Our areas of expertise include inpatient and outpatient clinical trials ranging from Phase I to IV with both healthy subjects and disease-state populations. CRI has extensive clinical trial experience with pediatric, adolescent, adult and elderly subjects. CRI's capabilities include recruiting Special Populations as well as special procedures (Sleep Clinic, PET Scanning, Cognition Center).

CRI Worldwide has conducted trials in the following therapeutic areas and has access to the follow types of patients:

• Allergy/Immunology
• Cardiovascular (Hypertension/Hyperlipidemia)
• Dermatology Endocrinology (Diabetes I & II)
• Gastroenterology
• General Medicine
• Health Volunteers
• Infectious Disease
• Internal Medicine
• Neurology
• Pain Management
• Psychiatry
• Pulmonology
• Rheumatology
• Substance Abuse
• Urology
• Woman's and Men's Health

Full CV's available upon request

• Dr. Howard Hassman

  Chief Scientific Officer, Principal Investigator

  Dr. Howard Hassman has over 25 years of experience in clinical research. He has teamed with the most respected organizations conducting studies that have led to numerous medical and technological breakthroughs. Dr. Hassman began conducting clinical trials in 1982 and is considered an expert in the field of psychopharmacology. He is Board Certified in Family Practice as an Osteopathic Physician and Surgeon in California, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

  Dr. Hassman received his medical degree from the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine in 1983. He conducted his rotating internship at the John F. Kennedy Memorial Hospital University of Medicine and Dentistry and trained as an investigator with W. George Case, MD, Director of Training in the Conduct of Clinical Research at the University of Pennsylvania. He also trained for 13 years as an investigator with Karl Rickles, MD, Chairman of the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Hassman worked as an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania from 1984 to 1993. While teaching, he also worked for The Prudential Insurance Company of America as a Medical Director for PruCare Plus of San Diego. From 1984 through 1997, Dr. Hassman worked as a General Practitioner at the Family Practice Associates of San Diego, Inc. Dr. Hassman also worked together with Dr. Karl Rickels at his research facility, CMCR, where he was the Medical Director during this time. In 1998, he established CNS Research Institute (now CRI Worldwide) and currently serves as its Chief Scientific Officer.

• Dr. Steven J. Glass, MD

  Psychiatric Medical Director, Principal Investigator

  Dr. Steven Glass is highly qualified in the fields of psychiatry and mental health. He joined CNS Research Institute (now CRI Worldwide) as the Psychiatric Medical Director. He received an MD from Thomas Jefferson Medical College and a Bachelor of Arts in Biology from Swarthmore College. He completed a psychiatric residency at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, where he served as the Chief Resident in Psychiatry. He is licensed to practice in New Jersey and Pennsylvania and has extensive experience in CNS clinical research.

  Dr. Glass also has vast experience in the healthcare industry and academia. He worked as the Medical Director for Inpatient Services at Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital, as President of Rainbow Healthcare Associates, as Medical Staff Director of the Mental Health Unit at Rancocas Hospital, as Chairman of the Department of Psychiatry at Bridgeton Division of the South Jersey Hospital System and as Medical Director of the Mental Health Unit at Underwood Memorial Hospital. Academically, he has held positions as Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Robert Wood Johnson School of Medicine, as Adjunct Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior at Thomas Jefferson University, as Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Temple University School of Medicine and as Education Programs Faculty for the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations.

• David G. Krefetz, DO, MBA, FAPA, FACN

  Director of the Pediatric Center for Excellence, Principal Investigator

  Dr. David Krefetz is Board Certified in Psychiatry and in Child Adolescent Psychiatry by both the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, as well as by the American Osteopathic Board of Neurology and Psychiatry. He also has certification in Administrative Psychiatry by the American Psychiatric Association. Dr. Krefetz is currently the Director of the Pediatric Center for Excellence and has been a Principal Investigator at CRI Worldwide since 2004.

  He received his medical degree in 1985 from Des Moines University College of Osteopathic Medicine and Surgery in Iowa. He completed his undergraduate education at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, and graduated in 2002 from the Temple University-Fox School of Business Executive MBA program in Philadelphia. Dr. Krefetz completed his internship at Memorial Hospital in York, PA, and completed his Psychiatry Residency, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship at the Medical College of Pennsylvania/Eastern Pennsylvania Psychiatric Institute in Philadelphia.

  Dr. Krefetz has been a frequent presenter at both national and regional professional meetings including the annual meetings of the American Psychiatric Association and of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. He also served as Program Director of the Atlantic Regional Osteopathic Convention in 1996. Dr. Krefetz lectures frequently to the community and is a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and a Fellow of the American College of Neuropsychiatrists. He is a member of the Sigma Sigma Phi National Osteopathic Honor Fraternity and the Beta Gamma Sigma National Business Honor Society and has been a recipient of the Teaching Service Incentive Award at UMDNJ.

