Sponsor demand in rheumatology and autoimmune disease is outpacing available site capacity in much of the Midwest, and Headlands Research is betting Grand Rapids can absorb some of that pressure. The network announced a new de novo site in Grand Rapids, Michigan, led by Eric Slavin, MD, a board-certified rheumatologist and internist who has spent years running Phase III and IV studies in rheumatoid arthritis and related autoimmune conditions, including biologic and targeted disease-modifying treatments and biosimilar development.
The site’s therapeutic scope is intentionally wide. Rheumatology and autoimmune disease are the anchors, but the team will also run studies in cardiometabolic disease, chronic kidney disease, obesity, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and vaccines. That breadth matters for a network that needs each site to pull enrollment weight across multiple sponsor relationships, not just a single specialty. Headlands has completed more than 5,000 clinical trials across its sites, and adding an investigator with Slavin’s Phase III track record in a market not yet crowded with competing research infrastructure is a straightforward way to add billable capacity without acquiring an existing practice’s legacy complications.
The Grand Rapids opening is the fourth site addition in a short stretch. Headlands recently brought on Headlands Research – Sacramento and Headlands Research – CTR-Lincoln through the acquisition of two CTR sites, and opened Headlands Research – Western Washington. Three of those four are in markets outside the traditional trial-dense corridors of the Northeast and California, which suggests the network is deliberately building coverage in regions where sponsors historically struggle to find qualified investigators for specialty indications.
The Grand Rapids site is still being developed, with an expected opening later this year. The number to watch once it opens is how quickly Slavin’s site gets onto sponsor shortlists for rheumatology and autoimmune studies, given that investigator reputation in those indications tends to drive site selection at least as much as geography does.
Moe Alsumidaie, MBA, MSF, is founder and Chief Editor of Vanguard Publications, which publishes Clinical Trial Vanguard, Pharma Vanguard and BullScope, and Head of Research at CliniBiz. He has two decades in clinical trial operations and data science, with earlier roles at Genentech, Abbott Vascular and Stanford University Medical Center, and is a guest lecturer in clinical trial sciences at Rutgers University.
