GENERAL CLINICAL RESEARCH CENTER

EXCEED THE SPACE PROVIDED. This application requests continued support for the General Clinical Research Center at Columbia University, which has operated continuously since 1970, and currently Supports research in Adult and pediatric Inpatient and Outpatient units at the Columbia Health Sciences Division campus of New York Presbyterian Hospital, and also inpatient and outpatient units at the St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center (SLRHC), three miles south of the primary GCRC. During the five-year period (Years 34-38) covered by this application, we propose to extend GCRC research coverage to the PICU, NICU and HIV clinics at Columbia. The Center provides facilities and staff for investigations of hospitalized and ambulatory patients that require skilled intensive nursing care, precise specimen collection and processing, rigorous dietary control, and expert laboratory and biostatistical support. Qualified faculty members of basic and clinical departments in the College of Physicians and Surgeons, the School of Public Health, and the School of Dental and Oral Surgery will study clinical problems that span the major fields of clinical investigation. The GCRC also fosters the training of young clinical investigators through existing K12 and K30 programs, and a variety of other training opportunities. We request support for 3,270 "A" days and 10,277 "A" visits annually at Columbia and SLRHC, 38.69 core FTE positions distributed among 48 individuals, a Core Laboratory, Bionutrition Research Unit, Informatics Core, and Biostatistical Consultation Core. This funding also supports the Research Advocate Program that places the protection of human subjects at the forefront of all research undertaken in the GCRC. Major research activities proposed in this grant are related to the following areas of human physiology and disease: (1) atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, including coronary heart disease and stroke, (2) substance abuse, (3) obesity, nutrition, and energy metabolism, (4) neurodegenerative disorders, including Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease, (5) diabetes melli_as, both type 1 and type 2, (6) lipid and lipoprotein metabolism, (7) disorders of bone-mineral metabolism, (8) neuro-imaging of psychiatric disorders, and (8) HIV infection and its complications. Emphasis has beer/placed on studies of ethnic minorities, who make up a large proportion of the population served by our community.