The CTNA Clinical Core serves an important function as the central resource for the diverse clinical projects and pilots. It represents the distinct advantage of an Alcohol Research Center over a cluster of individual grants. The opportunity to fund a central facility with a distinguished leader provides a programmatic method to define needs and assign resources to address central issues. The central components of the Clinical Core are oversight of subject recruitment and clinical assessments for all clinical projects, data management and analysis.
The specific aims for this core are: A. Centralized monitoring of subject recruitment to: 1) Enhance the efficiency of enrollment into each project, including pilots;and 2) Update the Principal Investigators (PIs), the Scientific Advisory Board, and the Data Safety Monitoring Board of progress on the protocols B. Central oversight of assessments to: 1) Provide efficiency in training and assessment;2) Maintain consistency in the administration of assessments;3) Enhance the ability of investigators to pool data across studies;4) Insure that validated and current assessment tools are used;and 5) Support secondary analyses utilizing core assessments. C. Central provision of Data Management and Biostatistics support to: 1) Provide design and analytical expertise to meet the goals of the CTNA scientific agenda;2) Provide state-of-the-art methods for data management;3) Generate randomization lists and assess randomization implementation;4) Interface with specialized data analysis expertise related to particular technologies associated with the CTNA, including genetics and imaging;5) Prepare reports related to the progress of clinical studies for the Data Safety Monitoring Board;and 6) Provide statistical support for all investigators.
The Clinical Core will insure the collection of quality data and the appropriate analysis of data. By doing so, the CTNA will better inform our understanding risk for alcohol dependence and the development of new treatments for alcoholism.
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