For Hub City Times

MARSHFIELD — Marshfield Clinic Research Foundation, the research arm of Marshfield Clinic and largest private medical research institute in Wisconsin, has been renamed Marshfield Clinic Research Institute (MCRI).

The newly named institute was established in 1959 and currently employs 31 Ph.D. and M.D. scientists and 155 other staff. In addition, approximately 150 physicians and other health care professionals are engaged in medical research through the institute.

“Research has been a key component of the medical care provided at Marshfield Clinic since six physicians pooled their practices in 1916 to form Marshfield Clinic,” said Frederick Wenzel, interim MCRI executive director. “Given the growth of our organization in recent years, the new name most accurately reflects MCRI’s role within the health system.”

Marshfield Clinic Health System, since its incorporation in fall of 2012, oversees Marshfield Clinic and its subsidiaries. The institute’s new name makes a clear distinction between research and the Marshfield Clinic Health System Foundation, the giving arm of the system.

MCRI has offices and laboratories in the Lawton Center for Research and Education and the Laird Center for Medical Research in Marshfield. It also has clinical research staff supporting physician-led research at medical centers in each of Marshfield Clinic’s four regional divisions.

Approximately 450 clinical trials and other research projects are active at any one time. Marshfield Clinic investigators publish extensively in peer-reviewed medical and scientific journals addressing a wide range of diseases and other health issues, including cancer, heart disease, diabetes, eye disease, neurological disease, pediatrics, radiology, women’s health, agricultural safety, and genetics.

MCRI publishes Clinical Medicine & Research and the Journal of Agromedicine, both of which are nationally indexed professional journals. MCRI’s Summer Research Intern Program provides research opportunities to motivated college students interested in careers in biomedical science and health care.

The institute is governed by a board of trustees, half of whom are community members, and physicians and scientists comprise the other half. MCRI maintains an Institutional Review Board, which is responsible for the protection of human research participants, and other standing committees essential to the research process.

“The research that takes place at MCRI has a daily impact (on) the lives (of) our patients and people throughout the U.S.,” said MCRI Chairman Andy Keogh. “From the latest influenza vaccine effectiveness studies to oncology treatment trials, Marshfield Clinic is helping patients get the treatment they need and return to good health.”