Clinical research is critical to the advancement of medical science, and conducting such research is a complex, information intensive endeavor. Informatics solutions have long been applied to the work of clinical research, and work at the interface of clinical research and biomedical informatics is proceeding at a rapid pace through various public and private efforts. A new sub-domain of biomedical informatics, clinical research informatics (CRI), has emerged at this interface. The CRIS-TF intends to chart the course by which AMIA can become the preferred professional home for CRI innovators, researchers and practitioners.