California

Harbor–UCLA Medical Center

General Clinical Research Center
Harbor–UCLA Medical Center, Box 16
1000 West Carson Street
Torrance, CA 90509-2910
E-mail: gcrcinfo@labiomed.org
Web site: http://gcrc.labiomed.org

Grant No. M01 RR00425

Special Assays, Services, or Tests

Plasma and urine analysis of amino acids and 3-methyl-histidine

Preparation of lymphocytes for storage and transport to satellite center for immortalization for human genetic studies

Radioimmunoassay of gonadotropins, testosterone, and free testosterone, growth hormone, insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-I, IGF-II, glucagon, somatostatin, IGF binding proteins, catecholamines, and cytokines

Special Resources, Instruments, or Services

Biomedical spectrometry core facility with gas chromatography/mass spectrometer, isotope ratio mass spectrometer, liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry

Body composition core offering anthropometry, total-body water, bioelectrical impedance, and dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA)

Sleep laboratories

Major Areas of Investigation

Endocrinology and Metabolism: National and international center leading in the development of hormonal methods for male contraception; multifaceted studies to delineate the effects of androgens on bone and muscle mass and strength, sexual function, sleep apnea, mood, and cognitive behavior in hypogonadal men and in wasting states including HIV-associated cachexia, chronic lung diseases; investigation of new androgen delivery systems; nutritional influences on androgen metabolism; role of androgens in multiple sclerosis; semen quality and exposure to environmental toxicants; role of oscillation of hormones in glucose regulation; pathogenesis of hypoglycemia; early beta cell dysfunction prior to type 2 diabetes; islet cell transplantation for type 1 diabetes; regulation of gluconeogenesis using stable isotope tracers; studies of type 2 diabetes of the young; studies of role of immunological functions of fibroblasts and thyrocytes in Graves' disease and other autoimmune diseases.

Infectious Diseases: Molecular mechanisms of Candida adherence to endothelial cells; natural history and significance of Candida in urine.

Maternal-Fetal Medicine: Treatment of oligohydramnios with desmopressin acetate (DdAVP); mechanisms of fetal swallowing and fluid control; use of magnesium in pregnancy.

Nephrology: Pathogenesis and genetics of diabetic nephropathy; role of exercise training in end-stage renal disease and during dialysis; protein balance in end-stage renal disease: inflammatory and nutritional influences in end-stage renal disease; significance of coronary artery calcifications in renal disease.

Neurology and Psychiatry: Multidisciplinary team approach to studies of brain structure and function in patients with sex chromosome aneuploidy; ethnic differences in the metabolism of neuropsychological agents; neuroendocrinology of sleep in patients with depression; genotype-phenotype studies of psychopharmacology; brain structure and function of infants born of mothers who use drugs during pregnancy.

Respiratory Medicine and Cardiology: Effects of androgen treatment in chronic obstructive airway disease; exercise testing in pulmonary hypertension; long-term studies on the role of coronary calcification in heart disease; oxidative function in HIV subjects on highly active antiretroviral treatment (HAART).

Women's Health: Women's Health Initiative Center to evaluate effects of diet, lifestyle changes, and hormones on women's health; leading center to study dietary modulation in the Women's Intervention Study for breast cancer; weight loss in patients with cancer.

Contact Information

For information about this GCRC and how to access its resources, please contact:

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center

General Clinical Research Center Satellite
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Room 1738
8700 Beverly Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90048

Grant No. M01 RR0042

Special Assays, Services, or Tests

Genotyping/phenotyping core provides assistance in the development and successful completion of well-designed genetic studies; access to adequate amounts of DNA for both candidate gene and genome scan studies; access to molecular methodology for the performance of both candidate gene and genome scanning; access to expert mathematical genetic analysis; and access to genomic bioinformatic expertise for the performance of a wide variety of computer-based searches

Human tissue repository to provide for the long-term storage of human tissues and immortalized B lymphocytes

Lymphocyte immortalization facility created to establish an eternal source of human subject-specific DNA, especially for large-scale human genetic studies

Sample acquisition and processing facility for regional, national, and international collection and triage of disease-associated human tissues and biological fluids

Major Areas of Investigation

AIDS: Evaluation of therapeutic approaches to reduce morbidity and mortality of HIV-infected men, women, and children.

