Human Subjects Core

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A variety of research projects within the Core-Center employ human subjects. The Human Subjects Core (HSC) greatly facilitates our collective research goals by centralizing a set of common procedures, operated by a seasoned staff that interact effectively with both the subjects and with faculty, students, and laboratory staff within the research studies supported by the Core. The Core provides several key services. First, the Core coordinates recruitment and screening of human subjects across research projects (normal and patient). This includes identifying subjects and obtaining informed consent, followed by basic medical and sensorimotor/neurologic exams, as well as physiologic and cognitive screening relevant to the populations targeted by Core studies. Populations now under study include normal subjects across a broad range of ages, subjects with specific neurological disorders (e.g. inherited ataxias, Alzheimer's and other degenerative diseases), and subjects with specific sensory loss (hearing, vision, vestibular), but otherwise healthy. Second, the Core coordinates scheduling and tracking across projects in order to maximize efficiency and convenience for subjects, investigators and staff. Further, the use of common subjects across studies supplies novel and paired observations that enhance productivity and stimulate new and collaborative research. Third, the Core maintains a powerful modern database that provides protected access to data and analytic tools for investigators and staff. This central service promotes new studies while making existing ones more efficient. Fourth, Core services include the coordination of protocol approvals, staff credential ing, and record keeping required of all human studies. The above services and tasks are made exceedingly efficient by a centralized structure orchestrated by a seasoned and trained staff. The benefits unload time and effort for faculty and staff to pursue more directly relevant research goals, and simultaneously catalyze new projects and collaborations. This is apparent in the growth of human studies in the Core-Center, including those by new faculty and ongoing ones alike.