The proposed University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Rheumatic Disease Research Core Center (RDCC) is uniquely positioned to enable application of innovative, scientifically rigorous approaches and state-of-the-art techniques to important questions in biomedical sciences, thereby laying the basis for advances in the diagnosis and treatment of patients with arthritis and musculoskeletal diseases. The breadth of interdisciplinary research of the UAB Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Center, of which the RDCC is an essential element, provides a synergistic research environment that is focused through six RDCC thematic workgroups (Neurobehavioral Medicine; Prevention, Outcomes and Rehabilitation; Experimental Therapeutics; Genetics and Functional Genomics; Immunology and Autoimmunity; and Bone, Cartilage and Connective Tissue) These workgroups are designed to provide the depth of expertise necessary to fully exploit the rapid growth in scientific knowledge and advances in technology. Effective and rapid integration of these advances into the RDCC research efforts as well as effective communication between basic and clinical investigators will be further promoted by a Scientific Enrichment Program. The RDCC Core Facilities (Epitopes Recognition and Imunoreagent Core, Analytic and Preparative Flow Cytometry, Gene Targeting Facility, and High Resolution Imaging Facility) will provide and continue to develop the technologies essential for cutting edge research. Three innovative P&F projects, each of which uses innovative approaches to address important mechanistic questions in rheumatic diseases, are proposed that promote the development of investigators who are all new recruits to the study of rheumatic disease: (1) Primary Cilia and Bone Homeostasis; (2) Lipid regulation of Autoimmunity: Role of the LPC Effector, G2A; and (3) Functional Genomic Determinants of B Cell Homeostasis and Susceptibility to SLE. Continued scientific development, strategic planning, integration of efforts, and scientifically rigorous oversight are ensured through the expertise of the Administrative Core. ?
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