The Shared Core provides centralized services needed by investigators in the Charleston Alcohol Research Center (ARC). Since its inception, the Shared Core has been a valuable part of the ARC, achieving its goals and refining its services to best meet the needs of a dynamic research environment. The proposed Shared Core contains two new services identified as important by Center researchers, the Animal Model Core and the Genotyping Core, while retaining the highly valued and widely utilized Biostatistics Core. - The Animal Model Core will provide basic science researchers in the Center with mice that have been treated in a standardized, well-validated ethanol dependence model. This will facilitate integration of data collected from the various Center projects including electrophysiological, neurochemical, and behavioral measures that will be related to consequences of chronic intermittent ethanol exposure using a single model. - The Genotyping Core will support the Center's increasing needs for advanced genetic analysis. Although this service will predominantly support clinical research projects in the ARC, extending this core function to other clinical as well as preclinical projects will enhance translational efforts in the Center. - The Biostatistics Core will continue to provide data management and expert statistical analysis and consulting service to all Center research projects through the Office of Statistics and Database Management. By centralizing these services, several important benefits are realized. First, the Shared Core provides needed expertise in specialized areas. Second, it affords a more efficient and standardized research environment, as it prevents the duplication of effort by individual research groups. Third, the Shared Core provides time- and cost-savings for all research studies that utilize the services. Finally, the Shared Core system fosters greater integration of Center research activities and it provides a central authority for quality control over provision and utilization of services as well as ensuring that its services meet the needs of Center investigators.
The Shared Core contains the Animal Model Core, Genotyping Core, and Biostatistics Core and provides these valuable services to all research components and pilot projects in the Charleston ARC. By centralizing these services, the Shared Core promotes integrative, efficient, and high quality research activities that facilitate the Center in successfully meeting its overall research goals and mission.
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