North Carolina Diabetes Research Center

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PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT – CENTER OVERVIEW This proposal seeks to create and support an interactive regional diabetes research community (184 members) across four premiere research institutions in North Carolina, who currently garner over $70 million annually for support of their diabetes research: Duke University (Duke) The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC), Wake Forest School of Medicine (WF), and North Carolina A&T (NC A&T). The North Carolina Diabetes Research Center (NCDRC) will support Research Cores that represent unique strengths at each institution. These Cores will support studies of the current Research Base at each respective institution, but will also be made available to the other NCDRC institutions, where their use has been hampered by less easy access. An expanded Pilot and Feasibility Program will encourage use of these now regional Cores, bring to the field new investigators and young scientists, and draw those not previously working in the field. We will leverage the existing infrastructure at each institution’s NIH Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) site, to guide investigators to other resources that enhance their scientific productivity and efficiency. The goal of this new Center is to create connectivity in the diabetes research community, thereby fostering new advances in basic and translational diabetes research. We will take advantage of the substantial pre-existing resources and capabilities at each institution, and connect investigators to resources unique to each campus, to maximize the ability of member investigators – whether new investigators or scientists new to diabetes research – to answer important questions across the spectrum of translational approaches. There is a history of collaboration in diabetes research among the four institutions. Most importantly for this application, however, are the unique strengths that can be shared among our campuses, and the enormous potential for a large and cohesive community of investigators to advance diabetes research further. Regional Core Resources to be directly supported by the NCDRC will include a Genomics and Proteomics Core, and a world-renowned Metabolomics Core, including not only a range of state-of-the-art analyses but equally importantly, interpretive services that are often a bottleneck for such resources. Expertise in the Advanced Clinical Sciences Methods Core will be focused on driving translation of discovery to clinical care of diabetes, emphasizing state-of-the-art methods. Each Core will offer specialized Research Navigators to guide diabetes-focused investigators. Finally, an Enrichment Program will plan and sponsor an annual symposium, reaching out to investigators whose work and techniques could inform diabetes research. Fellows supported on T32 or T35 training programs at Duke, UNC, and WF, whose work is evolving in a diabetes-relevant direction, will be a special focus for outreach.