Institutional Cores

The Institutional Cores provide scientific, technical, and professional expertise to support the activities within and across all cores.

Regulatory Knowledge & Support and Clinical Research Ethics (RKSCRE)

Judith Kulko, R.N., M.S.N., M.S. is the Core Director of Regulatory Knowledge and Support and Clinical Research Ethics.

She will direct the Office of Clinical and Translational Research with the goals of:

• Combining current regulatory programs and services across the Consortium to enhance good clinical practice and provide regulatory assistance and assure compliance with accepted research practices.
• Identifying gaps in current regulatory and educational programs that impede the development and implementation of clinical and translational research for all investigators
• Designing innovative solutions that will enable investigators to conduct clinical and translational research in a systematized and seamless manner regardless of their location.
• Providing integrated services, housed in a central location, that enhances researchers' ability to conduct clinical and translational research in an expeditious manner, while adhering to the tenets of participant’s rights and safety, good clinical practice, and compliance mandated by federal and state regulations and institutional policies. The office will strive to provide an environment for junior investigators that fosters learning, promotes interactions with the regulatory community and provides a sound education.
• Broadening the research subjects advocate program to include all consortium institutions.

Research Design, Epidemiology & Biostatistics (RDEB)

Dipak Dey, Ph.D., is the Core Director for Biostatistics, which encompasses research study design, epidemiology and biostatistics. He will be working with David G. Pendrys, D.D.S., Ph.D.

Dr. Dey will direct the biostatistics unit with the goals of:

• Providing contemporary biostatistical methodology for the conduct of clinical and translational research,
• Supporting the development of clinical trial and epidemiology study designs,
• Identifying ethical concerns generated by embryonic stem cell research,
• Assisting researchers in developing best practices and tools for recruitment of subjects, informed consent processes, safety management and adverse event reporting, and
• Developing a biostatistical core education curriculum.

Biomedical Informatics (BMI)

Steven Demurjian, Ph.D., is the Core Director of Biomedical informatics. He will be working closely with Thomas Agresta, M.D. and Brent Graveley, Ph.D.

Dr. Demurjian will direct the biomedical informatics unit with the goals of:

• Creating an informatics infrastructure to support basic science Research, Clinical Research, and Community based Research
• Providing an Integrated Supercomputing and Grid Computing Infrastructure to Support Compute Intensive Data Analysis for Basic Science Research, Clinical Research, and Community based Research
• Establishing an Archiving and Access Portal for Long-Term Storage of Relevant CICATS Information
• Promoting Improved Health Outcomes Through the Adoption, Deployment, and Usage of Health Information Technology within the Community
• Continued Application of Cutting Edge Computer Science & Engineering Research to Basic Science Research, Clinical Research, and Community Based Research
• Providing a Customizable Informatics Curricula for Supporting the CTS MS program and other Informatics Education needs for the UConn Health Center and Storrs
• Developing a bioinformatics core educational curriculum

Basic Science & Translation

Research teams under the direction of Marc LaLande, Ph.D., Core Director of Basic Science & Translation will focus on:

• Genetic and environmental basis of pediatric asthma and obesity
• Musculoskeletal disease
• Cardiac disease
• Human pluripotent stem cell research
• Cell analysis and modeling computational resource

Clinical & Translational Research (PCIR)

Under the direction of Victor Hesselbrock, Ph.D., Core Director of Clinical & Translation Research, and Cheryl Oncken, M.D., Associate Core Director, new research teams will be supported with core laboratory services for pilot, collaborative, translational, and clinical studies that focus on:

• Investigator initiated and industry sponsored clinical trials for any medical condition
• Genetic and environmental factors contributing to disease
• Translational research
• Research focus includes addictive disorders (alcoholism, obesity, and substance abuse), bone metabolism, liver disease, infectious diseases