The Queen’s Medical Center was founded in 1859 by Queen Emma and King Kamehameha IV to provide quality health care services to Native Hawaiians and all the people of Hawaii. The Queen’s Medical Center has grown substantially through the years and takes pride on being at the forefront of patient care. It retains the spirit of the founders as described in its mission, which states that the hospital "...is an ‘ohana" (Hawaiian for family) committed to leadership in preserving, protecting and perpetuating the health of all the people of Hawaii, recognizing the special health needs of Native Hawaiians. We shall accomplish this mission through education, research and the provision of quality health care. Our service is extended in the spirit of aloha as guided by the vision and ideals of our founders Queen Emma and King Kamehameha IV."

The Queen's Medical Center has performed clinical trials since 1989, initially focusing on oncology and bone marrow transplantation, and later expanding to other areas, such as, cardiology (medical and interventional), infectious disease, medical and surgical intensive care, neurology (especially stroke and trauma), women’s health, general and orthopedic surgery, ophthalmology and psychiatry. Investigators may perform research with their own qualified staff or may utilize the Clinical Trials Office, which has participated in Phase I, II, II and IV trials. Multi-center trials typically originate from cooperative groups, pharmaceutical or device manufacturers, the National Cancer Institute, and other medical institutions. In addition, Queen’s has established relationships with individual agencies and companies.

The Queen's Medical Center, located in downtown Honolulu, Hawaii, is a private, non-profit, acute medical care facility. It is part of The Queen’s Health Systems, which extends throughout the state and includes operations in a number of health care areas. The medical center is the largest single private hospital in Hawaii, with 505 acute care beds and 28 sub-acute beds. The medical center has more than 3,600 employees and more than 1,100 physicians on staff. As the leading medical referral center in the Pacific Basin, The Queen's Medical Center offers a comprehensive range of primary and specialized care services. As a level II trauma center the Emergency Department features four distinct services areas: Trauma, Psychiatry, Emergency and Convenience Care.

Queen's Imaging Services provides diagnostic and therapeutic examinations and treatments to both the inpatient and outpatient populations of the medical center. These include General Imaging, Angiography/Special Procedures, Nuclear Medicine procedures, CT scanning, Ultrasound procedures, Mammography, MRI scanning, PET scanning, PET/CT, and bone density scanning. The department is actively participating in a number of research studies involving PET scans for new diagnostic modalities and to study metabolism and perfusion. Research with radiological therapeutic modalities is routinely performed as well.

The Queen Emma Clinic is operated jointly by The Queen's Medical Center and the College of Health Sciences of the University of Hawaii. The clinics strive to provide the highest quality health care, especially to underserved populations, and have made a commitment to the high-quality education of its health care professionals, including physicians, nurses, social workers and others. There are several Critical Care units for medical, surgical and neurologic patients. The hospital directly employs or contracts with physicians who are neurointensivists, intensivists and hospitalists who run the programs and take an active interest in clinical trials.

In October 2007, the Queen’s Cancer Center opened its doors, bringing residents of Hawaii a comprehensive, multidisciplinary cancer treatment and research center. The center will be Hawaii’s premier cancer treatment facility, and is designed to reduce the need some patients feel to travel to the mainland to receive the highest quality treatment. Partnering with medical, radiation, and surgical oncologists, along with several departments throughout the hospital, Queen’s Cancer Center ensures the highest level of care for its patients from TomoTherapy and the da Vinci surgical robot, to massage therapy and genetic counseling. The facility also offers a wide range of support services for patients’ families.

Queen's is accredited by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) and affiliated with the Voluntary Hospitals of American (VHA). The medical center is also approved to participate in residency training by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education.

The John A. Burns School of Medicine of the University of Hawaii has a special relationship with The Queen’s Medical Center, as many of the clinical training programs are based at the medical center. These programs include Psychiatry, Surgery, Medicine and Oncology. Many of the hospital medical staff have academic appointments and participate in the teaching of medical students and residents. This provides a fertile environment for research opportunities with a number of formal and informal arrangements to share and support each other in ways that further their research and teaching missions.

