Clinical and Statistical Support Core/Loyd

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CORE B: This Core supports the Projects in this application through three functions. These are: Function 1) to coordinate recruitment of PAH patients and controls, clinically evaluate enrollees and conduct sample collection; Function 2) establish and maintain a biospecimen repository and distribute its resources (serum, plasma, circulating cells, cultured fibroblasts, DNA, RNA, banked tissue samples) to Projects 1, 2 and 3 and to collaborators at Columbia and for other NIH funded investigators; Function 3) facilitate analysis of data, especially human data in Projects 1, 2 and 3. The idiopathic PAH patients will largely be drawn from our Center for Pulmonary Vascular Disease, a clinical center that has nearly 450 reference patients and has successfully participated in over 20 national clinical trials over the last decade. Controls will come from the Vanderbilt General Clinical Research Center bank (ResearchMatch.com) and from within families. We use a national specimen and survey company for offsite collection of specimens. HPAH patients will also be recruited from Columbia University through an ongoing collaboration with Dr. Wendy Chung who runs the PH genetics component of the Columbia PH group. In Function 2, blood, urine, fibroblasts, cells, DNA, RNA and tissue will be generated, processed and stored in the laboratories of the Pulmonary Circulation Genomics Center, the Vanderbilt DNA Resource Core and the laboratories of the Pulmonary Division. Management of the entire collection will be done by dedicated personnel using the comprehensive REDCap data base. We have a history of over 2 thousand total subjects in our database, including the Progeny Software used for genetic and family data, and can move DNA, RNA, data and materials reliably and accurately. Function 3 is the analysis of data created largely in Projects 1 and 2. The development and design of experiments has been aided by our Epidemiologist and Statistician who will be the statistical coordinator for the entire PPG, including powering, sample size, estimates, outcome measures, data check and quality control, application of appropriate biostatlstical tests depending on data sets and hypotheses. Thus statistical support is fully integrated into the design, conduct and analysis.