Hospitals join forces to advance research in Central Ontario

Dr. Nancy Trimble (right), retired family doctor and chairperson of the Central Ontario Research Ethics Board (CO-REB), and Victoria Shelep (left), RVH Coordinator of Research & Ethics, launch the CO-REB regional partnership.

A new shared ethics board shared by regional hospitals is expected to advance research closer to home.

Simcoe Muskoka and Grey Bruce hospitals launched the Central Ontario Research Ethics Board (CO-REB)

Research helps hospitals teste new ideas, and give patients access to opportunities that may not otherwise be available through standard care.

From clinical studies to new approaches for delivering care, this work helps improve the quality of care.

CO-REB now provides formal oversight for research involving human participants, helping ensure studies are carried out safely and in line with the highest ethical standards.

This oversight protects participants and builds public trust by upholding people’s rights, dignity, and well-being.

“This is an exciting step forward for hospitals, researchers, and communities across our region,” said Dr. Nancy Trimble, retired family doctor and CO-REB Chair.

“When hospitals work together, we can create sustainable pathways for patients to access research opportunities closer to where they receive care,” Trimble said.

CO-REB was created to support research in community hospitals, where more than 65 per cent of the province’s patients receive care, but where formal research has often been limited.

Although health research has traditionally been focused in large academic centres, community hospitals are now playing an increasingly important role in clinical trials.

“Community hospitals are essential to expanding Ontario’s clinical trials ecosystem, but they need practical infrastructure that helps them participate efficiently and consistently,” says Susan Marlin, president of Clinical Trials Ontario (CTO), an organization established by the Province of Ontario in 2012 to make Ontario a preferred location for global clinical trials.

“By supporting shared ethics review across community hospitals, CO-REB helps make more sites trial-ready, reduces duplication, improves study start-up, and maintains strong protections for research participants,” Marlin said.

The initiative builds on the existing Research Ethics Board at Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre (RVH).

It expands it into a regional model supported by shared across regional hospitals, including Brightshores Health System, Collingwood General and Marine Hospital, Georgian Bay General Hospital, Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare, and RVH.