The Mirro Center: a community system's research house

1993 — today

A thousand trials in a community hospital system: Parkview's research predates its research building. The system's clinical research department was founded in 1993, and by its own count Parkview has participated in more than 1,000 clinical trials of medical devices and pharmaceuticals since 1990 — the trial infrastructure built first inside a private practice: Dr. Michael Mirro, a cardiologist who joined Fort Wayne Cardiology in 1981, established the practice's in-house grant and research operation so it could run drug and device trials, and held an Indiana University School of Medicine professorship from 1982. Named Parkview's chief academic research officer in 2014, he proposed a home for the work; with a leading gift from Mirro and his wife, the Parkview Mirro Center for Research and Innovation opened in April 2015 on the Regional Medical Center campus — 82,000 square feet, built at $20 million, housing the research administration, a simulation laboratory founded in 2014, and the system's innovation programs. Its documented output at the center's tenth anniversary, in Parkview officials' figures: more than 400 clinical trials supported in the decade, among them about 200 drug studies that helped bring FDA-approved therapies to market; the Health Services and Informatics Research department, founded 2014, had produced more than 650 peer-reviewed publications, cited more than 28,000 times. The center's trial access continues at the documented level: in April 2025 the Parkview Heart Institute was selected by Medtronic as one of sixty-five hospitals globally to trial a new drug-coated balloon catheter. And in January 2025 Parkview joined the Helix Research Network, opening its DNA Insights program — no-cost genetic screening for the three CDC Tier 1 conditions, Lynch syndrome, hereditary breast and ovarian cancer syndrome, and familial hypercholesterolemia — to the public that September, aiming at 100,000 participants; by the fall of 2025 about 19,000 had enrolled and some 12,000 had received results. A community hospital system doing population genomics at that scale is itself the advancement, and it is Fort Wayne's.

Sources:

1. Parkview Health, Mirro Center pages and blog — the clinical research department founded in 1993 and more than 1,000 clinical trials brought to patients, with a Phase II and Phase III focus; the Health Services and Informatics Research department founded 2014; the Simulation Lab founded 2014.
2. Parkview Health release (10 November 2025), Indiana Hospital Association Award of Merit — Mirro joined Fort Wayne Cardiology in 1981 and built its research infrastructure; IUSM professor from 1982; chief academic research officer 2014; the Mirro Center opened April 2015 with a leading gift from Dr. Mirro and his wife.
3. Tradeline (21 August 2014), from Fort Wayne Business Weekly and the Journal Gazette — the $20 million, 82,000-square-foot Mirro Center as a translational research facility for pharmaceutical and device trials.
4. Journal Gazette tenth-anniversary coverage of the Mirro Center (2025), via republication — more than 400 trials supported in the decade, about 200 drug studies toward FDA-approved therapies; HSIR's more than 650 peer-reviewed publications cited more than 28,000 times, in Parkview officials' figures.
5. Parkview Health releases (21 April 2025; 15 January 2025; 9 September 2025) — the Medtronic Prevail trial selection, one of sixty-five hospitals globally; joining the Helix Research Network with a 100,000-participant aim; DNA Insights opened to the public; Input Fort Wayne (28 October 2025) — about 19,000 enrolled and roughly 12,000 results returned by fall 2025.