata’s platform, Patient Cloud brings new efficiencies to the administration of electronic patient-reported outcomes (ePROs) in clinical trials and registries. The mobile app provides electronic patient questionnaires and diaries in a model that simplifies the process for both patients and researchers.

"Using Medidata’s platform in combination with the open-source, i2b2 federated clinical research data warehouse platform already in use for the CARRA Registry, this post-marketing surveillance network will collect at least 10 years of comprehensive information, including detailed safety and treatment data, on pediatric rheumatic disorders in the US and Canada," said Marc Natter, MD, the CARRA Registry’s director of informatics development and instructor in the Boston Children's Hospital Informatics Program. “This is a critical next step in understanding how to best apply available therapies and improve the systems for studying the safety and efficacy of treatment options for childhood-onset arthritis."

Dedicated to advancing the health and quality of life of children living with rheumatic disease and arthritis, CARRA was formed by pediatric rheumatologists seeking to answer critical clinical research questions. "Juvenile idiopathic arthritis and other pediatric inflammatory disorders result in persistent joint pain, swelling and stiffness of joints, decreased activity, and potentially growth and eye problems," Schanberg added. "Children lose days from school, parents lose days from work and quality of life suffers greatly. We believe that simplifying data capture and patient participation processes will catapult the field of pediatric rheumatology research to the level of performance necessary to realize dramatic improvements in outcomes and quality of life for all children with rheumatic disease."

Glen de Vries, Medidata’s president, said: “We’re excited to be partnering with CARRA on this observational study and proud that our technology platform is helping to further the alliance’s important mission to prevent, treat and cure arthritis and other rheumatic diseases in children and adolescents. All of us at Medidata share CARRA’s commitment to fostering, facilitating and conducting high-quality research that advances the development of new, enhanced diagnostic and treatment approaches.”

Connect with Medidata:

  • Read our blog, Geeks Talk Clinical
  • Tweet this: .@Medidata teams up with CARRA Registry to power 10-year project on pediatric #rheumatic diseases and treatments. http://bit.ly/1z5Kr8a
  • Follow us on Twitter: @Medidata
  • Find us on LinkedIn

About CARRA

CARRA is a North American non-profit research organization of more than 400 pediatric rheumatologists, researchers and research coordinators at more than 100 sites (95% of all pediatric rheumatologists/sites in North America) who are working together to find treatments for juvenile idiopathic arthritis and other pediatric rheumatic diseases in children.

The CARRA Registry is a cornerstone of CARRA and provides disease and treatment data on children with a variety of rheumatic diseases. CARRA aims to make it possible for all affected children in North America to have the opportunity to participate in meaningful and high quality clinical and translational research. CARRA researchers have been awarded over $40 million in research funding over the last 10 years. In addition to Dr. Schanberg, the CARRA Executive team includes Yukiko Kimura, MD, Hackensack University Medical Center, Norman Ilowite, MD, Montefiore Medical Center, and Robert Fuhlbrigge, MD, PhD, Boston Children’s Hospital.

For questions about CARRA, contact executive director Kelly Mieszkalski at kelly.m@carragroup.org.

About Medidata Solutions

Medidata is the leading global provider of cloud-based solutions for clinical research in life sciences, transforming clinical development through its advanced applications and intelligent data analytics. The Medidata Clinical Cloud® brings new levels of productivity and quality to the clinical testing of promising medical treatments, from study design and planning through execution, management and reporting. We are committed to advancing the competitive and scientific goals of global customers, which include over 90% of the top 25 global pharmaceutical companies; innovative biotech, diagnostic and device firms; leading academic medical centers; and contract research organizations.