Cellular Transplantation: Experimental programs to define the utility of hepatocyte and stem cell (fetal and adult) transplantation for treatment of terminal human diseases of the liver and hematopoietic system.

Endocrinology, Paracrinology, and Autocrinology of Human Neoplasia: Molecular definition of circulating and locally produced factors that modulate the expression of malignant and nonmalignant human neoplasms.

Epidemiology: Multidepartmental—pediatrics, nursing, public health, medicine—effort to create effective immunization schemes for children and prenatal care for mothers in the urban environment.

Genetics of Common Diseases: National and multinational consortia assembled to define genes responsible for diabetes, atherosclerosis, obesity, inflammatory bowel disease, hypertension, osteoporosis, and blindness.

Genetics of Myocardial Development: Multifaceted approach to the definition of genes important in the development of the human heart.

Mitochondrial Genetics: Studies of inherited human diseases caused by mutations in mitochondrial genes.

Skeletal Dysplasia: Worldwide repository for human tissues and cells useful in defining the genetics of inherited skeletal dysplasias affecting children and adults.

Women's Health: Studies to understand long-term effect of diet, lifestyle modification, and specific therapeutic intervention on female malignancies, bone diseases, cardiovascular health, and pregnancy outcomes.

Contact Information

For information about this satellite and how to access its resources, please contact:

University of California, Los Angeles

General Clinical Research Center
27-066 CHS
10833 LeConte Avenue, Box 951697
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1697

Grant No. M01 RR00865

Special Assays, Services, or Tests

Major Areas of Investigation

Contact Information

For information about this GCRC and how to access its resources, please contact:

University of California, San Diego

General Clinical Research Center, Room 8203
University of California Medical Center
200 West Arbor Drive
San Diego, CA 92103-8203

Web site: http://gcrc.ucsd.edu

Grant No. M01 RR00827

Special Assays, Services, or Tests

Major Areas of Investigation

Cardiovascular Diseases: Hypertension; norepinephrine pharmacokinetics; orthostatic hypotension; endocrine effects on the cardiovascular system; role of stress in hypertension; sleep apnea and congestive heart failure.

Endocrinology: Regulation of hypothalamic pituitary function; regulation of hypothalamic function; etiology and prevention of diabetes.

Epidemiology: Osteoporosis, dietary intervention in cancer.

Gastroenterology: Immunology of the gastrointestinal tract.

Genetic Diseases: Cystinosis; disorders of amino acid metabolism, purine metabolism, ammonia metabolism, and organic acid metabolism; Lesch-Nyhan syndrome; lactic acidemia; hyperuricemia; mitochondrial disorders.

Infectious Diseases: Development of antiviral agents.

Metabolism: In vivo insulin action; insulin-resistant states; pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes; dietary therapy in diabetes; diabetic complications; pathophysiology and therapy of hyperlipidemic states.

Neurology: Alzheimer's disease; Parkinson's disease; Leigh's disease.

Oncology: Use of monoclonal antibodies; gene therapy for chronic lymphocytic leukemia and prostate cancer.

Psychiatry: Role of phototherapy in the management of depression; depression and immunity; pain management; neurochemistry.

Pulmonary Medicine: Ventilation and perfusion distribution using inert gases; asthma.

Renal Disease: Aminothiols to treat cystinosis; renal transplantation and benign prostatic hyperplasia.

Reproductive Endocrinology: Polycystic ovary syndrome; biological rhythms of hormones and dehydroepiandrosterone.

Rheumatology: Rheumatoid arthritis.

Sleep Medicine: Obstructive sleep apnea; pharmacology of sleep; sleep and dementia; women and sleep; sleep and depression; sleep and hypertension; physiologic effects of sleep deprivation; sleep physiology and spaceflight.

