Network of Methodology and Management Centres (MMG)
Last updated on 12 June 2026
Main points
- The Methodology and Management Centres (MMG) are a group of structures providing valuable support to the ANRS MIE in its missions of promoting, coordinating and developing clinical studies.
- They play a major role in the clinical research platforms piloted by the agency, making a significant contribution to methodological reflection and the structuring of research.
The MMG network: a support system for clinical research
As part of the clinical research it promotes, the ANRS MIE relies on several Methodology and Management Centres (MMG) to ensure the operational coordination of the studies, as well as on a network of hospital departments responsible for the inclusion and follow-up of participants. Clinical platforms such as OPEN-ReMIE, I-REIVAC Emergence and the Strive network are concrete examples of structures supported by the MMG network.
The mission of the MMGs is to support clinical research projects from their conception through to the exploitation of the results. This support includes drafting protocols, discussing study designs and assessing feasibility, thanks to their expertise in methodology, ethics and regulations. Project management continues at a practical and operational level, in coordination with the clinical research associates (CRAs) and data managers, particularly for data management (data protection, database management and cleaning, data analysis and exploitation of results).
Financial support from the ANRS MIE
Some of the agency’s MMGs receive multi-annual cross-funding for some of their staff (CRAs, project managers, quality specialists, statisticians, etc.) under the ‘Clinical Research Networks’ structuring action, which contributes to the organisation of the ANRS MIE clinical research network.
The centres also benefit from common tools (electronic CRF or e-CRF) and support in terms of quality assurance and pharmacovigilance.
The annual network meetings enable us to meet the teams behind the MMGs, with whom we collaborate within the network or through various research projects, such as the Strive network in our case. Even if all the information presented at these meetings is not necessarily useful to us, it gives us a direction to follow, to which we can add our own specific features. It also allows us to think about how to deepen our collaborations.
MMG mapping
These working groups supported by the MMG network enable us to get to know each other and compare our activities and procedures. Eventually, we will be able to set up joint cross-disciplinary projects, structuring or sharing skills and knowledge. The advantage of having the ANRS MIE as a common promoter will enable stronger actions to be put in place, because they will be carried and supported by the ANRS MIE.
One concrete example is the launch of the ‘Decarbonisation of research’ working group. Its aim is to identify the MMG activities that have the greatest impact on the carbon footprint of clinical trials, in order to find ways of decarbonising the activity. These changes could then be implemented across all CMGs, for example at the request of ANRS MIE as sponsor.
Meetings of the MMG network
The members of the MMG network meet several times a year to discuss their experiences, share their skills and harmonise their practices. These exchanges take place in a variety of complementary formats:
- An annual face-to-face meeting, the plenary meeting, organised by the ANRS MIE;
- An annual in-person pharmacovigilance-MMG seminar (PV-MMG). This seminar is organised by the ANRS MIE’s Vigilance Department in collaboration with the pharmacovigilance coordinators from each MMG. Held once a year, this seminar aims to enhance knowledge and encourage discussion on pharmacovigilance practices and requirements, to develop guidelines, to promote new and innovative approaches, and to set up working groups dedicated to the management of vigilance data within clinical trials.
- ‘Focus Point’ webinars lasting 1.5 hours every two months, organised by the ANRS MIE on topics of interest to the CMGs, such as the DMP (data management plan), open science, the ANRS MIE biobank, RGPD regulation, etc.
- 2 working groups managed by the ANRS MIE, on datasharing and the e-CRF;
- 3 internal working groups led by the CMGs:
- Budget
- Decarbonisation of research
- Data matching with the SNDS
The objectives of the MMG network are to harmonise practices, and to strengthen the skills of certain centres by drawing on the expertise of other network members in order to facilitate a rapid response and efficient implementation of studies in the event of an epidemic.
Feedback on the plenary meeting MMG 2026
The 2026 MMG Plenary Meeting took place on 11 June at PariSanté Campus. The meeting provided an opportunity to review the progress of several working groups coordinated by MMG members, including the “Budget”, “Carbon Footprint” and “SNDS” working groups, and to discuss the outlook and next steps for their activities.
Discussions also focused on operational challenges encountered by teams at the end of research projects, particularly regarding the closure of investigator sites and document archiving procedures. These exchanges enabled participants to compare practices, share feedback and lessons learned, and identify common avenues for reflection aimed at improving the harmonisation of procedures.
Feedback on the Pharmacovigilance / MMG 2026 (PV-MMG) seminar
The latest Pharmacovigilance / MMG 2026 seminar took place on 12 May 2026 at PariSanté Campus. This edition provided an opportunity to share two case studies on the automation of pharmacovigilance processes and to discuss the challenges associated with monitoring and collecting safety data during clinical trials.
The discussions highlighted the need to harmonise practices and provide support to the teams involved. With this in mind, working groups will be set up to support the implementation of the new data collection forms in eCRFs.
Upcoming events
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