Virtual Coordinating Center for Global Collaborative Cardiovascular Research
VIGOUR Trials and Publications
Countries Involved in Clinical Trials
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Contacts: VIGOUR Coordinating Centers
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Location and Services of VIGOUR Coordinating Centers
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Today's clinical-development marketplace is truly global. To succeed in this arena requires the ability to design, conduct, and interpret large clinical trials. This can be achieved with a dynamic partnership among outstanding clinical scientists and thought leaders who have expertise in clinical research design and methodology, possess regulatory knowledge, have operational capabilities and can collaborate effectively with multinational sponsors.
VIGOUR is a global collaboration of coordinating centers and investigators experienced in the conduct of large cardiovascular clinical trials. It developed from a collaboration of investigators participating in the large, international Global Utilization of Streptokinase and tPA for Occluded Coronary Arteries (GUSTO-I) trial, which began in 1990. The DCRI is an integral member of VIGOUR and can provide access to the VIGOUR organization for international operations.
Since GUSTO-I, the group's many international trials have had profound effects on the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of cardiovascular disease. Key secondary gains include enhanced understanding of disease mechanisms, new insights into the process of health-care delivery, and the effects of international differences on outcomes. These advances have had major effects on the design of new trials, ensuring that they are optimally designed to meet objectives and arrive at credible conclusions. An article in Circulation (1997;95:1072-82) highlights the group's philosophical perspectives on clinical-trials design and methods.