The Queen’s Medical Center has both long-term and newly recruited medical staff with a broad range of research interest and experiences. These include, but are not limited to, the following therapeutic areas:

• cardiology
• diagnostic imaging (e.g. MRI, PET,)
• drug abuse
• general surgery
• genetics
• infectious disease
• intensive care
• internal medicine
• minimally invasive surgery
• neuroscience
• oncology
• ophthalmology
• orthopedics
• psychiatry
• sleep
• stroke
• trauma
• women’s health

Research Administration:
All potential clinical trials are reviewed by the research administration for scientific integrity and logistical feasibility

Grants and Contracts Management:
The Queen's Medical Center has a grants manager to develop and administer federal grants to research scientists and clinical investigators. There is also a full-time coordinator for contracts and intellectual property who facilitates the negotiation of budgets and contracts with sponsors. Investigators are given support in the following areas: identifying grant opportunities, complying with administrative requirements, budget preparation, consortium arrangements, regulatory compliance assurances, interaction with granting agencies/officers, interfacing with the financial office, and interim/final report submissions. Contracts are expedited with the legal department and investigators.

Human Studies Protection (IRB):
The Queen's Medical Center Research and Regulatory Office (RRO) administrates and supports the research, the Institutional Review Committee (RIRC) and the Animal Care Committee (ACC). In this regard, the group is charged with upholding regulatory policies and procedures for the protection of human and animal subjects.

Clinical Trials Office:
Investigators may use their own experienced research staff to assist them in their studies. This occurs currently with neuroscience, for example. For others, the services of the Clinical Trials Office are available. The Clinical Trials Office consists of two research nurses and a research associate. The current research nurses have expertise in Oncology, Cardiology, Women’s Health, Medical and Surgical Intensive Care, Infectious Disease, General Medical Surgery and Psychiatry. They provide a full coordinator role, including evaluation of logistical needs, assistance in preparation of regulatory documents, site initiation, recruitment initiatives, screening patients, assistance in consenting and appropriate documentation, scheduling of patients, oversight of medication and protocol compliance, coordination with pharmacy and diagnostic and laboratory services, data entry, CRFs, adverse event reporting and coordination of monitor visits from sponsors.

Research Support Services:
A support group assists specifically in the setup and application of systems and infrastructure such as clinical databases, project tracking, development of studies and the analysis of results. Also, available is a biostatistician who performs biostatistical and programming support.

Pharmacy:
The pharmacy is experienced in dealing with the demands of clinical trials including the maintainence of study blinding and randomization issues. The facility maintains a separate area for keeping investigational drugs or devices. A lead pharmacist, typically with a Pharm. D., is assigned to each particular study to assist in set-up and coordination.

Laboratory and Diagnostic Services:
A system is in place to provide full laboratory, pathological and other diagnostic services for clinical studies. The laboratory and ancillary services are full supporters of the research program and are willing to accommodate special as well as regular requests.

• Hawaii's population was estimated as 1,245,050.
• Hawaii's ethnicity is diverse with no single group comprising a majority:
  • Hawaiian - 22.8%
  • Caucasians - 22.0%
  • Japanese - 16.4%
  • Filipino - 11.7%
  • Chinese - 3.1%
  • Black - 1.1%
  • Korean - 0.6%
  • Samoan/Tongan - 0.9%
  • Mixed & all others - 21.3%
• Queen's FY2006 Inpatient Admissions and Outpatient Visits: more than 20,000 and more than 260,000, respectively.
• Queen's FY2006 Emergency Department Inpatient and Outpatients Visits: 46,700.
• Queen's has 19.5% of the overall State of Hawaii’ healthcare share.

For more information, please contact:

Todd Seto, M.D.
Director, Clinical Research
The Queen's Medical Center
1301 Punchbowl Street
Honolulu, HI 96813 USA
Phone: 808-538-9011
Fax: 808-547-4055
E-mail:

If you are interested in contacting this center to discuss placing a clinical trial there, please complete and send the E-mail form below. A representative from the research center will then follow up with you.

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Last updated on August 21, 2008