Contact Information

For information about this GCRC and how to access its resources, please contact:

University of California, San Diego

General Clinical Research Center Satellite
Building 25, 2nd Floor
University of California, Irvine Medical Center
101 The City Drive
Orange, CA 92868

Web site: http://www.gcrc.uci.edu

Grant No. M01 RR00827

Special Assays, Services, or Tests

Applied physiology/human performance testing
Exhaled breath marker testing
Metabolic testing
Neuroimage analysis

Major Areas of Investigation

Alzheimer's Disease: Clinical trials (simvastatin, vitamin E and denepezil HCl, estrogens), validation of an informed consent method; amyloid precursor protein processing in platelets; assessment measures.

Asthma: Treatment with ginkgo biloba; mechanism of exercise-induced asthma; influences of particulate air pollution and NO₂.

Attention Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder: Pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic evaluation of methylphenidate; MRI assessment of effects of medication on ADHD children.

Autism: Neurobiology and genetics; exercise and stress response in children with autism.

Basic Science: Molecular mechanisms of ion channels in cell membranes; calcium ions and lymphocyte activation; migration of neutrophils in chemokine gradients; monocyte-derived dendritic cell biology; cellular and molecular interactions in aging humans; endothelial cell co-stimulation of T cell activation.

Biomedical Engineering: Robotics (adaptive control of reaching movement in children; development of a training device for teaching the spinal cord to walk); exhaled nitric oxide in inflammatory lung disease; human leukocyte gene profiling in response to exercise.

Cancer Measurements of breast tissue optical properties; monitoring the response of chemotherapy in breast cancer tumors by photon migration spectroscopy; enhanced single-visit cervical cancer screening program; clinical treatment and prevention trials (colon, colorectal, leukoplakia, prostate).

Cochlear Implants: Perception in acoustic and electric hearing.

Exercise Physiology: Health consequences of schizophrenia; mechanisms of exercise modulation; countermeasures to microgravity; exercise, cytokines, and growth factors (cystic fibrosis, overweight children); delayed-onset muscle soreness; anabolic/catabolic mediators in children born prematurely; exercise and Parkinson's disease.

HIV/AIDS: Training intervention to enhance adherence to highly active antiretroviral therapy; California NeuroAIDS Tissue Network; selection of R5 HIV-1 (basic science).

Mitochondrial Genetics: Human genetic variation; mitochondrial inborn errors of metabolism and ANT defects in mitochondrial diseases.

Neonatology: Noninvasive measurements of anemia and physiological response in very-low-birthweight infants using NIRS; ultrasound evaluation of bone strength in infants; correlation of growth/inflammatory mediators with measures of body composition (anthropometrics, bone, muscle, and fat mass).

Pediatrics: Osteoporosis prevention in sedentary adolescent females; fitness and cardiovascular disease risk factors in healthy children; tuberculosis immunity in children; hypoglycemia and exercise in children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes.

Stress Response: Psychological states and cancer; influence of prenatal maternal stress and maternal neuroendocrine responses on fetal behavior and infant development.

Contact Information

For information about this satellite and how to access its resources, please contact:

University of Southern California

General Clinical Research Center
LA County and USC Medical Center
1200 North State Street, Room 6602
Los Angeles, CA 90033

Web site: www.usc.edu/hsc/gcrc

Grant No. M01 RR00043

Special Assays, Services, or Tests

Calcium and magnesium (serum, urine, diet) by atomic absorption
Diet ashing, lymphocyte preparation
DNA extraction
Establishment of Epstein-Barr virus-immortalized cell lines
Genotyping and sequencing
Hemoglobin A_1C by HPLC
Inulin (plasma, urine)
Microalbumin (urine) by RIA
Para-aminohippurate (plasma, urine)
Variety of peptide assays–ELISA
Sodium and potassium (urine, diet) by flame photometry

Special Resources, Instruments, or Services

DEXA scanner for body composition analysis
Dietary analysis of food records and dietary histories
Exercise testing for fitness (VO₂max)
Indirect calorimetry for assessment of metabolic rates
Shared equipment for genetic analysis
Database construction

Major Areas of Investigation

Diabetes and Metabolism: Pathogenesis and genetics of type 2 diabetes in adults and children; prevention of type 1 and type 2 diabetes; diabetes and atherosclerosis; diabetes in pregnancy; muscle metabolism and wasting in aging.

