The overarching goal of the HDDC is to facilitate the discovery of basic mechanisms underlying digestive health and disease, and to encourage the translation of these basic discoveries to improvement in patient care. The Clinical and Translational Program (Clinical Component) of the HDDC is designed to support basic science by providing human materials to HDDC members who are conducting basic and translational laboratory research, and also to support the specialized needs of our collaborating ?Clinical Associates.? Our strategy is to facilitate and support collaborations between basic, translational, and clinical researchers, and to leverage resources currently in place at CHB and BWH, by ?buying in? to the BCH Bio-Repository & Harvard IBD Data Registry, the BWH Inflammatory Bowel Disease Tissue Repository (BrITR), and BCH/BWH Biostatistics Resources.
The Specific Aims of the HDDC Clinical and Translational Research Program are: 1. To forge collaborations between HDDC Clinical Associates and HDDC Members, thus assuring availability of fresh and stored human samples for basic and translational research, and guiding HDDC basic research advances toward potential clinical applications. 2. To support a well-organized infrastructure for acquisition and storage of clinical samples (with relevant clinical metadata) as a long-term resource for current and future studies on gastrointestinal and liver diseases and normal human digestive function. 3. To provide professional support in biostatistics and study design to HDDC members and Clinical Associates for effective design of clinical studies and appropriate analysis and interpretation of data. The Clinical and Translational Program is directed by Scott B Snapper, MD, PhD, Director of the Center for IBD within the GI Division at CHB and Director of IBD Research at BWH. The Program has established clear guidelines for prioritization of resources for HDDC members and Clinical Associates, including access to fresh or stored human samples and availability of biostatistical support personnel. The Program is heavily subsidized by non-HDDC grant support and institutional resources from the Divisions of GI at BCH and BWH.
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