NIAMS Multidisciplinary Clinical Research Center

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Responding to an urgent call to action from the 2012 Institute of Medicine report. Living Well with Chronic Illness: A call for public health action and the 2010 National Public Health Agenda for Osteoarthritis (NPHAOA), this application proposes a new Multidisciplinary Clinical Research Center (MCRC) at the Thurston Arthritis Research Center (TARC) at the University of North Carolina (UNC), entitled Mitigating The Public Health Impact of OA. The proposed MCRC draws together multiple units and investigators new to OA research into novel collaborative relationships with the long-term goals of: 1) understanding the etiologic factors associated with development and progression of OA and Its resultant disability; 2) Identifying best practices to Inform adoption of critical public health recommendations in communities to prevent the occurrence and progression of these outcomes, and 3) transforming the face of OA research on the UNC campus by serving as a hub for Innovation, training, and collaboration. The NPHAOA recommends addressing joint injury prevention, increased physical activity, weight control, and arthritis self-management education to slow this looming public health crisis. This MCRC will use these themes as its focus and leverages 2 distinctive UNC studies: 1) the Johnston County OA Project, a 20+ year prospective cohort of OA and disability in African American and White men and women in NC, and 2) JUMP-ACL, a unique cohort studying knee injury in men and women military cadets in whom pre-injury biomechanics data and biological specimens are available. Project #1 addresses basic mechanisms behind the role of partner support in the initiation and maintenance of increased physical activity in insufficienty active people with OA. Project #2 examines the relationship between biomechanics and biomarkers in predicting knee injury and development of injury-mediated OA. The Methodology Core is central and will support the 2 proposed projects and multiple other extant projects relevant to the mission of NIAMS and will foster new research and provide training in research methodology and mentoring to the next generation of arthritis researchers. An Administrative Core with an Executive Committee and Internal and External Advisory Boards will support the Center. By bringing together our established investigators with new expertise in physical activity measurement, biomechanics, and biomarkers, and newly trained young investigators, this vibrant center will advance the public health OA agenda and lay the foundation for implementing future interventions to treat and prevent OA and its consequences.