The Clinical Assessment Core provides a range of services to Center investigators related to clinical assessments. Specifically, the Clinical Assessment Core will: (1) provide to PMHARC-related studies clinical and self-report behavioral assessments administered by highly trained core personnel; (2) provide diagnostician recruitment, training, and ongoing calibration in order to maintain high quality; (3) oversee the administration of a core battery in all Center pilot treatment studies and (where possible) R01s that includes the Risk Assessment Battery, Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptoms, the BASIS-24, and SF-12; (4) provide consultation on a broad range of behavioral, neuropsychological, and medication adherence measures to PMHARC investigators. By providing a shared diagnostic assessment resource, the Clinical Assessment Core maximizes the quality of assessments and minimizes cost for all Center investigators (diagnostic assessments are provided to PMHARC pilot studies at no cost to the investigator). By administering the same core battery measures across all studies, the Core is able to compile a pooled database with substantially larger sample sizes. This larger database enables Center investigators to ask broader questions about the interactions of psychiatric status and HIV disease status and examine subpopulations stratified by gender, race, and ethnicity. The Clinical Assessment Core will continuously monitor and regularly evaluate each of the services that it will provide. Summary of the feedback from investigators will be given to the Center Executive Committee, Internal Advisory Board, and External Advisory Committee for comments and suggestions. The Clinical Assessment Core will be directed by Paul Crits-Christoph, who has extensive experience as an NIH Center Director and in the assessment of patients for psychiatric studies, and co- directed by Robert Gross, who has extensive experience in the treatment of patients with HIV/AIDS and in assessing adherence to medications, and Cobb Scott, who is experienced in the neuropsychological assessment of HIV+ patients.
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