Abstract (Translation Core) The Translation Core will serve the needs of IDRC affiliated investigators whose research programs require measurements in human subjects or tissues. The Director (Dr. K. Mather) and Associate Directors (Dr. R. Considine and S. Tersey) of this Core bring specific expertise in the design and performance of in vivo measurements for physiologic, translational and proof-of-principle studies in humans. The Translation Core is not only essential for the work of a number of established clinical investigators at Indiana University School of Medicine (IUSM) and its affiliated instituions, but is also an important conduit facilitating entry into the field of diabetes research for investigators not traditionally working with human subjects or human subjects materials. The Specific Aims of the Core include: (1) To enable pre-clinical and clinical IDRC investigators to evaluate in humans various molecular and physiologic advances made in model systems through access to banked human tissues and in vivo human studies. (2) To maintain and augment readily accessible tissue sample banks from human subjects participating in metabolic studies for use by all IDRC investigators. (3) To assist in the design, performance, and interpretation of human subjects studies applying appropriate scientific rigor and statistical methodologies, as well as providing detailed measurements of metabolic physiology in humans. (4) To provide IDRC core laboratory functions that support high-quality, high-throughput, low-cost measurements of circulating hormones, cytokines, and standard chemical analytes of interest to multiple IDRC investigators, measuring samples from human, animal and cultured cell studies. ( 5) To provide training to IDRC investigators, fellows and students in the design and conduct of human translational experimentation. (6) To actively collaborate with IDRC investigators, making available novel measurements and novel methodologies as they apply to human translation studies, including systematically assessing their relevance to human biology and disease using the Translation Core stepped approach. It is anticipated that the Translation Core will augment substantially the research capacity of the investigators in the IDRC by providing a conduit for the translation of key findings to humans.