(ADMINISTRATIVE CORE) The primary mission of the UAB-Childhood Cystic Kidney Disease Core Center (UAB-CCKDCC) is to work with the PKD Consortium, under the guidance of the U24 Central Coordinating Site (U24-CCS) and NIDDK, to eliminate obstacles in cystic kidney disease research that are slowing progress toward the development of improved and innovative treatment strategies for cystic kidney disorders. The UAB- CCKDCC has assembled a multidisciplinary team of researchers, each with strong research programs, who will direct four tightly integrated resource and service-oriented Cores along with an Administrative Core. The overarching and collective mission of these Cores is to support, accelerate, and expand basic and translational research activities being performed by PKD Consortium members. The Center will focus on the development of resources to analyze cilio-cystic disease protein function, localization, and interactions and to assess how defects in these functions contribute to the pathogenic mechanisms involved in cyst initiation and progression. The Center will complete its mission through providing ready access to clinical data and biomaterial from CCKD patients, through the development and distribution of patient-relevant cell and animal models of CCKD, and through the development of methodology to utilize these models to ascertain the efficacy of candidate therapies to slow disease progression using a standardized, cost-effective, and longitudinal imaging and analysis strategies. The services and resources being made available by the Center along with the integration of our Cores will expand research activities beyond that capable in most individual laboratories. It will accelerate the pace of research into causes and possible cures of cystic kidney diseases by providing for high quality, robust, and reproducible outcomes. These are critically needed to prioritize drugs for future clinical trials to halt PKD and other cystic kidney disorders. Essential to fulfilling the mission of the UAB-CKDCC is the Administrative Core. The Administrative Core will provide for the Center?s overall structure to make sure that each of the Cores is working toward the common goal of developing better treatments options for CCKD. The Administrative Core will be responsible for financial and scientific oversight, coordinate efforts to ensure that each Core?s activities are aligned with those of the other U54-PKD Centers (RTCC), and that the focus of each Core reflects the priorities established by the U24-CCS and NIDDK. The Administrative Core will establish benchmarks and ensure they are achieved, that Center resources and services being provided to the PKD Consortium, that they are authenticated, robust, and are delivered in a timely manner, and are not delayed by material transfer agreements or other legal hurdles.
