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News and Publications
General Clinical Research Center
Frank V. Chisari, M.D.
E. Beutler, F.V. Chisari, B.L. Zuraw, D.R. Salomon, J.A. Koziol, S.L. Mirkis, V.B. Bagwell, E.A. Bieger, K.H. Cox
Established in 1974 with a generous gift from Mrs. William H. Black and Mr. and Mrs. William F. Black, and later supplemented by a donation from the Stein Endowment Fund, the General Clinical Research Center (GCRC) is in its 27th year of continuous operation. Financed by a grant of about $2 million annually from the National Center for Research Resources, National Institutes of Health, to provide facilities for investigator-initiated, peer-reviewed research with human subjects, the GCRC is the only one of 77 such centers in the United States that is not affiliated with a university or medical school. The GCRC aims to augment investigative collaborations among the clinicians and researchers at Scripps to facilitate the transfer of basic knowledge generated in research laboratories to the clinical arena, elucidate pathogenetic mechanisms of disease, and evaluate new modes of patient management.
The GCRC provides inpatient and outpatient environments in which investigators conduct studies in humans; the protocols followed are approved for safety by the Human Subjects Committee and for scientific merit by the GCRC Scientific Advisory Committee. The GCRC grant pays many of the costs of this research. GCRC facilities include a highly trained research nursing staff in a discrete nursing unit in the Scripps Green Hospital. A fully staffed core laboratory provides technical support for specialized research assays; preparation and storage of specimens; samples of normal blood for the laboratories of TSRI; and a DNA/RNA tissue bank, established in cooperation with the Department of Surgery.
In addition, the GCRC operates a computer center with an environment for the management of clinical data, genetic sequencing, and other statistical needs. Additional staff include a biostatistician for consultation on study design and statistical analysis and professional and administrative personnel to help with study design, preparation of protocols, and budgetary matters.
Last year, the GCRC provided these services for about 6600 outpatient visits, processed about 15,700 specimens, and supported 57 computer-based research protocols from TSRI and Scripps Clinic Medical Group. Sixty-six patient-related research protocols were carried out in the GCRC; the titles and principal investigators of most of them are listed at the end of this report. Many of these projects are described under the names of the individual investigators elsewhere in this volume. A total of 115 investigators made use of the GCRC's facilities, and 110 peer-reviewed papers and abstracts resulting from GCRC-assisted research were published last year.
| INVESTIGATOR | PROTOCOL TITLE |
| Ernest Beutler, MD | Epidemiologic Studies of Hemochromatosis and the Creation of an Anonymized DNA Database |
| Ernest Beutler, MD | Studies and Enzyme Replacement Therapy in Gaucher Disease |
| Dennis R. Burton, PhD | Human Antibodies to Infectious Agents |
| Francis Chisari, MD | Immunobiology and Pathogenesis of Hepatitis |
| Sandra C. Christiansen, MD | Asthma Counseling Outcomes in School-Associated Clinics |
| Sandra C. Christiansen, MD | Functional Consequences of B1 BK Receptor Expression During Allergic Airway Inflammation |
| Denis Darko, MD | Fatigue and Sleep Abnormalities in HIV Infection: Identification of Therapies |
| Arthur Dawson, MD | Hypoxemia and Pulmonary Hypertension in Gaucher Disease |
| Cindy Ehlers, PhD | EEG Markers of Alcoholism Risk |
| Cindy Ehlers, PhD | Response to Ethanol in Asian-, African-, and Native Americans |
| Mary Jo Heeb, PhD | Forms of Prostate-Specific Antigen and hK2 in Cancer |
| Lawrence Kline, DO | DPAP for Obstructive Sleep Apnea |
| Thomas Kunicki, PhD | Relationship Between Membrane Density of a2b1 Integrin and CAD |
| Martin Lotz, MD | Mesenchymal Stem Cells in the Pathogenesis of Arthritis |
| Nigel Mackman, PhD | Establishment of a New Assay to Measure Tissue Factor Activity in Whole Blood |
| James R. Mason, MD | DICEP and Amifostine in Cancers |
| James R. Mason, MD | Dose Escalation of Anti-CD33 x Humanized Murine Anti-FcgRI Bispecific Antibody in Relapsed AML |
| David A. Mathison, MD | Genomic and Molecular Determinants of Airway Hyperreactivity in Human Asthma |
| John McHutchison, MD | Intron A and Alferon-N for Hepatitis C |
| Robert McMillan, MD | Treatment of Chronic ITP |
| Donald E. Mosier, MD, PhD | Adoptive Immune Therapy in the hu-PBL-SCID Model |
| Donald E. Mosier, MD, PhD | Coreceptor Usage and HIV Disease Kinetics |
| Michael B. A. Oldstone, MD | Characterization of Myelin-Specific Immune Response as an Indicator of Disease State in Multiple Sclerosis |
| Michael B. A. Oldstone, MD | Long-term Immunity After Childhood Measles Vaccination in the Presence or Absence of Circulating Measles |
| Paul Parren, Ph.D. | Neutralizing Antibodies Against Orthopox Viruses |
| J. Steven Poceta, MD | Effect of Nicotine and Cigarette Smoke on Respiration |
| J. Steven Poceta, MD | Sleep and Alertness in Parkinson's and Restless Legs: Dopaminergic Mechanisms |
| Paul Pockros, MD | Studies of Interferon in Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C |
| Pascal Poignard, MD | Viral Evasion and HIV Entry-Blocking Strategies |
| Zaverio M. Ruggeri, MD | Mechanisms of Platelet Thrombus Formation |
| Daniel R. Salomon, MD | Myeloablative Induction and Tk-gene Therapy in Allogeneic Stem Cell Transplants |
| Daniel R. Salomon, MD | Normal Blood-Drawing for TSRI Labs |
| Jack Sipe, MD | Cladribine (2-CdA) Treatment of Multiple Sclerosis |
| Donald Stevenson, MD | Analgesic Desensitization in Aspirin-Sensitive Asthma |
| Bruce Torbett, PhD | Disruption of Human Hematopoiesis by HIV-1 |
| Bruce Zuraw, MD | Angioedema and Hageman Factor |
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