• Daniel Gruener, MD

  Director of the Center for the Research of Pain Disorders, Principal Investigator

  Dr. Daniel Gruener completed his psychiatric training at Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia in 1991 and served as Chief Resident in Psychiatry during his last year of residency. He has received additional training and is certified in psychiatry and pain medicine and has been on the volunteer teaching faculty of Jefferson Medical College since 1992. Dr. Gruener currently serves as Director of the Center for Pain Research and Principal Investigator at CRI.

  Active both academically and clinically, Dr. Gruener has divided his time between the fields of psychiatry and pain medicine. He is active in clinical and administrative work in psychiatry, and served as President of the Medical Staff of Friends Hospital in Philadelphia for two years and as Medical Director of Inpatient Services for several years. Dr. Gruener was also a member of the Board of Managers at Friends Hospital for four years where he founded the Friends Hospital Chronic Pain Management Program and served as its medical director.

  In addition to his administrative posts, Dr. Gruener is involved in clinical research, teaching, clinical practice, and writing in the fields of pain management and psychiatry. He has chaired numerous conferences, continuing medical education programs, advisory boards, and similar activities both nationally and internationally, and is a frequent invited lecturer. Active in many causes related to pain medicine, he is the immediate past President of the Greater Philadelphia Pain Society, the Mid-Atlantic branch of the American Pain Society. In addition, Dr. Gruener recently coauthored the textbook, Cognitive Therapy with Chronic Pain Patients, with Dr. Aaron Beck of the University of Pennsylvania. He also served as senior editor on a guide to treating pain in the primary care setting, Pain Control in the Primary Care Setting, which was published by the American Pain Society.

• Mark Novitsky, MD

  Sub-Investigator & Rater

  Dr. Novitsky has been a Principal Investigator, Sub-Investigator, and a Rater at CRI Worldwide since 2006. He is Board Certified by the American Board of Psychiatry & Neurology and specializes in CNS clinical research. Dr. Novitsky received his BS in Biology from Kings College in Wilkes-Barre, PA in 1975. He did coursework at Temple University in Philadelphia in 1977 and received his MD from Wake Forest School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, NC in 1982. Dr. Novitsky has extensive experience in geropsychiatric services including his work as the Medical Director of Geropsychiatric Services at the University of Pennsylvania Health Systems. He is also a member of several societies including the American Psychiatric Association, the Pennsylvania Psychiatric Society and the Philadelphia Psychiatric Society.

• Richard Fruncillo, MD, PhD

  Senior Director, Early Phase Research

  Dr. Richard Fruncillo has over 30 years of experience in clinical research. He joined CRI Worldwide as Senior Director, Early Phase Research, after spending almost 20 years as the head of Wyeth's Phase 1 Research Unit in Philadelphia where he was Principal Investigator for over 200 studies, including first-in-man biologicals, CNS psychometric testing, elderly, renal failure, as well as many other complex therapeutic areas.

  Dr. Fruncillo is Board Certified in Internal Medicine and Clinical Pharmacology. Dr. Fruncillo received a B.A. degree in Chemistry from the University of Pennsylvania, and an M.D. from Hahnemann University. He began his career in clinical research as a medical student and received the Upjohn Research Award for his work on drug metabolism in inflammation. Later, Dr. Fruncillo went on to complete a Family Medicine Internship and received a Ph.D. in Biochemical Pharmacology while at Hahnemann. Subsequently, Dr. Fruncillo completed a fellowship in Clinical Pharmacology at Thomas Jefferson University where his research interest mainly involved Clinical Pharmacology of Cardiovascular agents. He then finished an Internal Medicine residency at Mercy Catholic Medical Center in Darby, Pennsylvania.

We have an extensive Six Sigma program to improve and control our most critical processes. CRI has at least one Research Assistant (RA) for every two CRCs. The RAs work with the CRCs to ensure the quality execution of each trial. They are also a critical component of our clinical QC process.

Our QA & Regulatory team reports directly to the CEO and has full responsibility for all internal and external audits, developing and maintaining Quality Policies and SOPs and for the regulatory activity of the company.

CRI is able to overcome recruitment challenges by identifying quality study participants through our unique patient recruitment efforts. Located just 10 miles from Philadelphia, our corporate office houses a state-of-the-art Patient Recruitment Center featuring an in-house call center, community outreach team, transportation services, physician referral networks, and an extensive patient database which includes over 45,000 disease-state and healthy volunteers.

Cardiology/Vascular Diseases
Dental/Maxillofacial Surgery
Dermatology/Plastic Surgery
Endocrinology
Gastroenterology
Hematology
Immunology/Infectious Diseases
Musculoskeletal
Nephrology/Urology
Neurology
Obstetrics/Gynecology
Oncology
Ophthalmology
Otolaryngology
Pediatrics/Neonatology
Pharmacology/Toxicology
Psychiatry/Psychology
Pulmonary/Respiratory Diseases
Rheumatology
Trauma/Emergency Medicine