Cores
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(615) 343-8776
tn-cfar@vumc.org
About the TN CFAR CSC
The Clinical Sciences Core (CSC) fills gaps in the local research environment, and in so doing supports the mission of the CFAR to reduce the overall burden of HIV/AIDS. Access to people with HIV (PWH) who are able to serve as volunteers for prospective research studies is essential for HIV-quality clinical and translational research. In addition, the CSC provides access to large clinical cohort datasets and a robust biospecimen repository. Since this CFAR was established, the CSC has been integral to its success. The CSC is essential for early stage investigators on their path toward independent extramural funding, which equips the next generation of research scientists while also serving to expand this CFAR’s HIV research portfolio and funding base.
Specific Aims of the CSC
- To propel use of observational databases for high impact HIV clinical and translational research.
- To support research projects that require access to study volunteers and associated prospective collection of data and biological specimens.
- To support research opportunities for MMC investigators, including team science.
Access to research study participants (associated data and specimens) as well as to large clinical cohort datasets, are essential for high-quality clinical and translational HIV research. The CSC serves all investigators, provides efficiencies for non-clinical investigators, and supports investigators who have not previously focused on HIV infection, as well as more junior investigators. Building upon the foundational partnership between Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) and Meharry Medical College (MMC), in 2015 we pioneered a new partnership with the Tennessee Department of Health (TDH), with statewide impact. During the first grant cycle the CSC supported many MMC investigators and fostered new collaborations. The CSC overall provided services and consultation in support of many MMC investigators. The CSC is essential for early stage investigator (ESI) career development. During the next grant cycle, Nashville CARES (hereafter called “CARES”) joins the CFAR as a partner. CARES is a sophisticated HIV community-based organization with a considerable research portfolio. One aspect of the partnership involves CFAR design of databases to support planned pragmatic research at CARES, both for persons living with HIV, and those at risk. This leverages Vanderbilt leadership in non-HIV pragmatic research. Utilizing this new resource, the CSC will emphasize community-participatory research with CARES. Building upon the expertise and collective infrastructure of the CFAR, coupled with the addition of a robust, established community partner, we propose the following 3 specific aims:
To propel use of observational databases for high impact HIV clinical and translational research.
The CSC’s highly productive Epidemiology & Outcomes (“Epi-Outcomes”) Group supports analyses that extend from local databases (esp. Vanderbilt Comprehensive Care Clinic, VCCC) to statewide, national and global projects. The Epi-Outcomes Group has nurtured the careers of many trainees and ESI. During this next grant cycle, analyses will expand to include, for the first time, community-based data collected at CARES.
To support research projects that require access to study volunteers and associated prospective collection of data and biological specimens.
Infrastructure to support research involving study volunteers is essential for HIV investigations. The CSC leverages, in part, infrastructure of participant-based HIV research programs used for ACTG clinical trial at Vanderbilt in order to serve CFAR investigators.
To support research opportunities for MMC investigators, including team science.
During the next grant cycle, the CSC will emphasize team science to grow collaborations between MMC and VUMC investigators, with a focus on nurturing team leadership by MMC investigators. This builds on some success to date promoting clinical research collaborations between MMC and VUMC investigators, which are generating some of the first ever joint VUMC-MMC publications in HIV.
Services Offered
- Consult on study design, analysis, and protocol development
- Validated retrospective datasets tailored to investigators’ needs
- REDCap database design for prospective studies
- Data management
- Regulatory and IRB support
- Identification of individuals who are eligible for research according to study-specific criteria
- Recruitment and informed consent
- Study visits with Research Nurses, including specimen collection
- Microbiome specimen collection
- Qualitative interviewing
- Clinical skills such as Freid’s frailty examination, cognitive assessment, venipuncture, oral glucose tolerance testing
- Isolation of peripheral blood mononucleated cells (PBMCs)
- Access to specimen repository
CSC Leadership
David Haas, MD
Core Director | View Profile Here
Vladimir Berthaud, MD, MPH
Associate Director | View Profile Here
Timothy Sterling, MD
Co-Associate Director | View Profile Here