General Clinical Research Center

EXCEED THE SPACE PROVIDED. The proposed UAB Pittman GCRC renewal application is designed to serve the needs of an outstanding clinical research faculty and to facilitate and promote growth in clinical research at UAB in both the short and long term. A key to this ongoing growth is a much-improved infrastructure that providesstate-of-the-art methodology through its scientific cores. A new director (Moreland) was appointed in 1999 and under his aggressive leadership significant changes have occurred. Four new scientific units/cores have been added: 1) Informatics (J. Allison), 2) Molecular Genetics (Edberg), 3) Statistical Genetics (D. Allison) and 4) Pediatrics Satellite Clinic (Kimberlin). Six new training programs have .also been initiated: 1)NIH K30 (Moreland); includes Clinical Research Training Program and MSPH in Clinical Research (Howard and Kaslow); 2) Clinical Investigator Fellowship Award (Moreland); 3) Residency Training Program (Kimberlin); 4) Medical Student Summer Research Program (Kilby); 5) Year-Long Mentored Medical Student Research Program (Kilby); and 6) Informatics Core Year-Long Mentored Medical Student Program (J. Allison). Outpatient clinics have been established at The Kirklin Clinic and Children's Hospital of Alabama, and new and emerging affiliations have been established with scientific programs outside the GCRC. Since 1998, the Institution has provided approximately $4 million to support the GCRC. This application demonstrates the important role that interdisciplinary research centers play in integrating the basic and clinical sciences and of the potential they provide for stimulating future GCRC studies. The eight site visit presentationsinclude established senior (LoBuglio, Moreland, Alarcon, Azziz, Guay-Woodford and Weinsier) and junior (Clancy and Gower) faculty investigators. Exemplifying the GCRC's emphasis on diversity, four of these presentations focus on the African-American populations, which historically have been underrepresented in research studies and to which UAB investigators have excellent access. Ninety-two GCRC protocols, involving 156 investigators are described with five being highlighted as an indication of the cutting-edge research conducted at UAB (Research Accomplishments Section IV.A.). Continued growth in rigorous scientific clinical research at UAB is assured through a broad-based, talented and committed faculty of investigators, a strong institutional commitment and scientific and oversight support by the Administrative Unit.