The Clinical Core will facilitate high impact translational HIV/AIDS research by expanding upon the existing expertise and collaborations across the three D-CFAR institutions, Rush University, the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) and the Cook County Bureau of Health Services. The primary strengths of the Clinical Core are the quality of existing investigators, the number of new investigators interested in HIV/AIDS research, the sroad range of clinical research activities, the number of well-characterized cohorts already in place across DCFAR institutions and internationally and the large diverse patient population represented by the three institutions and their international affiliates. This Core has the following specific aims: 1) Increase the depth and breadth of translational research by facilitating interactions between clinical researchers, social and behavioral scientists and basic scientists across the D-CFAR institutions and internationally. 2) Assist investigators in the design and conduct of clinical research projects supported by the D-CFAR. 3) Increase the number of HIV/AIDS clinical researchers in the D-CFAR institutions by fostering the development of young and minority investigators and those new to AIDS research. 4) Increase capacity for HIV research by enhancing and integrating existing databases and specimen repositories and establishing a specimen repository for use by D-CFAR investigators. 5) Increasing the quantity and impact of translational research among Chicago D-CFAR investigators to a level that will support a competitive application for a full CFAR. The Clinical Core will be directed by Dr: Audrey French of Stroger (Cook County) Hospital and will be codirected by Dr. Richard Novak of UIC. Dr. French is a member of the Division of Infectious Diseases at Stroger Hospital and an Associate Professor at Rush Medical College. She has served as the Director of Research at the CORE Center, since it opened in 1998. Dr. Richard Novak is a Professor in the Division of Infectious Disease at UIC. He is the Director of the UIC HIV/AIDS project and the site PI for the NIAID funded-HIV Vaccine Trials Network (HVTN). The Core will be managed primarily through the CORE Center, the Cook County Bureau of Health Services'center for HIV Prevention, Care and Research and the largest provider of HIV care in the Midwest, although clinical resources will be available from all D-CFAR institutions and through international collaborations.
The Clinical Core will provide clinical expertise to D-CFAR investigators across disciplines and institutions. The large, diverse patient population represented by the D-CFAR and the well-characterized cohorts already in place across D-CFAR institutions and their international affiliates assures efficient recruitment and representation of the groups most affected by the HIV epidemic for high impact translational research.
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