The AMC Campus is a state-of-the-art 7.411 million square foot campus consisting of three hospitals (University of Colorado Hospital (UCH), The Children’s Hospital (TCH), and the Denver VA Medical Center (DVAMC)), along with new administrative, research and educational facilities. It is the Rocky Mountain Region’s only academic medical center with a long history of successful basic and clinical sciences research funding. The campus is a leader in biomedical and health sciences research, generating an excess of $479M for the Denver area campuses and $924M university wide in sponsored research. AMC bolsters collaboration amongst clinicians and investigators as clinical and basic science research labs, educational and core research facilities, and the adjacent 160 acre Colorado Bioscience Park are all within walking distance. The Department of Medicine (DOM) at AMC has more than $98M in current research funding. It consistently is among the top 25 Departments of Medicine in National Institutes of Health research funding. The DOM faculty are leaders in the scientific community, with research that makes major contributions to the advancement of biomedical knowledge. DOM is a very active participant in the University of Colorado’s Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute (CTSI). Research subjects with AUDs and controls undergo protocols in the UCH - Clinical and Translational Research Center (UCH-CTRC). The UCH-CTRC is one component of the Colorado Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute (CCTSI). The UCH-CTRC's inpatient unit includes 4 ICU rooms and 9 step-down or medical/surgical patient rooms with 24 hour staffing. All registered nurses on the UCH-CTRC are required to have ACLS and BLS certifications. The UCH-CTRC has the experience and monitoring equipment to manage simple pharmacokinetic studies to complex ICU studies. Additionally, research subjects with Respiratory Failure on Mechanical Ventilation will be enrolled from the UCH Medical ICU (MICU). Dr. Burnham has been the Medical Director for the MICU since 2006. The MICU is comprised of 24 fully equipped inpatients ICU beds. There is 24 hour staffing by MDs who are board certified in critical care. The nurse to patient staffing ratio in the MICU is 1:1 or 1:2. All nurses have expertise in care of critically ill medical patients with a variety of diagnoses in this quaternary referral center. Research subjects with burn injury will also be enrolled from the UCH Burn Intensive Care Unit (BICU), the only Burn Center in Colorado to be verified by the American Burn Association. The BICU includes 11 fully equipped inpatient ICU beds. Specialized resources provided for this unit include 24 hour staffing with either a 1:2 or 1:1 nurse: patient ratio; expertise in burn wound care; ACLS/BLS certification by nursing personnel.
Founded in 1836, Emory University has grown into a national center for teaching, research, and service. It is recognized as one the top 25 Universities in the US. The Robert W. Woodruff Health Sciences Center joins those components of Emory University concerned with patient care, education of health professionals, research affecting health and illness, and policies for prevention and treatment of disease. It is an academic health science and service center focused on missions of teaching, research, health care and public service. Its components include Schools of Medicine, Nursing, and Public Health, the Emory Winship Cancer Institute, and Emory Healthcare, the largest, most comprehensive health system in Georgia.
Research subjects with AUDs will be recruited from the Atlanta VA Medical Center, a 350-bed acute medical-surgical VA hospital located in Decatur, GA, less than 1 mile from the Emory University campus. The Atlanta VA supports a large multi-disciplinary research program with over 140 principal investigators and nearly $25 million in research expenditures per year. Outpatients in the VA’s Substance Abuse Treatment Program who are being evaluated and treated for alcohol problems, will be recruited into VA-approved investigations. A portion of these collected samples and data will be available for CoPARC-related projects.
The Medical Center’s 70-acre Health Sciences Division campus is across the street from the Edward J. Hines Jr. Veterans Affairs Hospital and is home to many facilities, including Loyola University Hospital, Loyola Outpatient Center, Cardinal Bernardin Cancer Center, the Center for Translational Research and Education and a Level I trauma center for children and adults. The Medical Center is a part of Loyola University Health System, a private, academic health-care institution that is nationally recognized for its specialty care and research in such areas as cancer, cardiology and cardiovascular surgery, pediatrics, neonatology, neurosciences, burn and trauma care, and organ transplantation. There are six basic science Departments and Programs located at the Medical Center, including Integrative Cell Biology, Cell and Molecular Physiology, Microbiology and Immunology, Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, Molecular Biology, and Neuroscience. Additionally, six areas of research concentration designated as the Burn and Shock Trauma Institute, the Infectious Disease and Immunology Institute, the Cardiovascular Institute, the Oncology Institute, the Institute of Public Health and the Neiswanger Institute for Bioethics and Health Policy are also located on the Medical Center campus.
The Burn Shock Trauma Research Institute (BSTRI) has a staff of about 70, including nurses, patient care technicians, service coordinators and service associates. The Burn Center is one of the busiest in the Midwest, treating nearly 600 patients annually in the hospital, and another 3,500 patients each year in its clinic. The Burn Center is based on the 7th floor of Loyola University Hospital. It contains 21 beds, including 10 intensive care beds and an 11 bed step-down unit. Patients with burn injury in the Burn Center are being actively recruited into Institutional Review Board (IRB)-approved studies; a portion of samples collected will be used to support the conduct of investigations for CoPARC. The Burn Center was awarded verification by the American College of Surgeons (ACS) and the American Burn Association (ABA). This recognition is only granted to those programs that have met and exceeded the ACS and ABA standards and review.
With collaboration from a highly engaged community of skilled professionals and access to world-class facilities, UNMC researchers identify and focus on critical questions that lead to new knowledge and, in the long term, life-changing therapies. Breakthroughs like stem cell transplantation to treat cancer have proven critical to Nebraska, the nation and the world. UNMC strives to strategically grow funded research, to developing globally recognized research programs, and improve the health of Nebraskans. The Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, Sleep and Allergy at the University of Nebraska is interested in the diagnosis and treatment of diseases of the lungs and respiratory system. Areas of expertise include chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), asthma, cystic fibrosis, environmental and occupational lung disease, lung cancer, sleep medicine, and the treatment of critically ill adult patients. The Division's research labs, located at both the University of Nebraska Medical Center and the Omaha VA Medical Center, are focused on research in airway inflammation injury and repair. The Division also has a very active Clinical Studies Unit involved in clinical trials for asthma, COPD, smoking cessation, and cystic fibrosis.
The Lung Transplant Database and Biorepository (LTDB) will support a registry of patients pre- and post-lung transplant, along with the creating a biorepository related to lung transplant. Donor lungs not ultimately used in transplant will be processed and stored for investigations, including those related to CoPARC. Research being performed utilizing COPARC biospecimens is focused on how different environmental exposures such as alcohol intake, inhaled toxins, dusts, and aging affect pulmonary innate immunity.