Research Project
9843104
CORE SUMMARY The success of the entire program is contingent upon the availability of human specimens that will allow us to utilize allergen epitope-specific reagents to examine the role of allergen epitope-specific T cell responses in the pathogenesis and treatment of allergic diseases. To fulfill this need, the Clinical Core resource will provide peripheral blood and airway samples for T cell studies from well-characterized allergic and asthmatic subjects to be used in each of the scientific projects. As specifically suggested by the RFA, our approach will utilize either samples derived from NIAD-funded clinical networks and collaborators, or well-characterized samples specifically collected at LJI, most of which are already available in-house at LJI, providing a significant cost savings. Likewise, for the samples derived from clinical networks and collaborators, we rely on established collaborations and ongoing studies. Therefore, we are confident that the target cohorts will be successfully enrolled, and additional scientific input will be available, enabling the most robust and compelling studies. The Clinical Core will provide a centralized resource for accrual and inventory management of human PBMC, plasma and airway samples, and will ensure the quality and uniformity of handling of the samples received. These functions are crucial to provide a strong foundation for the studies described in the proposed projects. The Clinical Core will work closely with the Administrative and Data Management Cores, the individual Projects, and the various clinical subcontractors to enable success of all objectives in this program. This Core will be responsible for managing our inventory of human specimens, submitting and updating IRB protocols for current and new human subjects research, oversight of subject recruitment, quality control of clinical information, and HLA typing of donor samples.
