Innovation and Clinical Research

For Groupe de Santé Clinifutur, clinical medical research and innovation are a guarantee of quality, modernity and attractiveness for Réunion and its population, and have become a matter of course.

With more than 30 years' experience, and ranked among the top 10 private hospital groups in France, it comprises 14 establishments on Réunion and Mayotte, specialising in Medicine-Surgery-Obstetrics, Medical and Rehabilitation Care and Dialysis. With almost 1,200 beds and 202 practitioners, it has built up a versatile range of services to meet the needs of the region's population.

The Oncology-Radiotherapy Centre at the Clinique Sainte-Clotilde is a benchmark centre for highly technical cancer treatment, helping to improve health through its commitment to clinical research and the innovative therapies it offers using its latest-generation equipment. Clinical medical research has always been an integral part of the Group's activities, with its first participations in clinical trials or publications in medical journals as far back as the 90s, within the interventional cardiology and oncology departments at Sainte-Clotilde.

In 2006, the clinic's activities began to take shape with the arrival of its first Clinical Research Associate. The determination of the clinic and its doctors, in collaboration with the Agence Régionale de Santé (Regional Health Agency), has led to the setting up of studies and health registers for the population of Réunion. The opening in 2007 of Réunion's first Centre d'Evaluation et de Traitement de la Douleur et des Soins Palliatifs (Centre for the Evaluation and Treatment of Pain and Palliative Care) also provided an opportunity to carry out health studies. Subsequently, other studies and registers were set up, but it was in 2019 that the desire to boost research within the group emerged, at the initiative of the General Management and the Medical Research Director of the Groupement de Coopération Sanitaire SantéCité Enseignement-Recherche-Innovation.

With the potential of the group's many medical specialities, it seemed appropriate to make a contribution to clinical research in France, and in La Réunion in particular, through the prism of tropical specificity.

The Clinical Research and Innovation Unit was created in October 2023 under the leadership of Marie-Pierre LAGARDE, who has a medical background and is passionate about the importance of health issues. A genuine lever for modern medicine, the centre's mission is to promote clinical medical research and innovation among doctors and carers at Clinifutur, in conjunction with local, national and international partners, institutions, learned societies and manufacturers.

The attractiveness of medical research is a major factor in the recruitment of young doctors with research experience from the time they began their studies. This is an important asset in ensuring the development of medical skills and expertise in Réunion. Many operations that used to require a transfer to France are now carried out on Réunion. Patients no longer have to be separated from their families, and the additional costs borne by the health insurance funds are reduced.

Bringing excellence to the island can only generate a great deal of emulation, thereby reducing territorial inequalities and reducing lost opportunities. Let's not forget that Réunion represents an advanced high-tech platform in the Indian Ocean for many of our neighbours. Finally, it is important to bear in mind that published studies rarely focus on populations living in tropical environments, and that as a result, studies carried out locally will provide an important perspective on certain emerging diseases. On the other hand, the participation of patients from the tropics in national or international studies is a first step towards equality of treatment.

The Research Unit acts as a one-stop shop for welcoming, supporting and monitoring any doctor practising within the Group who wishes to take part in an ongoing study, submit a study idea or publish his or her research. As clinical medical research is highly regulated, the department ensures that it is feasible and complies with all regulatory requirements, including patient consent and the General Data Protection Regulation. It manages the agreements and their medico-technical aspects right through to implementation and patient inclusion.

Although still in its infancy, the centre has already signed major agreements with UNICANCER and the Fédération Francophone de Cancérologie Digestive, among others. It soon plans to expand its activities in conjunction with clinics and their doctors, by organising conferences and information days for healthcare professionals, as well as public awareness days as part of public health initiatives.