The Clinical Gore of the Emory Alcohol and Lung Biology Center will serve three primary roles for the Center overall. First, it will provide the infrastructure to ensure the successful conduct of clinical and translational studies planned as Specific Aims in Projects 1 through 4. Each of these Projects has Specific Aims either focusing on human subjects or devoted to the translation of laboratory findings to the clinical arena. The Clinical Core will integrate this work under the Center, combining knowledge gained from prior Center work with specific clinical expertise to examine the role of chronic alcohol use in otherwise healthy human volunteers and in patients with asthma, pregnant women and neonates, and lung donors and patients undergoing lung transplantation. These studies will significantly advance our understanding of the clinical effects of chronic alcohol use on both common and life-threatening medical conditions. The Center Clinical Core will be based at Grady Memorial Hospital and will facilitate the enrollment of study subjects and healthy human volunteers from metropolitan Atlanta and each of the Emory-affiliated hospitals: Emory University Hospital, Crawford Long Hospital, the Atlanta VA Medical Center and Grady Memorial Hospital. Outside of the Emory University School of Medicine, the Core will utilize resources from the Emory School of Public Health and General Clinical Research Centers, the Emory Center for Respiratory Health, the McKelvey Lung Transplantation Center, and the Atlanta VA Substance Abuse Treatment Program. Second, the Clinical Core will serve as an educational resource to Center investigators and trainees. As in the previous Core, this will include both didactic sessions on clinical research and biostatistics for investigators at any level, and educational content ranging from annual workshops to monthly journal clubs directed towards post-doctoral trainees. Third, the Biostatistical and Data Management Team will provide essential biostatistical support for all components of the Center. This includes study planning, data management and analysis, and study subject safety reviews for clinical studies within the Center Projects and the Pilot Core, while also providing the necessary biostatistical support to investigators, staff and trainees for all scientific components of the Center. This team will help the Core to facilitate sharing of biological specimens and patient phenotype data, securely available to Center investigators across all sites. The Clinical Core of the Center continues to be a productive and multi-disciplinary collaborative group conducting clinical and translational research. The renewed Clinical Core will provide even greater flexibility in translating laboratory findings to the bedside, while providing essential biostatistical support and supporting a broader approach to understanding the clinical effects of alcohol use disorders on lung function and respiratory disease.
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