Areas of Research

What Are the Areas of Research at UConn Health?

Besides superior patient care, UConn Health specializes in education and research. The broad range of research allows us to gather extensive knowledge and develop new approaches to diagnosis and treatment. It is one of the primary ways to carry on the success of modern medicine.

As an academic medical center, we engage in a wide spectrum of research activities with goals of developing new treatments and therapies to improve the health and well-being of our patients. Our pre-clinical research is carried out in first-class laboratories. Pre-clinical researchers work closely with our clinical investigators who lead clinical trials. This collaboration is one of the keys to the success of the UConn Health research program.

Another vital key is you. Volunteer participation is essential for the success of our clinical trials. We need eligible participants to help us gain new knowledge and test breakthrough treatment approaches. Together, we can advance medicine to what is possible through research.

Experimental (Basic) Research

Our experimental research teams investigate complex concepts that are the basis of advanced scientific discoveries that can translate to clinical applications and directly benefit patient care.

Our researchers are skilled at investigating the structure and function of:

• Macromolecules, i.e., bacteria and viruses
• Cell Biology, i.e., the organization, development, and function of tissues
• Organisms and their behavior in various environments
• Some notable areas of basic science research include:
• Structural biology
• Cell analysis and modeling
• Musculoskeletal biology
• Biomaterials
• Immunotherapies and immunology
• Molecular biophysics and biology
• Neuroscience
• Stem cells
• Regenerative medicine
• Genetics and genomics

The recent addition of the Jackson Laboratory for Genomic Medicine (JAX-GM) to our campus has further increased our expertise in genetics and genomic sciences.

Clinical Research

We are proud to conduct a broad range of clinical trials each year. Clinical trials are studies involving the enrollment of eligible patients.

We conduct several clinical trials in the following areas of research:

• Addiction and substance abuse
• Muscle, bone, and cartilage
• Hematology/oncology
• Cardiology
• Diabetes
• Pulmonary
• Dental clinical research
• Infectious disease
• Immunology
• Psychiatry/mental health
• Neurology
• Senior health/aging
• Women’s health
• Men’s health
• Genetics
• Healthy volunteer studies
• Skin
• Digestive system
• Others

You can learn more about the clinical trials you might be eligible for by talking to your healthcare provider or accessing MyChart. You can also access all the clinical trials currently recruiting by searching the Clinical Trials database.

We hope you will help us push the boundaries of medicine for your benefit and for countless other patients.