This application seeks matching funds from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to allow construction of physical facilities to support a new General Clinical Research Center (GCRC) at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation (CCF). The GCRC application was submitted to National Center for Research Resources (NCRR) in June 2002, reviewed in late 2002. The NCRR Advisory Council recommended funding on January 23, 2003. CCF has committed ample space centrally located within the Cleveland Clinic Hospital to house the GCRC. This space is an inpatient hospital unit that requires extensive renovation to meet the special needs of the funded programs described within this application. The long-term objective of this construction project is to provide the infrastructure needed to support future translational and collaborative interdisciplinary clinical research initiatives within the CCF's GCRC. The project specific aims are to: 1) construct a laboratory area to support various GCRC research programs; 2) renovate and equip three patient rooms for inpatient care; 3) construct and equip six examination rooms for outpatient examinations; 4) construct office and meeting space to support GCRC research functions and patient care; 5) construct a procedure and recovery area for performing non-invasive medical research procedures; 6) construct a telecommunications closet to support computer network needs of the GCRC. The expected outcome of this construction project will be a centralized facility to conduct innovative, collaborative clinical research protocols and train a new generation of physician scientists.
