About Us

Founded in 1998, TREAD Research is situated in Tygerberg Hospital, Cape Town, South Africa; and is affiliated with the Division of Cardiology in the Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Health Science, Stellenbosch University. The organisation is managed by Professor Lesley Burgess and conducts pharmaceutically-sponsored contract clinical research in most medical fields.

In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, TREAD Research has adapted their safety protocols to protect both staff and trial participants while facing the frontline head-on by becoming involved in both COVID-19 treatment and prevention trials.

TREAD has an outstanding record of award winning recruitment, often over-recruiting by a substantial number. For example for the following studies

Study Name	No. of participants enrolled	No. of participants expected	Over-recruitment
EFC 11570	208	20	1040%
Trap2	268	20	1340%
Strength	94	20	470%
Fourier	96	30	320%
Harmony	124	45	276%

The mission of TREAD Research is to protect the rights, welfare and privacy of human subjects who choose to participate in human subject research.

We have undergone successful audits by the American FDA, the SAHPRA, and a number of local and international pharmaceutical research companies and clinical research organisations.

TREAD has experience in a wide range of therapeutic areas, namely: Cardiology & Cardiology Risk Factors, Nephrology, Rheumatology, Osteoarthritis, Gastroenterology, and Vaccines to name a few.

In June 2016, we became the first research organisation in Africa to be awarded accreditation by the Association for the Accreditation of Human Research Protection Programs (AAHRPP) joining an elite group of only 231 research institutions throughout the world to have achieved such accreditation merit.

All research conducted at TREAD Research is reviewed and approved by either a private or university health research ethics committee.

TREAD is committed to advancing responsible research, ethical treatment of human research subjects, and ensuring that the right of every human being to voluntary, informed consent with regards to research is respected. We serve to carry out this mission by:

Promoting an environment of respect and understanding of the rights and welfare of human research participants;
Ensuring that the risks and benefits of each research study are thoroughly considered; and
Ensuring that our human participants are well-informed of their research rights.

CAPACITY BUILDING

TREAD has 36 members of staff; 30 staff members are female, including 25 members who are historically disadvantaged. A strong training program is in place to improve the trial capacity building of both the permanent trial unit staff. TREAD has also implemented a skills development program for special needs young people from the Home of Hope. Home of Hope is a non-profit organization that cares for abandoned, abused and neglected children with intellectual and health issues.

All new staff is rigorously trained according to the unit’s Standard Operating Procedures to ensure a high standard of quality. Training includes:

GCP certification
ECG training
Study-specific and/or protocol training
Management courses
IATA certification
Computer literacy courses

TREAD Research has trained a number of staff members from previously disadvantaged communities – including investigators, study coordinators, ECG technologists and laboratory assistants.

TREAD Research has a commitment to training and, as such, contributes financially to the further training of investigators and other staff. For instance, 2 of the doctors employed at TREAD have now received their BSc (Hons) in Pharmacology through Stellenbosch University, 1 has done a MSc in Clinical Research through Liverpool University, and 2 doctors have completed the CDE 5-Day Advanced Course in Diabetes Care for Health Professionals. One Doctor has completed the Annual African Vaccinology Course (AAVC) and another is enrolled for this course. One Clinical trial assistant has been enrolled for a two-year Pharmacy Assistant course. Two Study Coordinators have BSc Hons and three staff newly appointed staff members have completed their MSc Degrees (two clinical coordinators and one clinical trial assistant). TREAD is also running a program for Internship.

TREAD Research provides training of registrars passing through Cardiology within Stellenbosch University – usually 10-12 per year. Many of these doctors are now in private practice and functioning as principal investigators in their own right now. In addition, TREAD has also taken on a number of medical students for elective periods. During this time, students are exposed to research techniques and have been given the opportunity to participate in clinical research.

TREAD Research staff has been involved in assisting and setting-up other clinical research sites – including Wits Clinical Research and Paarl Research Centre. These units now function independently; however, many of the staff from these new units spends time on a regular basis at TREAD Research learning research techniques.

In addition, TREAD Research staff has been involved in developing research training courses together with Wits Health Consortium. To date, they have developed GCP courses (basic, refresher and for auxiliary staff), quality control courses and site management courses. These courses are run by TREAD Research staff all over the country (Johannesberg, Pretoria, East London, Bloemfontein, Cape Town and Durban) and approximately 900-1000 people are trained per year. New courses are being planned at the moment.

Prof Burgess, who runs TREAD Research have also trained students from HealthTech S.A. (Pty) Ltd.

About Us

About Us

CAPACITY BUILDING

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