The University of California San Diego Digestive Disease Research Development Center (UCSD DDRDC) goal is to provide the framework to facilitate research productivity, foster new research directions, and encourage collaborations to form among participating members. The Center's theme focuses on the continuum of pathophysiological processes that progress from inflammation to repair to transformation, as highlighted in the disease progression within digestive organs such as the liver and intestine. The Center supports 21 established investigators and 8 junior investigators from 6 departments within the UCSD School of Medicine who share in the understanding and discovery of regulatory mechanisms that drive the inflammation to repair to transformation continuum in digestive organs, and will provide insights that may translate into therapies to control or prevent progression towards transformation. The UCSD DDRDC supports three highly inter-related, service-oriented biomedical Cores that will increase members research potential and productivity. An Animal Model Core provides assistance in the conduct and analysis of animal studies (including models of intestinal inflammation, infection, and xenotransplantation), breeding colony support (including acquisition, establishment, and intial breeding of genetically-engineered mice), and advice and training in animal research. The Imaging Core provides assistance in the approach and design, image data acquisition, and analysis of images obtained utilizing sophisticated microscopy. The Imaging Core also provides assistance, acquisition, and analysis of intracellular ion imaging and concentration determination that can be markedly altered in inflammatory states. The Molecular Pathobiology Core provides assistance in the acquisition and analysis of cells via laser capture microscopy, and provides assistance in the conduct and analysis utilizing fluorescent-based gene expression systems as well as utilizing high-density microarrays. The three cores of the UCSD DDRDC will provide high quality and state of the art experiments for members, increase collaborative activity among the members, and accelerate growth in research development of junior investigators. The UCSD DDRDC synergizes the strong research base of digestive organ investigators at UCSD, and provides a resource-rich and intellectual environment to embolden novel research ideas and interactions that address the inflammation to repair to transformation continuum.
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