CACHET - IHSFC

University Of Chicago, Chicago IL

Investigators

Linked publications, trials & patents

Abstract

1. INTEGRATED HEALTH SCIENCES FACILITY CORE: ABSTRACT The Integrated Health Sciences Facility Core (IHSFC) will provide infrastructure and highly focused multidisciplinary services to CACHET members including access to cohorts and bio-banking; environmental health sciences (EHS) design, implementation and applied research support services; innovative approaches to population exposure estimation using both traditional and cutting-edge techniques including device, sensors and wearables and mobile app technologies; and novel statistical services with a focus on challenges in geospatial modeling and evaluation of mixtures. This array of services will provide tools to translate fundamental research into actionable knowledge supporting disease prevention and improving environmental health outcomes across the communities in Chicago. The IHSFC will have leadership at both University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) and University of Chicago (UofC), and will build upon the existing research resources at these institutions to ensure that Core support is used to develop additional key resources for conducting EHS work. Many of the resources that the IHSFC uses to meet the EHS translational research needs of CACHET investigators that exist at our two institutions have been modified, enhanced, centralized and efficiently organized between the two institutions by leveraging the institution-specific strengths and growing Core resources. IHSFC personnel include experts in epidemiological study design, population and clinicbased studies, specimen collection and quality assurance, exposure technology and data analytics to support superior exposure assessment, and statistical methods relevant for modern environmental health studies. IHSFC personnel will collaborate with personnel in the Environmental Biomarkers Facility Core (EBC) to address molecular assay requirements involving biomarkers of environmental exposures and environmental signatures in human biological materials. The IHSFC will also provide interpretation of results and facilitate dissemination of the results to Chicago communities and beyond in conjunction with the Community Engagement Core (CEC). In addition, the IHSFC will work with the CEC as well as relevant Institutional CTSA and Cancer Center Cores to translate community-based EHS questions and concerns into specific scientific hypotheses that may be supported by CACHET through the Pilot Project Program (PPP). Furthermore, the IHSFC will facilitate projects that utilize the Human Health Exposure Analysis Resource (HHEAR), to further enhance CACHET opportunities to conduct expanded target and untargeted analyses of environmental relevance.