Wisconsin Network for Health Research

The Wisconsin Network for Health Research is a partnership of the UW School of Medicine and Public Health, Marshfield Clinic Research Foundation, Aurora Health Care, and Gundersen Health System. WiNHR was established to promote statewide research and to assist in moving research results from bench to bedside, by allowing investigators to perform clinical, translational, comparative effectiveness and health outcomes research across a variety of platforms. WiNHR also collaborates with sponsors to find optimal sites, patient populations; and investigators to achieve significant clinical research outcomes and maximize the value of research dollars. WiNHR provides researchers with a statewide reach with a diverse patient population; potential access to more than five million patients; and specialty and primary care providers Studies conducted through WiNHR benefit from infrastructure refinements at network sites. This includes standardized operating procedures, reciprocal protocol agreements through the Wisconsin IRB Consortium, and coordinated study data management systems. WiNHR provides greater access to urban, rural and ethnically diverse populations that are available in a single health-care institution – an important benefit for study accrual. Significant statewide coverage in a population and geography is another benefit to researchers.