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UMass Chan Medical School expanding early-stage clinical trial space

State-of-the-art center to provide research teams with greater flexibility and the resources they need to support a wider range of clinical trials

By Pat Sargent

November 09, 2026

At a glance
  • The Office of Clinical Research Support at UMass Chan Medical School is expanding its early-stage clinical trial space to the seventh floor of the Ambulatory Care Center at UMass Memorial Medical Center.
  • The planned upgrades to the Clinical Research Center are designed to enhance participant and staff safety, improve investigative team productivity and accelerate the launch and enrollment of early-stage clinical trials.
  • The new unit will double the number of treatment bays and rooms, adding 10 infusion bays, four exam rooms, a procedure room, a phlebotomy room and three investigative team stations.
The Office of Clinical Research Support is expanding its early-stage clinical trial space to the seventh floor of the Ambulatory Care Center
The Office of Clinical Research Support is expanding its early-stage clinical trial space to the seventh floor of the Ambulatory Care Center
Photo: Bryan Goodchild

The Office of Clinical Research Support at UMass Chan Medical School is expanding and upgrading its research space to support early-phase clinical trials testing new therapies for a wide range of diseases in children and adults.

The new space for the Clinical Research Center will occupy a large section of the seventh floor of the Ambulatory Care Center at UMass Memorial Medical Center.

Jennifer Wang, MD, the Herman G. Berkman Chair in Diabetes Care Innovation, professor of medicine and medical director of the Clinical Research Center, said, “This is an exciting time for escalating and expanding clinical research at UMass Chan Medical School.”

The Office of Clinical Research Support (formerly the Office of Clinical Research), is a division of UMass Chan Research, which is led by Katherine A. Fitzgerald, PhD, the Worcester Foundation for Biomedical Research Chair III, executive vice chancellor for research, chief research officer, professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Innate Immunity; and Allan Walkey, MD, MSc, professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Health Systems Science, and associate vice chancellor for clinical and translational research.

“Behind the scenes, colleagues from UMass Chan and UMass Memorial came together around a shared vision for a clinical and translational research hub. A space for infusion of new therapies, for clinical care and for education. It gives me great pride to have played a role in launching this project, and I cannot wait to see where Dr. Wang, Dr. Walkey and Dr. Fitzgerald take it next,” said Chancellor David D. McManus, MD’02, ScM’12, MBA.

The Clinical Research Center is currently on the first floor of the Ambulatory Care Center and was built in 2010. The new seventh floor space is an expansion of the existing center and addresses the current space constraints.

Artist rendering of an exam room in the expanded Clinical Research Center on the seventh floor of the Ambulatory Care Center
Artist rendering of an exam room in the expanded Clinical Research Center on the seventh floor of the Ambulatory Care Center
Photo: UMass Chan Facilities Management

The planned upgrades to the Clinical Research Center are designed to enhance participant and staff safety, improve investigative team productivity and accelerate the launch and enrollment of early-stage clinical trials. The new unit will double the number of treatment bays and rooms, adding 10 infusion bays, four exam rooms, a procedure room, a phlebotomy room and three investigative team stations.

Four negative-pressure rooms will expand capacity for clinical trials involving infectious agents, including SARS-CoV-2. On-site investigational pharmacy facilities will support safe preparation and reduce wait times for investigational products. Enhanced laboratory facilities will improve the team’s ability to collect, process, analyze and ship specimens.

“There is a core of investigators who are working on cutting-edge treatment modalities, and as these treatments continue to be developed, we need to have a place to do these studies safely and effectively. Increasing our study space is crucial to advancing these early phase trials,” said Nate Hafer, PhD, associate vice chancellor for research innovation, associate professor of molecular medicine and director of operations for the UMass Center for Clinical and Translational Science.

“The new space will allow us to expand early-phase clinical trials, particularly those involving infusible study interventions. With 10 infusion rooms and additional exam and treatment rooms, we’ll be able to accommodate longer visits and more complex study protocols. It will give our research teams greater flexibility and the resources they need to support a wider range of clinical trials,” said Danielle Howard, Office of Clinical Research Support director of clinical research operations.

Artist rendering of infusion bays in the expanded Clinical Research Center on the seventh floor of the Ambulatory Care Center
Artist rendering of infusion bays in the expanded Clinical Research Center on the seventh floor of the Ambulatory Care Center
Photo: UMass Chan Facilities Management

In addition to building out the new research space, UMass Chan Research will also be creating new training programs in early-stage clinical trial design and implementation for clinical fellows, research professionals and young faculty members.

“Giving faculty members and fellows a place to train in a cutting-edge environment is important. It makes UMass Chan an exciting and competitive place to train, helps us retain these young investigators and increases our notoriety and visibility to attract more talented trainees,” Dr. Hafer said.

Construction of the new research center space will begin in November and is expected to be completed by late spring 2027.