Marshfield Clinic Research Foundation

The mission of the Marshfield Clinic Research Foundation (MCRF) is to discover and communicate scientific knowledge that substantially improves human health and well being. The MCRF mission supports the Marshfield Clinic mission to serve patients through accessible, high quality health care, research and education.

Marshfield Clinic Research Foundation (MCRF), a division of Marshfield Clinic, was founded in 1959. It is the largest private medical research institute in Wisconsin, with 30 Ph.D. and M.D. scientists and 180 other staff. MCRF provides support for approximately 200 physicians throughout the Marshfield Clinic system who are engaged in research.

MCRF consists of research centers in clinical research, human genetics, agricultural health and safety, epidemiology, and biomedical informatics. It also provides a range of support services for physician and scientist investigators, including biostatistics and bioinformatics, grant preparation, research publication and core laboratory support. More than 500 clinical trials and other projects are active in the Marshfield Clinic system at any time. Marshfield Clinic investigators publish extensively in peer-reviewed medical and scientific journals and books, addressing a wide range of diseases and other health issues, including cancer, heart disease, diabetes, eye disease, neurological disease, pediatrics, radiology, women's health, agricultural safety and genetics. MCRF maintains the Institutional Review Board, which is responsible for the protection of human research participants, and other standing committees essential to the research process.

MCRF produces Clinical Medicine & Research, and the Journal of Agromedicine, both quarterly professional journals. For 40 years MCRF has trained and motivated college students interested in careers in biomedical science and health care through its Summer Research Internship Program. MCRF is governed by a Board of Trustees and is housed in the Ben Lawton Center and the Melvin R. Laird Center at the Marshfield campus, with regional clinical research offices at Marshfield Clinic's in Wausau, Eau Claire, Chippewa and Minocqua centers to help facilitate research throughout our entire system.