Harare Family Care Clinical Research Site
Harare Family Care CRS is situated within the Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals. In January 2015 it was determined that the Parirenyatwa (Pari) CRS from an operational perspective functioned as two distinct Clinical Research Sites each with their own staff, pharmacy, and study population. It was agreed that the Parirenyatwa CRS will maintain the same site number of 30313 and continue to conduct ACTG and HPTN protocols whilst a new CRS, Harare Family Care CRS, site number 31890 was created. The CRS site conducts clinical trials from the in the following research area:
- Strategies to Address HIV and HIV-associated Infections in Pediatric and Maternal Populations
On-Site Testing and Specimen Preparation
The CRS is supported by a DAIDS-certified satellite laboratory located at CRS. The laboratory conducts on-site testing for rapid HIV tests, wet mount, urine pregnancy tests, and dipstick urinalysis, and ensures that samples are collected, and their integrity maintained until they reach the Central Laboratory, less than 1km away, where they are processed and stored. The on-site lab is equipped with an air-conditioning unit and Sensaphone system for 24hr temperature surveillance for refrigerator and room temperature. It has capacity to process multiple specimen types from up to 40 participants each day. The lab has a computer and printer and is remotely connected to the CTU Central Laboratory for automatic results transmission and printing. For more information on our centralized testing capacity, please see our Central Laboratory page.
Pharmacy Services
The CRS has excellent support from its DAIDS certified pharmacy, located at the CRS, as well as from UZ-CTRC’s Central Pharmacy; at the latter, study product for all pharmacies is stored. The CRS pharmacy ensures uninterrupted service for dispensing, adherence counseling, and optimum storage of study product and HIV primary care drugs, as dictated by the various DAIDS Network protocols. The pharmacy can serve at least 30 participants each day. The site Pharmacy is certified under Biosafety Level 2 and licensed by the Medicines Control Authority of Zimbabwe (MCAZ) and the National Biotechnology Authority of Zimbabwe (NBAZ), and internationally through DAIDS PAB. The clean room is divided into 3 sections (entrance area, anteroom and preparation area) separated by glass panels and interlocking doors. Entry past the entrance area is restricted. A class II A2 Biohazard cabinet has been installed in the Preparation area of the room. This cabinet is a vertical laminar airflow bench with about 70% laminar flow re-circulated air and 30% extracted air with prior High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filtering. For more information on our centralized pharmacy please see our Central Pharmacy page.
The Team
Contact
For inquiries related to Harare Family Care CRS and the research it conducts, please contact Site Leader, Mutsa Bwakura: MBChB, MMED, MMedScClinEpi , e-mail: mbwakura@uz-ctrc.org
