Sun Health Research Institute is located in the Sun Cities area of metro Phoenix, one of the world's most concentrated geriatric communities, with an estimated 100,000 retirees in the immediate area. There are more than 300,000 Medicare beneficiaries in Maricopa County alone. This is an educated population base that realizes the need for medical research and has the motivation to get involved.

The residents provide an enormous pool of potential participants in the many clinical trials on-going at the Institute's Cleo Roberts Center for Clinical Research. Most of the residents hold an allegiance to the Institute's affiliate, the Sun Health healthcare network, and that faithfulness is reflected in the numbers of residents who are involved in the Institute's efforts.

More than 1000 have donated their brains to the Institute's Brain Donation Program, one of the nation's largest repositories of brain tissue. Another 1000 are living participants in the brain donation program. The Institute has a strong record of performance in clinical research. For example, the Cleo Roberts Center is the national leader in recruitment, quality control, accuracy and performance in the ADAPT (Alzheimer's Disease Anti-Inflammatory Prevention Trial) study, with more than 527 participants enrolled. In addition, hundreds of subjects are involved in clinical trials in such disciplines as Alzheimer's disease, cancer, Parkinson's disease, fibromyalgia and arthritis at the Cleo Roberts Center.

The study sponsors cited the Institute's strong performance in clinical trials to include exceptional audits, outstanding monitor reports and successful enrollment. These are attributed to an excellent infrastructure, experienced study coordinators and accurate data collection. The Cleo Roberts Center staff includes physicians, neuropsychologists, psychometrists, nurse coordinators and other ancillary staff.

Founded in 1986, the non-profit Institute has earned an international reputation for breakthroughs for some of the most debilitating age-related diseases affecting seniors. Its scientists and researchers have had a significant impact on developing effective treatments and prevention for diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and arthritis and have a record of investigator-initiated studies.

The Sun Health Research Institute conducts clinical trials in Neurology, Oncology, and Cardiology. The Affiliate Sun Health Heart Center is the only Arizona hospital to be named a Solucient 100 Top Heart Hospital three years in a row.

We have worked with the following sponsors:

• Abbot
• AstraZeneca
• Boeringher Ingelheim
• Eisai/Pfizer
• Elan
• Forest
• GlaxoSmithKline Neuroscience Hub
• Merck
• Myriad
• Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp.
• Parke-Davis
• Pfizer Inc.
• Provista Life Sciences
• Schering-Plough
• Southwest Oncology Group.
• UpJohn Co Pharmacyclis, Inc.
• Voyager Pharmaceuticals Corp.
• Wyeth

We have worked with the following CROs:

• Axon
• Covance Clinical and Periapproval Services
• ICON Clinical Research, Parexel International Corp.
• Ingenix Pharmaceutical Services /I3
• Parexel
• Pharmanet
• PPD
• Target

The Cleo Roberts Center for Clinical Research at Sun Health Research Institute measures 12,000 square feet. The Sun Health Research Institute houses 10 centers and laboratories in its 70,000 square foot facility.

Researchers have access to the affiliate Sun Health's latest in medical equipment, including a 16-slice CT scanner, MRI, PET/CT and digital R&F.

Marwan N. Sabbagh, MD, FAAN, CCRI

Dr. Marwan Sabbagh is the founding director of the Cleo Roberts Center for Clinical Research. Opened in 2000, the Center, with Dr. Sabbagh as the principle investigator, has conducted more than 30 clinical trials for Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases, as well as prostate cancer and arthritis. Dr. Sabbagh, a board-certified neurologist, received his medical degree from the University of Arizona. He is also the Associate Director of the Arizona Alzheimer's Disease Core Center, a clinical instructor in the Sun Health/St. Joseph's Hospitals Geriatric Fellowship Program, clinical assistant professor of neurosciences at the University of California-San Diego and a visiting scientist in the Department of Neurology at Mayo Clinic Scottsdale. Dr. Sabbagh served his residency in neurology at Baylor College of Medicine and a fellowship in geriatric neurology and dementia at the UC-SD School of Medicine.

Holly Shill, MD

Dr. Holly Shill grew up in Tempe, Arizona. She did her undergraduate work in electrical engineering at University of Arizona in Tucson, followed by four years of medical school there. She completed a neurology residency at Barrow Neurological Institute (BNI) in Phoenix, AZ. Following that, she spent three years as a clinical fellow in the Human Motor Control Section at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, MD.

