Center for AIDS Research (CFAR) Clinical Core
Director: J. Michael Kilby, MD
Department/Center Association: CFAR
Established: 1988
Mission
The CFAR Clinical Core was established to provide a bridge between patients attending
the Adult or Pediatric AIDS Outpatient Clinics and the scientific research community. The
Center serves as a hub for clinical, basic and social science investigators.
Research Information
The Clinical Core provides services that foster the interface between basic science,
clinical, behavioral, and epidemiologic investigators and HIV-infected patients. Clinical Core
efforts continue to be organized into four key services:
1.
The Comprehensive Specimen Repository Service is utilized by HIV investigators
representing multiple research disciplines to ensure efficient collection, processing,
storage, quality assurance tracking, distribution, and shipping of clinical specimens
obtained from well-characterized patients. The overall level of repository activity has
been steady over several years, processing and storing or shipping approximately
ten thousand blood and tissue specimens annually for diverse investigational
programs within UAB as well as for collaborators from other institutions.
2.
The Computerized Clinical Database and Informatics Service promotes efficient
identification of potential subjects for clinical trial recruitment; provides key clinical
and laboratory information for translational research projects; and enables linkage of
different types of data (for example, integration of information related to adherence,
quality of life, safety, treatment responses, clinical outcomes, and the costs of care).
During 2005, our customized electronic medical record (EMR) system was fully
implemented and is now utilized for all aspects of routine patient care as well as
clinical and translational research.
3.
The CFAR Clinical Core has continued to expand its Research Training Services,
both to maintain ongoing medical education for current healthcare workers and to
initiate training for both foreign and domestic researchers. One of the key goals of
the Clinical Core is to assist international collaborators and staff with learning about
the conduct of vaccine and therapeutic trials and other clinical research, good clinical
practice, human subjects training, and institutional review board credentialing. A
variety of healthcare workers, nurses, and clinicians regularly rotate through our
clinical services and research programs before moving to other parts of the world to
initiate or carry on treatment and research programs for HIV-infected or at risk
populations. Dr. Michael Kimmerling plays a major leadership role in these CFAR
international training efforts. This same infrastructure and organization enables us to
coordinate the ongoing training of a variety of local clinicians-in-training and a variety
of healthcare-associated workers and students.
4.
A new service recently initiated by the Clinical Core is the High Risk Volunteer
Cohorts Service. The goal of these efforts is to identify individuals who are at high
risk of acquiring HIV infection and enroll them into counseling and testing
interventions. Specimens and clinical information derived from individuals who do or
do not acquire HIV infection over long-term follow-up using these strategies are then
available for a variety of behavioral, epidemiological, and clinical research efforts.
Two different Birmingham area research cohorts supported through the CFAR
Clinical Core have been actively recruiting volunteers over the past year – a
Discordant Couples Cohort and a High Risk Individual Cohort. Both cohorts
contribute to our growing community outreach and education efforts while optimizing
the earliest possible identification of new cases for treatment or secondary
prevention interventions. The cohort also provides identification of potential research
subjects for a variety of clinical research efforts, particularly the AIEDRP studies for
acute and early infections, vaccine and HPTN studies, and ACTG trials for treatmentnaïve, newly-diagnosed individuals. The repository of specimens and clinical
information on discordant couples provides information about both the potential
donor and recipient, crucial for studies related to vaccine development, prevention
strategies including topical microbicides, behavioral studies, and translational
research related to immunogenetics, mucosal transmission and early pathogenesis
events.
Services and Fees
Investigators who wish to obtain specimens from the Clinical Repository are assessed a
processing fee, which is dependent upon the specimen type requested. For more information
on prices and/or obtaining specimens, please send an email to czhang@uab.edu. Projects
involving the Computerized Database/Informatics service may be available for free or may be
subject to a fee if they involve substantial staff time and resources. For more information on this
service, please send an email to Dr. Michael Saag at msaag@uab.edu. Coordination and
assistance with research training efforts is generally provided without fees. Please contact Dr.
Michael Kilby at mkilby@uab.edu with any questions. Questions or research interest in the High
Risk Volunteer Cohorts may also be directed to Dr. Kilby.
Contact Information
Director: J. Michael Kilby, MD
Email: mkilby@uab.edu
Phone: 205-975-1937 or 205-934-1917
Web Site: http://main.uab.edu/cfar/Templates/Inner.aspx?pid=16526
Approved by: J. Michael Kilby, MD, Director
Date: February 7, 2007
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