# The Eastern Pediatric Surgery Network: Creation and implementation of a comprehensive clinical research collaborative in pediatric surgery

## TL;DR

This paper describes the creation of a large pediatric surgery research network in the US and its impact on clinical research.

## Contribution

The paper presents a novel framework for establishing a multi-institutional clinical research collaborative in pediatric surgery.

## Key findings

- The network includes 24 medical centers and has produced 28 conference abstracts and 12 journal publications.
- The collaborative model emphasizes governance, data ownership, and broad research participation.
- The initiative was implemented without dedicated external funding for most projects.

## Abstract

Over the past decade, several multi-institutional research consortia have formed within the North American pediatric surgical community. In this article, we describe our experience with the creation and implementation of the Eastern Pediatric Surgery Network, a large and comprehensive research consortium designed to produce a wide array of high-quality clinical studies within our subspecialty. In 2020, a vision statement and rules of governance were established at thirteen academic pediatric surgery divisions in the eastern United States. The research consortium was organized based on four major pillars, namely legal ownership of aggregate data, horizontal leadership structure, mandatory participation in adopted studies, and a broad research portfolio that encompasses the full breath of the specialty. Over the past five years, the number of research projects has dramatically expanded over time and includes participation from 24 different medical centers. Despite a lack of dedicated sponsored extramural support for most projects, there have been 28 abstracts presented at national conferences and 12 manuscripts published in peer-reviewed journals. It is our hope that sharing our experience with creating this organization can help to inform others interested in establishing the academic infrastructure to engage in multi-institutional, evidence-based clinical research in other medical specialties and beyond.