The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston General Clinical Research Center (UTMB GCRC) has been in operation with continuous funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) since 1963. The long-term of this center is to provide facilities and resources to assist UTMB investigators in performing high quality patient-oriented research. Our first priority is to help support those scientists who have peer- reviewed funding from the NIH, but our mission includes of investigators with other forms of funding. The UTMB GCRC also provides resources for well designed pilot studies to assist individuals in pursuing new extramural funding. In order to meet the changing needs of clinical researchers, this center is adaptable. This continuation application includes proposals for new GCRC-provided services to centralize procedures that are currently unavailable or are duplicated by several investigators. These new services include a Physiologic Core Laboratory, satellite outpatient support, and additional support for the GCRC Sleep Laboratory and the GCRC Body Composition Laboratory. The facilities and resources that are currently provided include inpatient rooms; three separate outpatient facilities, experienced research nurses and dietary staff; and metabolic kitchen: an advanced procedure room; a 40K counter for body composition; and an advanced computer network. Expanded educational activities include a GCRC Curriculum Course with weekly sessions for fellows and faculty, an elective course for medical students, research opportunities for graduate students, and an annual Clinical Research Colloquium. The UTMB GCRC is an institutional resource that serves 95 investigators, of whom 33 are principal investigators on 65 GCRC research protocols. Of the GCRC protocol principal investigators, 94% have other extramural funding to support their patient-oriented research. Sixty-four percent of these investigators are principle investigators on grants from NIH or other federal agencies. The UTMB GCRC has users from 12 departments, from ore than 30 identified interdisciplinary research programs, and from the School of Medicine, School of Nursing, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, and the School of Allied Health. The research conducted with the support the GCRC impacts health care directly and indirectly through important advances in understanding of normal human physiology, the pathogenesis of disease, and the evaluation of innovative new therapies. Metabolic and endocrine aspects of wound healing are studied in burn patients and patients with diabetic ulcers, with the aim of modifying the wound environment to promote healing. Other studies have increased knowledge about metabolic, nutritional and environmental aspects of rare genetic diseases and diseases with pronounced ethnic determinants. Scientists from the UTMB AIDS Clinical Trials Unit use the GCRC for studies of fundamental aspects of new therapies for HIV. Environmental science and cancer are major research themes at UTMB. GCRC studies on the pathogenesis of endometrial cancer and on substances in the diet and the environment that influence cancer risk are consistent with these themes. Neuroscience is a strength at UTMB, as reflected in GCRC protocols on pain and gastrointestinal motility. Future plans for the GCRC include providing a new and expanded location, greater involvement with clinical trials, enhanced capabilities for computer image analysis, expanded telemedicine activities, and increased attention to research relevant to the large prison population served by this university. UTMB intends that the GCRC remain the central resource on this campus for patient-oriented research and new investigator education.
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