Multicenter Trial Proposal

The Multicenter Trials Committee within the EAST Research Division is seeking high quality multicenter trial ideas to enter into the 2026 EAST MCTs cohort.  The submission deadline was March 17, 2026.  Note, the process to submit an EAST Multicenter Trial Proposal is different than submitting a proposal in consideration for the EAST Multicenter Trial Junior Investigator Award, these are separate processes.  Information regarding the award can be found here.

The committee is recommending that proposals are submitted that have a focus on the following topic areas:

• NTRAP Questions - Information about NTRAP can be located here. 
• Emergency General Surgery (EGS)
• Geriatric Trauma (Geriatric Research Gaps Reference )
• Injury Prevention (Injury Prevention Research Gaps Reference )

The Multicenter Trials Committee conducts a biannual review of any proposals to be submitted in consideration of being an EAST Multicenter Trial:

• Submission Deadline: October 1, 2026 (to be considered as an EAST 2027 Multicenter Trial)
• Submission Deadline: March 17, 2027 (to be considered as an EAST 2027 Multicenter Trial)

All proposals will be reviewed by the EAST Multicenter Trials Committee.  Inputs of the committee will be conferred confidentially to the primary investigator.  Selected proposals will be listed for recruitment on the EAST Multicenter Study website after IRB approval is received.    

*Please note, if you are not a current EAST member and are looking to submit a proposal, a sponsor that is an active EAST member does need to be identified.  If you need assistance in finding a sponsor please contact Rachel Dixon at [email protected].   

Submit a Proposal:

Step #1

Review the Process and Instructions document.  Incomplete submissions will not be accepted.

Step #2

Submit the following online form:

1.  EAST Multicenter Study Proposal Form
   
   1. Examples:  Data Collection & Statistical Analysis, Consent Procedures and Risk/Benefit Analysis

Next Steps:

If accepted as an EAST Multicenter Trial the following will be asked to be completed and/or submitted.  Please note, no accepted EAST MCTs will be posted on the EAST website or promoted until a signed MOU and an IRB Approval Letter is received by EAST staff.

1. IRB Approval Letter 
2. Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Eastern Association for the Surgery of Trauma (EAST) and the Principal Investigator of an EAST sponsored Multicenter Trial
3. Data Collection Tool
4. Data Dictionary

If a proposed study is accepted by the EAST Multicenter Trials Committee as an EAST approved study the following information will apply:

1. The Recruitment Letter (Email) and Guidelines for Authorship can be found below:
2. Recruitment Letter Example
3. Guidelines for Authorship
4. If a study reaches presentation or publication, PIs are required to have the words “EAST Multicenter Trial” in the title or subtitle of the manuscript.  If this is not possible a reason must be provided to EAST (such as: insufficient character allowance in the tile for a given journal) prior to submission for presentation or publication.  This requirement applies to the primary study only, however for any secondary analyses that come from the data generated from the study PIs are strongly recommended to have the words “EAST Multicenter Trial” in the title or subtitle of the presentation or publication.  If a PI chooses not to include “EAST Multicenter Trial” in the title or subtitle of the presentation or publication for any secondary analyses, it must be reviewed and approved by the EAST Multicenter Trials Committee Chair.
5. If a study reaches publication, PIs will be expected to submit a Visual Abstract for their EAST MCTs.
6. Information regarding the advertising opportunities through EAST to help increase exposure for your MCT can be found on the

Advertising Your MCT through EAST page.
If you have any questions or need assistance, please contact the EAST Administrative Office at [email protected] or call (312) 202-5508.