A key to the success of the Consortium for the Study of Chronic Pancreatitis, Diabetes and Pancreatic Cancer (Consortium) lies in effective communication and collaboration among scientists in multiple disciplines; strong study design for discovery and validation of biomarkers characterizing complex interactions between chronic pancreatitis (CP), diabetes mellitus (DM), and pancreatic cancer (PDAC), and evaluation of novel intervention strategies; robust and high- quality data and specimen collection; and rigorous study execution of Consortium collaborative protocols. In the last four and a half years, the Coordination and Data Management Center (CDMC) has provided strong scientific, administrative, regulatory, managerial, logistic, and analytic supports to the Consortium, enabling the successful launch of three longitudinal cohort studies (i.e., PROCEED, INSPPIRE 2, and NOD) that aim to understand the relationship between CP, DM, and PDAC; and two other studies (i.e., DETECT and DEPICT (in planning)) that aim to better define and characterize Type 3c diabetes (T3cDM). In the next five years, the overall CDMC aim is to further refine and optimize the center's time-tested infrastructure, operations procedures, and organizational structure to provide strong and continual supports to the Consortium's existing and new studies, and address any emerging challenges associated with the progress of the studies from the accrual phase to the follow- up and dissemination phases. Specifically, we aim to (i) provide operation and coordination of the Consortium; (ii) provide supports to continue the accrual and follow up of patients in Consortium-approved studies; (iii) provide the infrastructure for biomarker development, prevention studies, and therapeutic trials; and (iv) design and support new studies and disease prevention.
The proposed study is highly relevant to public health because chronic pancreatitis, despite its relatively low incidence rate, is associated with significant disease burden and poor quality of life?worse than many other chronic conditions. Pancreatic cancer is the fourth largest killer among all cancers, yet there is no effective prevention or detection method at a curable stage. Understanding the complex relationships between chronic pancreatitis, new-onset diabetes, and pancreatic cancer is key to finding effective interventions, making such knowledge imperative for public health.
