The overall objectives of the Clinical Research Core (CRC) over the next 5 years are to promote and supportclinical HIV research in the Pacific Northwest region through: 1) Recruitment and referral of HIV-infectedpersons into clinical research protocols to increase the productivity of these funded studies, 2) Expansion ofthe UW HIV Specimen Repository to support translational clinical and pathogenesis research and 3)Expansion of the Study Assistance and Specimen Collection Service to aid investigators in the enrollmentand implementation of their HIV research protocols Recruitment and referral of potential research subjectswill be performed by a dedicated research referral nurse who screens all UW Registry patients cared for atthe UW HIV clinics, identifies eligible patients based on study criteria and refers patients to studycoordinators for enrollment. Expansion of the UW HIV Specimen Repository will be accomplished bycontinued, targeted enrollment of HIV+ subjects at the UW HIV clinics and linkage to other research groupssuch as the CFAR Network of Integrated Systems (C-NICS) and the Kampala HIV discordant couples study.Increased utilization of the Repository will continue due to enhanced CRC advertising efforts and since theRepository has now reached a size sufficient to accommodate investigator requests. Expansion of the StudyAssist and Specimen Collection Service will be possible due to the increased expertise of CRC staff, theavailability of space (examination room) and resources (office equipment, freezers, liquid nitrogen tanks) andthe enhanced advertisement of these services to regional investigators. These activities will tightly link theCRC to the Clinical Epidemiology and Health Services Research, Clinical Retrovirology, Developmental,International and Sociobehavioral and Prevention Cores, all the UW CFAR Institutions (Fred HutchinsonCancer Center, Seattle Biomedical Research Institute, UW School of Medicine, Children's Hospital andRegional Medical Center) and other local and national research groups. These strategies serve to augmentexisting funded research programs that depend on successful accrual of patients and access to patientspecimens. This value-added approach directly supports the large, diverse HIV research programs that existat the University of Washington, and provides ready access to HIV infected patients, patient specimens andthe clinical resources needed to implement clinical studies.These efforts advance the clinical HIV research agendas of local and national HIV investigators andcontribute to the fight against HIV and AIDS by providing researchers with the clinical resources needed toconduct their investigations. These resources include access to potential research subjects, patientspecimens (such as blood components) and the space and tools needed to perform their research.
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