# Human Translational Core

> **NIH NIH P30** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO · 2024 · $311,529

## Abstract

Summary
 The overarching objective of the Human Translational Core is to facilitate bench-to-bedside and reverse
translational studies by providing members of the San Diego Digestive Diseases Research Center (SDDRC)
efficient access to human biospecimens of well-characterized cohorts of patients with digestive diseases. The
Core facilitates clinical and translational research through pathological consultation and advanced biostatistical
services. The Core is led by highly accomplished clinical and translational researchers from the UCSD Division
of Gastroenterology, Dr. Rohit Loomba as Director and Dr. Brigid Boland as Co-Director. Drs. Loomba and
Boland have established biorepositories in the Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) Center and
Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) Center, respectively, to benefit the SDDRC. Since inception of the SDDRC
four years ago, the Human Translational Core has had great success in supporting Center members as
evidenced by its usage by 66% of SDDRC members, distribution of ~9,000 human biospecimens and 1,500
clinical metadata sets, over 1,300 hours of clinical, biostatistical and pathology consultations, and its outstanding
productivity and impact in 135 publications that acknowledge the Center grant based upon primary usage of
services from this Core. Established strengths of this Core include: 1) Outstanding track record of the Core
leadership in translational research related to inflammation in gastrointestinal and liver diseases, and their
experience in detailed phenotyping of patients with digestive diseases (NAFLD and chronic liver disease for Dr.
Loomba, IBD for Dr. Boland); 2) Access to well-characterized and highly diverse cohorts of patients with specific
digestive diseases; 3) Access to a biorepository of human biospecimens including needle biopsy liver tissue and
endoscopic biopsy gastrointestinal tissues, plasma, serum, peripheral blood mononuclear cells and stool; 4)
Access to archived clinical pathology samples from the UCSD Medical Center; 5) Leverage of state-of-the-art
data management resources established at the UCSD Altman Clinical and Translational Research Institute
(ACTRI); 6) Outstanding expertise in GI pathology and advanced biostatistics; and 7) Excellent training
opportunities for Center members and their staff. The Core has the following specific service aims: Aim 1. To
collect, process, annotate and distribute human biospecimens coupled with patient metadata to Center
investigators; Aim 2. To provide archived clinical pathology samples from the UCSD Medical Center to SDDRC
investigators; Aim 3. To offer clinical, biostatistical and pathological consultation services, as well as training
opportunities. Thus, the Human Translational Core will continue to make important contributions to the research
of SDDRC investigators by providing unique and cost-effective services involving human tissues, clinical
metadata and translational study approaches that enhance the scope and innovation of...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10861666
- **Project number:** 2P30DK120515-06
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO
- **Principal Investigator:** ROHIT LOOMBA
- **Activity code:** P30 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $311,529
- **Award type:** 2
- **Project period:** 2019-07-01 → 2029-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10861666

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10861666, Human Translational Core (2P30DK120515-06). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-29 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10861666. Licensed CC0.

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