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General Clinical Research Center
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 30th 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 80 such centers in the United States that is not affiliated with a university or a 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, to elucidate pathogenetic mechanisms of disease, and to evaluate new modes of
patient management.
The GCRC provides inpatient and outpatient
environments in which investigators conduct studies in humans; the protocols 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 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 Scripps Research; and a DNA/RNA
tissue bank, established in cooperation with the Department of Surgery at Scripps Green Hospital.
In addition, the GCRC operates a computer
center with a database and workstation environment for the management of clinical research data,
genetic sequencing, and other statistical needs. Additional staff include a biostatistician
for consultation on study design and statistical analysis, a research subjects advocate, 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 500 inpatient days and 3500 outpatient visits, processed about 7700 specimens, and supported
several computer-based research protocols from Scripps Research and Scripps Clinic Medical
Group. Forty patient-related research protocols were active 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 69 investigators
made use of the GCRC facilities last year.
| Investigator
|
Protocol Title |
| Bernard Babior, M.D., Ph.D. |
Function of Normal and Malignant Phagocytes |
| Ernest Beutler, M.D. |
Hemochromatosis: Epidemiology and Molecular Mechanisms |
| Dennis R. Burton, Ph.D.
|
Human Antibodies to Infectious Agents |
| Dennis R. Burton, Ph.D.
|
Normal Blood Drawing for TSRI Labs |
| Francis Chisari, M.D.
|
Immunobiology and Pathogenesis of Hepatitis |
| Cindy Ehlers, Ph.D. |
EEG Markers of Alcoholism Risk |
| Cindy Ehlers, Ph.D. |
Risk Factors for Alcoholism in Asian-, African-, and Native Americans |
| Ann Feeney, Ph.D. |
Polymorphisms in Genes of the Immune System |
| Brunehilde Felding-Habermann, Ph.D.
|
Integrin Activation in Breast Cancer Metastasis |
| Mary Jo Heeb, Ph.D. |
Forms of Prostate-Specific Antigen and hK2 in Cancer |
| Jeffery Kelly, Ph.D. |
Diflunisal for Familial Amyloid Polyneuropathy |
| Lawrence Kline, D.O. |
Nasal Inflammation in Obstructive Sleep Apnea Treated With CPAP |
| Thomas Kunicki, Ph.D.
Genetic Variation in Platelet
Adhesion Receptors |
Genetic Variation in Platelet Adhesion Receptors |
| Thomas Kunicki, Ph.D.
|
Genetic Basis of Platelet-Related
Aspirin Resistance |
| Barbara Mason, Ph.D.
|
Naltrexone in Nicotine and Alcohol
Dependence |
| Donald E. Mosier, M.D., Ph.D.
|
HIV Coreceptor Switching |
| Michael B.A. Oldstone, M.D.
|
Long-term Immunity After Childhood Measles Vaccination in the Presence or Absence of Circulating Measles |
| Pascal Poignard, M.D.
|
Viral Evasion and HIV Entry-Blocking Strategies |
| Zaverio M. Ruggeri, M.D.
|
Mechanisms of Platelet Thrombus Formation |
| Sanford Shattil, M.D.
|
Proteins That Relay a11bb3 Signals to the Cytoskeleton |
| Jack Sipe, M.D.
|
Long-term Clinical Follow-up Study of Subjects With Multiple Sclerosis Treated With Cladribine |
| Donald Stevenson, M.D.
|
Analgesic Desensitization in Aspirin-Sensitive Asthma |
| Eng Tan, M.D.
|
Immune Reactivity to Autoantigens p62, DFS-70, and PINCH in Prostate Cancer and Role in Carcinogenesis |
| Bruce Zuraw, M.D.
|
Anti-inflammatory Effects of Leukotriene Receptor Antagonists |
| Bruce Zuraw, M.D.
|
Disease Variables in Hereditary Angioedema |
| Bruce Zuraw, M.D.
|
Initiation and Propagation of Asthmatic Inflammation |
| Bruce Zuraw, M.D.
|
Rhinovirus-Mediated Transcription in Airway Inflammation |
Bruce Zuraw, M.D.
|
Signaling in Allergic Inflammation: Kinins, Signaling, and Asthma |
|
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