Carolynn Thomas Jones

Dr. Carolynn Thomas Jones is Associate Professor of Clinical Nursing and Director of the Master of Clinical Research graduate degree program that is offered by the Colleges of Nursing and Pharmacy at OSU. She has over 30 years of experience working in clinical research roles ranging from coordinator, director, educator to PI. In addition to managing operations for multi-center clinical trials, she has also worked in multi-disciplinary clinical research workforce development in the United States and in low-resource countries. Her work in the NIH Fogarty Challenge Grant, “Promoting Enhanced Research Capacity for Global Health” (PERC) which was offered to 150 coordinators in 39 countries resulting in capacity development in multiple clinical research sites. Dr. Jones has a DNP in nursing with a concentration on clinical research nurse role delineation and an MSPH in Epidemiology focusing on cryptococcal disease surveillance. She is a founding member of the Joint Taskforce for Clinical Research Competence leading to international adoption of clinical research competencies to drive workforce development and curricula. As mPI of the NCATS-sponsored DIAMOND grant she helped to bridge training and connections among clinical research workforce across CTSA hubs through a web-based portal used for sharing training and adopted by NCATS/NIH. Her faculty practice also includes working with the Mycoses Study Group Education and Research Consortium, an independent non-profit organization, where she assists in advisory activities for clinical trial and epidemiology studies of invasive fungal diseases leading to antifungal drug and diagnostics development. She is Past-President of the Consortium of Academic Programs in Clinical Research (CoAPCR), as past-Chair of the Research Committee for the International Association of Clinical Research Nurses, as a Board member of the and ACRP. She has led international teams on collaborative initiatives for clinical research workforce development, in keeping with goals of the NIH National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS). She has published widely on subjects related to clinical research management, education and clinical research nurse role delineation; and core competence in clinical research.

Research Interests

Nursing quality indicators in clinical research; clinical research core competence and role progression; educational assessment research; innovative teaching and training in clinical research; ionizing radiation exposures for cardiovascular healthcare workers; invasive fungal infections and emerging fungal resistance.