The purpose of the Vanderbilt Clinical Research Center is to provide the resources needed by clinical and translational investigators to carry out their research in an environment optimized for safety, comfort and convenience of the patient or volunteer, with the facilities and expertise to provide the most advantageous milieu in which to address the investigator’s experimental requirements. This includes outpatient space, inpatient beds, laboratories, equipment and supplies for clinical research by the faculty of Vanderbilt University, Meharry Medical College, and their collaborating investigators. The use of the center is justified on the basis of the quality and significance of the research and the special need for the Center’s facilities.

In the process of achieving its primary objective, the Clinical Research Center can also serve as a resource for teaching medical, graduate, and other multidisciplinary students, a site for research on the methodology of patient care systems, and an unique environment for the apprenticeship of young clinical investigators. The center is a component of the Vanderbilt Institute of Clinical and Translational Research (VICTR) organized under a Clinical and Translational Award (CTSA) made in 2007 by the National Center for Research Resources and the National Institute of Health.