STAND4Kids

STAND4Kids is the Portuguese national research network, originally established as the National Hub for paediatric clinical trials within the conect4children project, and now continuing its mission under the conect4children Stichting (https://conect4children.eu/). c4c-S is a large collaborative pan-European network aiming to optimise the delivery of clinical trials in children. STAND4Kids aims to establish a sustainable, lean, fit-for-purpose, national pediatric trial network that facilitates high-quality, child/family- and clinically-relevant, operationally efficient pediatric clinical trials in Portugal. Our network includes 10 pediatric hospital sites across the country, most within academic clinical centres with dedicated research units, experience, expertise and capacity in conducting pediatric research. STAND4KIDS is hosted by Association for Research and Development of the Faculty of Medicine (AIDFM), a non-profit and public benefit association that promotes biomedical research at the Faculty of Medicine of the Universidade de Lisboa. Our key areas of activity: • to establish a single national contact point for pediatric clinical trials, including c4c proof-of-viability studies; • to oversee and support feasibility requests at national and site level for pediatric clinical trials and clinical research studies; • to oversee and support site setup and readiness, study execution, performance and quality for c4c and other pediatric studies conducted in the network; • to disseminate and support the implementation of standards and training activities for the development and qualification and capacity building of national sites; • to engage, foster and provide a forum for stakeholders, including patient organizations and Young Person’s Advisory Groups (YPAG); • to promote and disseminate activity and outputs of clinical trials.