Dr. Shill is currently head of the Thomas H. Christopher Center for Parkinson's Research at the Sun Health Research Institute. She devotes 60 percent of her time to treating patients with Parkinson's related movement disorders and 40 percent to research. Dr. Shill's research interests also include developing models to better predict who gets Parkinson's disease and Parkinson's disease related dementia. Dr. Shill actively educates physicians currently enrolled in the Sun Health/St. Joseph's Geriatric Fellowship program and presents informational lectures to the community.

Sandra A Jacobson, MD

Dr. Jacobson is a geriatric neuropsychiatrist and she is our newest addition here at the Research Institute. She received her medical degree from the University of Hawaii Manoa School of Medicine. Her postgraduate training led her to the UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute for her residency and fellowship. Outside of the clinic she serves as a professor of psychology at Arizona State University. With Dr. Jacobson’s addition to the Research Institute we are interested in participating in clinical trials related to the following areas: geriatric depression, fibromyalgia, anxiety, sleep disorder and other pain-related conditions.

Donald J. Connor, PhD

Dr. Donald J. Connor is a neuropsychologist in the Cleo Roberts Center for Clinical Research. Dr. Connor is also currently assistant neuroscientist in the Department of Neuroscience in the Alzheimer's Disease Research Center at the University of California-San Diego and is Director of the Neuropsychology for Interactive Neuroscience Software, San Diego. Dr. Connor holds two PhDs, one in behavioral neuroscience and the other in clinical psychology. He was previously an adjunct assistant professor in the Department of Psychology at Mesa College, San Diego.

Jeffrey Stern, MD

Sun Health Research Institute's Cleo Roberts Center for Clinical Research has 23 employees as well as the Institute's administrative staff. Sun Health Corporation also provides professional support services to the Institute that include expertise in human resources, information technology and communication services.

Clinical Research Center Staff Expertise

The following list accentuates the various capabilities represented by our staff:

• 4 Investigators
• 1 Study Physician
• 6 Coordinators, including four CCRCs and three nurses
• 1 Phlebotomist
• 1 Contact coordinator/recruiter
• 2 Psychometrists
• 2 Neuropsychologists
• 2 Receptionists

The expertise of our staff reflects the intense focus of our research on some of the most debilitating age-related diseases affecting seniors, including dementia, Parkinson's, Hypertension, Urological diseases, arthritis and cancer.

In addition, the shared administrative staff at the Institute includes:

• 1 Senior Administrator
• 1 Contracts/Grants Manager
• 1 Regulatory Specialist
• 2 Accountants
• 1 Human Resources Specialist

Sun Health Research Institute is located in one of the most senior-populated areas of the nation. An estimated 100,000 residents of the Sun Cities and other retirement communities make up a population that is educated and understands the needs and the importance of research. More than 1,500 have donated their brains to the Institute's Brain Bank, one of the largest repositories for human brain tissue in the country. Hundreds more have volunteered for the 15 clinical trials at the Cleo Roberts Center for Clinical Research.

The Sun Health Research Institute's IRB is knowledgeable and responsive. It is local and schedules protocols quickly; decisions are relayed to the investigator shortly after meetings. Sun Health Research Institute has a federal wide assurance. All clinical staff are human subjects certified by NIH.

CenterWatch is listing the following trials that are actively recruiting patients at this center.

• ABT-089, an investigational drug for the treatment of mild to moderate Alzheimer's Disease
• Home-Based Assessment Study: monitoring cognitive function in individuals without having to visit the doctor's office, a no treatment study
• Phase II - ACC-001 Vaccine treatment for mild to moderate Alzheimer's Disease, trial study
• Phase II - Assessing the efficacy and safety of a new investigational drug when used together with a stable dose of L-dopa in the treatment of Parkinson's Disease
• Phase II - Determining Mirapex ER efficacy, safety and tolerability in the treatment Parkinson's Disease
• Phase III - Avandia treatment for Alzheimer's disease as a means to reduce inflammation and increase sugar uptake in the brain.
• Phase IV - Alzheimer's Disease Once-a-day Patch Medication, Trial Study
• Prostate Negative Biopsy Trial
• Study to Evaluate Efficacy of Droxidopa in Symptomatic Neurogenic Orthostatic Hypotension

For more information, please contact:

Marwan Sabbagh, M.D.
Director, Clinical Research
Sun Health Research Institute
10515 W Santa Fe Drive
Sun City, AZ 85351 USA
Phone: 623-875-6500
Fax: 623-875-6504
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