The primary function of the Clinical Research Unit (CRU) Core Laboratory is to provide technical support for sophisticated clinical research assays.
The CRU Core Laboratory currently supports clinical research protocols carried out by investigators on both the Bayview campus and downtown (Hopkins Hospital) campus. In addition, we are the Immunoassay Core Laboratory for the GCRC at the University of Maryland and carry out specialized immunoassays for investigators at the NIH Clinical Center in Bethesda, MD.
Within this context, the Core Laboratory supports CRU approved protocols by providing facilities, technical experience and training for non-routine blood and urine biochemical analyses. To accomplish this, the Core has the following specific aims: (1) to provide state of the art facilities and technical support to characterize biological samples by immunoassays; and (2) the development or validation of new methods for this purpose.
Currently employed assays include: small metabolites (e.g. - glucose, creatinine), hormones (e.g. – DHEAS, estrogen, leptin, luteinizing hormone, follicle stimulating hormone, testosterone, and thyroid stimulating hormone) markers for bone metabolism (e.g. - carboxy-terminal propeptides and N-telopeptides of type I collagen, osteocalcin, bone alkaline phosphatase, and urine deoxy-pyridinoline crosslinks), acute phase reactants (e.g. – high sensitivity C reactive Protein, serum amyloid A), cytokines (e.g. – interleukens, interferon-gamma, tumor necrosis factor-alpha), chemokines, adhesion molecules (e.g. - sICAM, sVCAM, S- and P-selectins). These assays are clinical tools for the study of aging and disease and are also useful clinically for tracking therapeutic outcomes.
The Core has three full time technicians and a director. The personnel of the Core have many years of combined laboratory experience in the mechanics of clinical assays and in prioritizing access to existing Core resources. It is a goal of the Core to not only promote the investigator' s ability to obtain accurate clinical data, but to also develop a critical understanding of the mechanics of assays and their potential limitations. Towards this end the Core Laboratory has a policy of maintaining a continuous dialogue with the investigators throughout the entire course of a project from initial experimental design to final data analysis.
