The Methodology Core Unit of the proposed UCSF Multidisciplinary Clinical Research Center (MCRC)will serve as the hub for all MCRC projects and activities. The primary goal of the MCRC Methodology CoreUnit is to advance clinical research at UCSF in outcomes of rheumatic conditions, building upon the existingstructure developed through the MAMDC and other extramural funding.
The specific aims of theMethodology Core are to: provide methodological and biostatistical support and oversight to MCRC projectsand other projects using MCRC data sources; coordinate data collection and management of data used forMCRC projects and the research base, including protocol development, staff training and monitoring,interviewing and other data collection, data management, data analysis, and quality control; play an activerole in education of fellows and junior faculty in topics related to rheumatic disease; and advance theknowledge base in rheumatology and clinical research methodology both on the UCSF campus andnationally through outreach and dissemination efforts.The Methodology core will serve the four full projects and one D&F project of the MCRC, as well as theresearch base of the MCRC and the UCSF campus as a whole. The unit will provide service to the MCRCprojects by guiding all aspects of study design, protocol and instrument development, data management andstatistical analysis. Two research projects, described below, will also be undertaken in the MethodologyCore, as well, both of which will serve the MCRC projects and research base. For the projects using primarydata sources, the Methodology Core will additionally handle such data support services as training andsupervision of interview staff. The Methodology Core will actively promote cross-disciplinary clinicalresearch in the MCRC research base through one-on-one meetings of Methodology Core faculty with fellowsand junior faculty, and through participation of Methodology Core faculty in established forums such as theRheumatology Journal Club, the Department of Medicine Clinical Feljows program and the UCSF Institutefor Health Policy Study's Postdoctoral Fellowship program. Finally, the Methodology Core Unit will serve theUCSF research community through its sponsorship of a quarterly lecture series and through MethodologyCore faculty serving in an advisory role to several other longitudinal projects in chronic conditions, includingasthma, COPD, infertility, and primary Sjogren's syndrome.The Methodology Core will coordinate data collection for 2 primary data sources, the Lupus outcomesStudy (LOS) and the Rheumatoid Arthritis Panel Study (RA Panel). Both are longitudinal studies that will beused in MCRC projects.
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