Endocrinology: Thyroid hormone metabolism; goiter and thyroid malignancy; metabolic bone disease; magnesium metabolism and deficiency.

Gastroenterology: Therapy of chronic viral hepatitis.

Infectious Diseases: Wasting in AIDS; drug treatment of HIV infection and opportunistic infections; mechanisms and prevention of maternal-child HIV transmission; HIV infection and obesity; diabetes and insulin resistance.

Neurology: Immunotherapy for multiple sclerosis, treatment of seizure disorders.

Obstetrics and Gynecology: Fetal complications of gestational diabetes.

Oncology: Clinical pharmacology of chemotherapeutic agents; novel combination chemotherapy, immunotherapy of cancer; treatment of AIDS-related malignancies.

Contact Information

For information about this GCRC and how to access its resources, please contact:

University of Southern California

General Clinical Research Center Satellite
Children's Hospital of Los Angeles
Mail Stop 62
4650 Sunset Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90027

Grant No. M01 RR00043

Special Assays, Services, or Tests

Gene therapy/bone marrow transplant laboratory
Neuropsychology services: Design of neuropsychological components, evaluation measures, and age-appropriate assessments
PCR analysis of in vitro colonies and patient specimens
Transduction of CD34+ cells; isolation of CD34+ bone marrow cells; growth of lymphoid and hematopoietic colonies from peripheral blood and bone marrow specimens

Major Areas of Investigation

AIDS: Clinical trial of gene therapy for HIV-infected children with autologous cord blood or bone marrow cells.

Bone Marrow Transplantation: Transplantation for both autologous and allogeneic bone marrow in genetic, immunological, hematological, and oncological diseases; evaluation of long-term effects of bone marrow preparative regimens and their long-term effects.

Diabetes: Investigations of the neuropsychological effects of diabetes; evaluation of new therapies.

Gene Therapy: Clinical trials for immunodeficiency diseases, pediatric brain tumors, and HIV.

Hematology and Oncology: New therapy modalities including gene therapy for brain tumors and neuroblastoma; differentiating agents and immunotherapy.

Immunology: Investigations into primary immunodeficiency diseases and establishment of new therapeutic modalities.

Neurology: Evaluation and treatment of seizures in children and infants through integration of clinical and basic research; development of novel therapies for pediatric seizures.

Radiology: Development of new imaging modalities and paradigms to derive functional and biochemical data in children with metabolic disorders.

Contact Information

For information about this satellite and how to access its resources, please contact:

University of Southern California

General Clinical Research Center Satellite
City of Hope National Medical Center
1500 East Duarte Road
Duarte, CA 91010

Grant No. M01 RR00043

Major Areas of Investigation

Cancer Chemotherapy: Phase I and phase II studies in cancer chemotherapy with and without stem cell support.

Diabetes and Atherosclerois: Genetic studies in Hispanic populations; treatment of diabetic polyneuropathy; islet transplantation for type 1 diabetes.

Radioimmunotherapy: Use of Y-90 labeled monoclonal antibodies for treatment of neoplastic disease.

Stem-Cell-Based Gene Therapy: Application of retrovirus and adeno-associated virus vectors and other novel viral vectors for stem cell transplantation in AIDS lymphoma.

T Cell-Based Gene Therapy: Application of hybrid T cell receptor methods for cellular therapy for lymphoma, leukemia, glioblastoma and neuroblastoma.

Vaccine Development Development of a peptide-based vaccine for human cytomegalovirus; development of a vaccine for breast cancer.

Other Studies Molecular pathogenesis of therapy-related leukemia; evaluating the hypothalamic-pituitary axis after hematopoeitic cell transplantation (HCT).

Contact Information

For information about this satellite and how to access its resources, please contact: