How to Refer a Patient to the VCRC Center

Clinical Care

The clinical sites of the VCRC welcome the opportunity to evaluate patients with vasculitis and provide comprehensive consultation to referring physicians. Patients may be referred for a variety of reasons including:

1. Second opinion regarding a diagnosis;
2. Advice regarding further evaluation and management;
3. Assumption of care; and
4. Evaluation for potential participation in any of several ongoing research studies.

The clinicians at the VCRC Centers are quite experienced in the co-management of patients with referring positions from a variety of medical specialties. We welcome the opportunity to have an initial comprehensive evaluation and then periodically re-evaluate the patient but leave the day-to-day management to the referring physician. Often these re-evaluations can coincide with research visits.

To refer a patient to a VCRC Center, please see our list of participating clinical centers.

Research Participation

To refer a patient for participation in a research study or to determine if a patient is potentially eligible for any of the VCRC research studies, simply click on the appropriate link for the nearest or preferred VCRC site and make contact directly with the principal investigator or administrative personnel at that center. You can also always contact the VCRC Coordinating Center at cmcalear@upenn.edu.

How to Help Patients Self-Identify Themselves for Potential Research Participation in the VCRC:

The VCRC, and the entire Rare Disease Clinical Research Network, has developed a Patient Contact Registry for the anonymous self-identification for patients with the twelve VCRC diseases.

This electronic database will allow patients to be notified by the VCRC for potential participation in various research projects and updates on the VCRC research programs.

Patients must sign-up themselves and this is easily done through the VCRC website at the following link: https://www.vasculitisfoundation.org/research/vpprn/