# Core 2: Clinical Core

> **NIH NIH P50** · WEILL MEDICAL COLL OF CORNELL UNIV · 2021 · $115,993

## Abstract

Program Director/Principal Investigator (Last, First, Middle): PD: Pascual, V. / PI: Punaro, M. CLINICAL & SAMPLE CORE 
Project Summary 
The proposed Center for Lupus Research will take advantage of a wide range of technologies that will be 
applied to monitor molecular pathways driving disease activity in patients toward the ultimate goal of a 
personalized approach to therapy. Cumulative efforts from this project will generate an invaluable sample 
repository as a resource both for the proposed studies and future experimental questions. Thus, the 
necessary and important mission of the Clinical and Sample Core is to insure that all patients will have a 
comprehensive clinical assessment and that patient samples and clinical data will be systematically catalogued 
and tracked, adequately stored, and appropriately disseminated. 
The Clinical Component of this Core will arise from the Division of Pediatric Rheumatology at UT Southwestern 
Medical Center (UTSW) and take advantage of the availability of samples from well-characterized pediatric 
SLE patients, who manifest disease early in life, often present extreme phenotypes and lack co-morbidities that 
confound the phenotypes. Blood samples obtained via this Clinical Component will serve as the source of 
pediatric patient samples for the entire proposed Center for Lupus Research. The aims of this component are: 
clinical diagnosis and assessment of flares and remission, patient enrollment, sample collection and regulatory 
oversight. The Core's Sample Component will be physically located at the Baylor Institute for Immunology 
Research (BIIR) will facilitate collection, and distribution of both comprehensive clinical and laboratory data and 
human subject biosamples. The aims of this component are: project initiation, sample acquisition, sample 
storage and sample distribution. 
The Clinical and Sample Core will build upon existing strengths and expand to coordinate sample and data 
acquisition, processing, storage, and distribution for this P50 grant proposal. The Core will capitalize on the 
long-standing collaboration between Drs. Punaro and Pascual and the outstanding manner in which they have 
historically and continue to liaise the clinic and the research laboratory. These strategies and strengths will 
enable scientists of the proposed Center for Lupus Research from different institutions to work together 
seamlessly and allowing investigators to track clinical and laboratory data associated with samples to ensure 
scientifically sound correlative studies and facilitate a truly synergistic program. 
PHS 398/2590 (Rev. 06/09) Page Continuation Format Page

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10155421
- **Project number:** 5P50AR070594-05
- **Recipient organization:** WEILL MEDICAL COLL OF CORNELL UNIV
- **Principal Investigator:** Marilynn Punaro
- **Activity code:** P50 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $115,993
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2016-09-21 → 2022-02-28

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10155421

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10155421, Core 2: Clinical Core (5P50AR070594-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10155421. Licensed CC0.

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