The San Diego Digestive Diseases Research Center is founded on a research base of 33 outstanding investigators with current digestive diseases-relevant funding of $15,689,402 in total annual direct costs, of which $5,711,412 (36.4%) are from NIDDK. The overall mission of the Center is to support basic, translational and clinical research that will lead to improved treatment and prevention of inflammatory diseases of the digestive system. The primary goal of the Center is to provide services to the research laboratories of a consortium of four adjacent research institutions in the San Diego area that will foster research productivity and new research directions, and encourage productive collaborations. Another major goal of the San Diego Digestive Diseases Research Center is to enhance new digestive diseases research through Pilot/Feasibility and Enrichment programs. The Center supports three interrelated Biomedical Research Cores that are designed to enhance the research potential and productivity of the Center members. The Human Translational Core builds upon existing expertise in clinical and translational research to provide access to human specimens and leverages unique existing repositories of inflammatory bowel disease and liver diseases. The Preclinical Models Core facilitates and assists in characterizing and understanding of gastrointestinal and liver diseases using murine models. The Microbiomics and Functional Genomics Core provides cutting-edge and cost-effective access to sequencing-based technologies in microbiomics and functional genomics. Furthermore, an Administrative Core supports the Center administratively and coordinates the Pilot/Feasibility and Enrichment programs. Together, these Cores provide high-quality and state-of-the-art research resources to increase collaborative activity and effectiveness of the members, and promote the development of junior investigators. Combined with the Pilot/Feasibility and Enrichment programs, the San Diego Digestive Diseases Research Center will complement a strong cadre of scientists focused on a range of important inflammatory diseases of the gastrointestinal tract and liver. By creating a unique environment to nurture novel research ideas and interactions, the San Diego Digestive Diseases Research Center presents a unique opportunity to integrate clinical and bench research to advance the basic understanding of digestive diseases, and enhance the health and care of patients suffering from those diseases.
The proposed Silvio O. Conte Digestive Disease Center in San Diego will provide resources and infrastructure that bring together basic and clinical investigators as a means to enhance communication, collaboration and effectiveness in support of their research related to gastrointestinal and liver diseases. It will also facilitate new research and the development of young investigators focused on digestive diseases.
