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UNC-Chapel Hill School of Medicine

Clinical Research Glossary

Clinical research has a highly specialized vocabulary with a vast number of acronyms and abbreviations that help facilitate scientific communication. However, understanding and remembering a multitude of clinical trial terms, acronyms, and abbreviations, is a daunting task, particularly for newcomers. This is further complicated by the differences in the definitions of the same terms and institutional specific terminology, abbreviations, and acronyms.

To make research communication easier, the OVCR maintains a comprehensive clinical research glossary that provides both plain language and regulatory definitions.

Expand your clinical research word power with the SOM Clinical Research Glossary.

The UNC Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research oversees, develops and supports Carolina’s $1.36 billion research enterprise. It sets strategic priorities for research, manages proposals and awards, provides research infrastructure, identifies funding opportunities, develops research teams and partnerships, and oversees regulatory compliance, science and security, and ethics.