General Clinical Research Center

EXCEED THE SPACE PROVIDED. The Children's Hospital GCRC is centrally located to provide inpatient and outpatient research facilities and support for patient-oriented investigations. It serves investigators at the academic institutions and the hospitals of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Health Systems to conduct research related to disorders of infancy, childhood, adolescence and young adults. This GCRC is a valuable resource for training young investigators and sponsors formal as well as practical training in research methodologies. Presently, NIH funded clinical investigations in the GCRC cover a wide spectrum of human disorders. These include type 1 diabetes in children, treatment of severe pediatric obesity and its co-morbidities, racial predisposition to obesity, insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes, effects of middle ear effusion on balance and speech development, genetics of middle ear disease and congenital adrenal hyperplasia, genetic factors in childhood- onset depression, Group A streptococcal infections in school children, diagnosis of abuse in children, immunosuppression modalities in organ transplantation, treatment of cystic fibrosis, the genetics of necrotizing enterocolitis, and last but not least new therapies in traumatic brain injury. The GCRC investigators come from a diversity of disciplines including medicine, nursing, dentistry, behavioral sciences, public health and engineering. Since the last competitive renewal the GCRC supported the successful acquisition of K23 awards by three young GCRC investigators. Moreover, new training opportunities were realized by the awarding of a K24, T32 and K12 grants to the Program Director and Associate Director. The present application requests support for 5 years (years 43-47) for the pediatric GCRC to continue its productivity in clinical research and in training the new generation of scientists in patient-oriented research.