Microbiome

Clinical Studies and Database Core

ChangNaliboffShin

The clinical studies services support the integration, unification, and operation of interdisciplinary research efforts performed by investigators from different specialties, departments and campuses. Communication is a necessary and important element of this center. Core directors are familiar with both NIH and private sector funding and will be instrumental in supporting PIs as they navigate grant awards and study protocols as well as facilitating study operation from project approvals through recruitment, screening and retention. 

The database services support the integration, synergy and productivity of the programs within the Goodman-Luskin Microbiome Center through the creation and maintenance of a multimodal database that includes clinical and biological information from center studies. This comprehensive and secure multi-omics database will be the foundation for the cross-modality and cross-project studies crucial to the center’s overall goals, while preserving individual PI’s data access and control. The Clinical Studies and Database Core (CSDC) will also provide databased information, visualization, and content for media production.

The core is supported by the extensive background and expertise of the directors and staff in clinical and translational research and project management, including grant and manuscript writing, project setup, participant screening, recruitment strategies, psychometrics, study questionnaires and database management.

Clinical Studies and Database Core Director Lin Chang, MD, Co-Director Bruce Naliboff, PhD, and Co-Director Andrea S. Shin, MD, MSCR

For more information on clinical studies services, contact Lin Chang, MD, at linchang@mednet.ucla.edu

For more information on database services, contact Cathy Liu, database manager, at cathyliu@mednet.ucla.edu

Clinical studies services

  1. Clinical research project development for grant proposals
  2. Clinical study coordinator support to PIs, including recruiting, screening, consenting and enrolling study participants, coordinating and completing clinical and neuroimaging visits and assistance with IRB submissions
  3. Clinical resource support will provide centralized, coordinated support, management, and oversight for preparation and completion of human studies as needed
  4. Clinical and biological sample collection from human study participants

Database and media services

  1. Consultation on methods of data collection and data structure, including selection of questionnaires, information on how best to label and organize clinical and biological data and ideal patient self-report measures to facilitate data analysis and collaborations across laboratories
  2. Set up and consultation on on-line data collection methods
  3. Data cleaning, quality control, automated scoring of common clinical measures and updating descriptive statistics on database content
  4. Dataset generation for statistical processing
  5. Data management and storage
  6. Coordination with the other cores of the Goodman-Luskin Microbiome Center (e.g., Neuroimaging Core, Microbiome Core, Bioinformatics Core and Biorepository Core) for the creation of multimodal and multi-omics datasets
  7. Formatting assistance with presentation slides
  8. Formatting assistance with scientific posters
  9. Figure generation suitable for manuscripts and grants

Facilities and equipment

  • The core is housed in a 6,000-square-foot space in the UCLA Center for Health Sciences building, room 42-210. Offices for the core’s key personnel are located here.
  • The core utilizes adjacent clinical research space which includes two physical examination rooms and a laboratory for processing and storage of specimens.
  • The core utilizes UCLA Health IT (DGIT) services and servers as primary computational and storage resources. All on-premise datacenter facilities and cloud computing services are HIPAA-compliant. DGIT provides enterprise-level storage that reliably houses critical data in a fast, scalable and highly available environment (cloud and on-premise) that includes managed access, encrypted drives, tiered storage and data retention. DGIT implements advanced security measures, high-tech monitoring, and the most up-to-date practices to keep the network infrastructure secure and reliable, including next-generation firewall management, advanced malware protection and data loss prevention. for the databases are MySQL (MariaDB) in Linux (Ubuntu) environment and Microsoft Access in Windows environment
  • Primary software for the databases are MySQL (MariaDB) in Linux (Ubuntu) environment and Microsoft Access in Windows environment
  • Primary software for websites and web applications include WordPress, PHP and JavaScript
  • Primary web-based survey tools include Qualtrics and SurveyMonkey
  • Primary graphics software include Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop and Microsoft PowerPoint
  • Other software used by core personnel include Microsoft Office suite, Adobe Acrobat, SPSS and SAS