Institutional Research Center of Excellence
Optimize Your Research Administration, Compliance, and Operations
Strong research administration infrastructure is critical for success in today’s ever-growing research industry.
About our Institutional Research Center of Excellence
Advarra Consulting takes pride in being a long-standing beacon of ethical guidance for the research community. We will help you develop, implement, and uphold research compliance and administrative practices in alignment with the federal regulations, state and local law, and industry best practices.
The Institutional Research CoE empowers the research community to achieve excellence through:
- Facilitating shared responsibility for compliant research ethical conduct
- Supporting institutions, investigators, and research teams through process improvement, innovative technologies, and education
- Propagating best operational practices to maximize research activity efficiencies
Tailored Offerings
Ensure regulatory compliance within clinical research programs
- Human research protection program (HRPP)
- Institutional review board (IRB)
- Institutional care and use committee (IACUC)
- Institutional biosafety committee (IBC)
- Conflict of interest (COI)
- 21 CFR Part 11 and computer system validation
- Export control/research security
- Research misconduct investigations
- HIPAA privacy and security rules
- EU general data protection regulation (GDPR)
Streamline and fortify the research architecture of your health system
- Data privacy practices management
- Data sharing and material transfer management
- Protocol and informed consent development
- Research administration revitalization
- Research technologies evaluation and implementation
- Policy/standard operating procedure gap analysis and development
Site level assistance with clinical trial operations
- Feasibility review
- Scientific review
- Regulatory assessment/assistance with IND/IDE applications
- Standard operating procedure development
- Monitoring/auditing
- Study startup
- Study close out
Significant expertise when implementing compliant human research protection programs
- Research staffing solutions
- HRPP health check
- Accreditation application support
- Policy/standard operating procedures gap analysis and development
- Training for investigators and other research staff
- Audit prep and communications with federal authorities
- Completely managed local IRB service
Staff Your Team with Experts Aligned with Your Goals and Priorities
Engage top-level professionals to fill short- and long-term core team roles both on-site and remotely and bring necessary skills and experiences to your projects.
A Snapshot of our Institutional Expertise

Cheryl Byers, MHA, CIP, CHRC
VP & Principal, Institutional Research Center of Excellence (COE)
Former IRB Director, Wake Forest University School of Medicine; Assistant VP Research Compliance, University of South Florida; and Director, Protocol Review & Monitoring Systems and Regulatory Affairs, Moffitt Cancer Center
Julie Moore, JD, PA, CIP
Associate Director
Lisa Rooney, JD
Managing Expert
Faith Bertrand, CIP
Senior Consultant
John Baumann, PhD, MA, BA
Managing Expert
Cynthia Hahn
Managing Expert
Jonathan Hunter, MA, CIP
Managing Expert
James Riddle, MCSE, CIP, CPIA, CRQM
VP of Research Services & Strategic Consulting
Wendy Tate, PhD, GStat
Director, Advanced Analytics and Research Optimization
Grant Application Support
When developing a grant budget, how do you ensure you’ve included everything your project will need?
Maximize your funding request and avoid resources surprises down the road with Advarra’s support. Download our grant application checklist for an outline of common (and sometimes forgotten) elements you may need to include in your budget.
Need a budget estimate for your grant?
Let Our Experience be Your Advantage
At Advarra Consulting, we are more than industry experts. We are former executives and practitioners. We are professionals with deep experience and a relentless focus for continuous improvement.
We understand your challenges and partner to deliver customized solutions to fit your unique needs. We know what it takes to build the infrastructure to establish, administer, and evolve compliant research programs. We stand ready to help you deliver.
Related Resources
Top-Tier University Stays Compliant with Advarra’s HRPP Assessment
A top -tier university worked with Advarra’s Institutional Research Center of Excellence to assess HRPP compliance with federal regulations
Beginner’s Guide to Clinical Trial Billing Compliance
Ensuring proper compliance within clinical trials is confusing, so here are best practices to ensure charges and claims are correctly routed
Developing an Emergency Preparedness Plan for your HRPP
Emergency preparedness plans help institutions plan, prepare for, and respond to emergencies as they arise.