The WF OAIC Clinical Research Core (CRC) provides the critical infrastructure and investigator resources essential for the successful conduct of clinical research focusing on physical function and disability in older adults. The CRC is well-integrated with the other OAIC Resource Cores (BioImaging, Integrative Biology, and Biostatistics and Research Information Systems Cores). Working closely with them, the CRC will support Research Education Component (REC)-supported Scholars, OAIC pilot studies, externally funded studies, and OAIC Research Development Projects related to the WF OAIC research theme: Integrating pathways affecting physical function for new approaches to disability treatment and prevention. Under the continued leadership of Drs. Williamson, Rejeski & Marsh, the CRC will assist the Leadership and Administrative Core (LAC), the Pilot and Exploratory Studies Core (PESC), and the REC in identifying promising new investigators and programs positioned to help to address the mechanisms of physical disability and work to reduce or eliminate age-related dysfunction. The CRC will provide `turn-key' resources critical for successful clinical research studies, including: 1) expertise related to experimental study design and conduct, including selection of appropriate outcome measures; 2) highly efficient and effective participant recruitment; 3) a common assessment battery incorporating key measures important to understanding changing physical function; 4) procurement (with the Integrative Biology Core) of muscle, adipose and skin tissue and blood samples; and 5) assisting early-career investigators with IRB and other regulatory filings (in collaboration with the PESC and REC). In the present cycle, provision of these key resources has been integral to our timely completion of clinical studies, publication of results, competition for new independently-funded grants, and development of new investigators. In the first year of the new cycle, the CRC will support 22 studies: 4 REC Scholar Projects, 4 Pilot studies, 2 Development Projects, and 12 Externally-Supported projects. These projects cover a broad range of OAIC- themed research, including optimizing body composition to improve physical function in obese older adults, incorporating CNS-relevant measures/concepts into our evolving model of physical function and disability, and integrating new measures that translate insights from the biology of aging into clinical research.
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