The core will provide an overall structure for maintaining and connecting all the available patient data related to mutations in the CFTR gene, and will provide experienced and integrated statistical services to project investigators whose data requires more than routine analysis. Core activities will include: continued development of the Toronto CF Database to further integrate clinical and scientific data on CF patients; support for the development of a database on male infertility patients who comprise the largest identified group of an expanded spectrum of patients affected by mutations in the CFTR gene; creation of data files and analytic strategies to study other atypical phenotypic groups related to CFTR, such as young patients with pancreatitis and adults with chronic lung disease; provision of clinical profiles for individual patients and patient groups to enhance the planning or interpretation of scientific experiments; statistical analysis of core and project data; and timely statistical consulting for the design and interpretation of experiments. The core facility is easily accessible to all investigators and has in place a computer network with state-of- the-art database and statistical software. Core support will ensure that scientists have access to the most appropriate patient information and material to design experiments, and that research hypotheses and results are related as immediately and precisely as possible to patient subgroups, to define the links between mutations, biochemical dysfunction, and disease expression. The patient population will benefit from this core because it encourages the collaboration of basic and clinical investigators, and the result will be more precise definition of patient subgroups that can be used in the evaluation of patient management and in the planning of further studies to examine treatments and other factors that affect prognosis.
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