Overview

Ever since early 2015, the Cyprus Institute of Neurology and Genetics (CING) has participated as an active site in internationally renowned clinical trials (Table 1). At CING we oversee patients with rare neurological and genetic diseases which have been targeted in the past years with evolutionary genetic therapies, such as gene silencers. These novel therapies are of high quality and sensitivity, and require special handling and storage conditions. Before reaching the market, and being publicly accessible, these new therapies are required to pass all the clinical trial phases (Figure 1).

Prior to the initiation of any clinical trial, our site goes through an extensive approval process. This allows for the verification of our site’s capability to support a clinical trial from all aspects, i.e. have the appropriate standard operating procedures, standard of care, accreditations, specialized and experienced staff, equipment, facilities, and administrative and research support.

All site staff at CING who are involved in clinical trials undergo comprehensive training and obtain equivalent certification before their delegation to any study role. Such training includes Good Clinical Practice training, specialized assessment training, systems training, and more.

At CING, we strive to become a reference site for clinical trials in Cyprus and to ultimately build our specialized clinical trials unit that aims to provide the necessary wholesome support for all clinical trial participants. We are therefore willing to collaborate with clinical research organizations and sponsors to expand our profile in this field and bring in more clinical studies that target any of the indications overseen at CING.