The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB)-University of California at San Diego (UCSD) O'Brien Core Center for Acute Kidney Injury (AKI) will establish an interdisciplinary center of excellence in AKI- related research. The main objective of this core center is to provide scientifically rigorous, state-of-the-art methodologies in a cost-effective manner to address experimental questions that will advance our understanding of the pathophysiology of AKI, enhance our diagnostic specificity and expand our therapeutic and preventive approaches for AKI, specifically in the intensive care unit and in the setting of kidney transplantation. This objective will be implemented in three specific aims: (i) Facilitate hypothesis-driven research through the support of shared core facilities and to leverage these core technologies into new projects, interactions and collaborations in AKI-related research, (ii) Foster meaningful interactions among 43 UAB-UCSD investigators from several different disciplines and extend these interactions to include a cadre of 55 investigators from multiple institutions at the regional, national and international levels - an extended research base and (iii) Provide, through the Biomedical Research Cores, a Pilot and Feasibility Program (PAF) and the Scientific Enrichment program, the intellectual resources and the research infrastructure to attract new and established investigators to AKI research. The core center investigators will benefit from access to a set of three complementary Biomedical Research Cores that will integrate existing intellectual and technological resources of UAB and UCSD and provide a defined set of services that will facilitate the research of investigators pursuing AKI-related basic and clinical research. The proposed Biomedical cores are: 1) Core A - Resource for Clinical Studies of AKI (clinical research, genomics and biorepository);2) Core B - Resource for Pre-Clinical Studies of AKI (animal models, small animal imaging and physiology);3) Core C - Bioanalytical Resource (proteomics/oxidative stress markers/molecular pathology). The Center includes a Biostatistical/Bioinformatics Resource that will provide support to the cores and pilot projects. The center also includes four well-designed PAF projects, each of which uses innovative approaches to address important mechanistic questions in AKI. An Educational Enrichment program will facilitate collaborative interactions among the research base. In summary, these cores and the outstanding cohort of investigators assembled for this center will provide unique expertise that is critical for innovative and productive research in AKI. With its Extended Research Base that includes both clinical and basic investigators, this O'Brien center will accelerate the translation of new investigative insights towards novel therapies for patients with AKI.
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