This thesis is based on the interfaces between the Brazilian National System for Innovation in Health's structure and the Brazilian National Health Systemstrategic components for the economic and social sectors in the country. The institutional legal framework that gives support to Science and Technology in Health was referred to, considering the policies that sustain technological innovation in the country and the regulatory systems aimed at guaranteeing its sustainability. The goal of this study was to investigate the relationships and the patterns that make it possible to establish ties between actors and that also favor the formation of research networks, seeking to identify which elements require a greater focus from managers in order to strengthen the established ties and to facilitate network monitoring and evaluation. This study is a qualitative one that is elaborated upon critical theory, upon a quantitative approach, and includes an exploratory and analytical case study on the Brazilian National Network of Clinical Research in Teaching Hospitals, comprising a triangulation of methods, based on observation, on content analysis and on bibliographic lines. Upon investigating relationships or patterns, this study relied upon the bases of Actor-Network Theory, which result in ties formed between researchers and institutions. The results gathered from the study added new insight into the management of research networks, whose analysis is currently permeated by literature centered on individual attributes. Upon perceiving multicenter clinical trials as a strategy that fortifies innovation in health, this thesis outlined management alternatives that may expand the relational connections believed to foment, increase and strengthen the Brazilian National Science, Technology and Innovation System and its associations with Brazilian Public Health System needs.