# Clinical Core

> **NIH NIH P30** · MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL · 2021 · $195,638

## Abstract

CLINICAL CORE: PROJECT SUMMARY
The Clinical Core will be led by Ramnik Xavier (Director), Andrew Chan (Co-Director), and Ashwin
Ananthakrishnan (Technical Director). Core services are organized into (1) consultation, training, and
education, including advice on research study design, execution, and analysis as well as education and training
of junior investigators, residents, and fellows; (2) biospecimen services, including clinical database and patient
identification, biospecimen collection and processing, and serum, stool, and tissue biorepository services; (3)
data collection and analysis, including regulatory services, a genotype and microbiome library, RNA-sequencing
from colonic biopsies, and bioinformatics support; and (4) access to a clinical and translational database,
including detailed phenotyping and clinical data linked to each patient’s genotype and microbiome features.
Central components of the Clinical Core are two patient cohorts: the Prospective Registry in IBD Study at MGH
(PRISM) and the GI Disease and Endoscopy Registry (GIDER). By obtaining pre- and post-event samples, these
cohorts are anchored around disease extension, new diagnosis, and institution of specific biologic treatments
that provide evolving clinical metadata and serial biospecimens. With more than 3,200 patients enrolled, PRISM
now collects biospecimens for metagenomic, metatranscriptomic, and metabolomic analyses as well as
information on early life environmental exposures, fatigue, depression, and diet. The Core recently introduced
GIDER, a longitudinal colonoscopy-based cohort with 800 healthy individuals enrolled to date that will enhance
our understanding of genetic, microbial, and environmental determinants across a spectrum of gastrointestinal
diseases.
This core serves as a hub for interactions between clinicians and basic researchers, allowing scientists to test
hypotheses in human samples and clinicians to gain valuable insight into disease states. The specific aims of
the Clinical Core are to (1) build a biorepository of patients with Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis with
accurate phenotyping of disease as well as sampling of blood, stool, urine, and tissue in various disease states
(active/inactive disease) and related to various therapeutic and environmental perturbations; (2) develop and
expand longitudinal cohorts of health and disease anchored around disease diagnosis, prediction of relapse,
and response to specific therapies in patients with IBD; (3) define the phenotypic implications of genetic loci and
microbial perturbations with regard to clinical manifestations, response to therapy, and to examine the interaction
with the environment; (4) facilitate education and training in research by providing consultations regarding study
design, methods, and analysis as well as attract new investigators to the field through these services; and (5)
translate laboratory and clinical research findings into interventions that improve diagnosis, deve...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10048895
- **Project number:** 2P30DK043351-31
- **Recipient organization:** MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL
- **Principal Investigator:** Ramnik J Xavier
- **Activity code:** P30 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $195,638
- **Award type:** 2
- **Project period:** 1997-01-01 → 2026-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10048895

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10048895, Clinical Core (2P30DK043351-31). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10048895. Licensed CC0.

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