At the General Clinical Research Center, principles of science, need, and diversity converge to provide a foundation that facilitates research excellence and improves the health of diverse populations.

Founded in 1961, the General Clinical Research Center (GCRC) at the Medical College of Wisconsin is one of the first National Institutes of Health sponsored GCRC sites. The GCRC includes an Adult Unit, located in the Lower Level Pavilion at Froedtert Hospital (FH), and an outpatient Pediatric Unit, located on the first floor of Children's Hospital of Wisconsin (CHW). The administrative component of the GCRC, as well as the Informatics and Biostatistical cores and one component of the Imaging Core are in space adjacent to the Adult Unit, while the Core Laboratory is located in the west wing of Froedtert Hospital, and the other component of the Imaging Core in the MACC Fund Research Center. 

The secured GCRC Adult Unit is located in close proximity to the main entrance of the Pavilion building of Froedtert Hospital. The unit, which is staffed by 4 research nurses, includes 6 examination rooms for outpatient visits, and 6 beds in 3 study suites (one-half of one suite is the designated Body Composition Area). When overnight monitoring and/or sample collections are required, inpatients are housed on an inpatient unit on the 4th floor of the Pavilion Building, directly above the GCRC Adult Unit. The Adult Unit is supported by a nursing planning station, reception area, metabolic kitchen, consultation room (where nurses and physicians meet), soiled hold and cleaning rooms, and a supply room. A sample preparation area is located adjacent to the nursing planning station.

The GCRC Pediatric Unit, which is staffed by 2 research nurse, has recently moved to the first floor of CHW, in space strategically located close to Radiology, multiple pediatric clinics with heavy past GCRC utilization, and the MACC Fund Research Center. The unit is contiguous to the pediatric emergency trauma center and sits one floor below the CHW outpatient laboratory. With its first floor location, the GCRC is easily identified and accessed by research subjects and their parents. The unit includes one large day study room that can be configured to accommodate two studies requiring more extensive physiologic monitoring equipment and/or full day studies, in addition to three smaller outpatient exam rooms, two outfitted with one-way mirrors for studies in child development and behavior. A multipurpose observational area/conference room is used to observe children in behavioral studies and to hold small conferences and informal training sessions. A computer alcove aids investigators in maintaining their databases. The unit also includes a dedicated phlebotomy and sample preparation/storage area and space for document and equipment storage. Adjacent shared space includes clean and soiled utility rooms, waiting room space, and a station for the GCRC's health unit coordinator.