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Funding

BOILERPLATE TEXT FOR GRANT APPLICATIONS

This page contains boilerplate text for the Facilities and Resources sections of NIH grant applications

CTSI and CTSI partner institutions

UCLA CTSI

The UCLA Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) is a research partnership of UCLA, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science and the Lundquist Institute for Biomedical Innovation at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center. Its mission is to bring biomedical innovations to bear on the greatest health needs of Los Angeles—one of the most ethnically and economically diverse counties in the United States. Our vision is to catalyze research that translates discoveries into tangible improvements in health care, disease prevention and health in our community. The UCLA CTSI is one of more than 50 research hubs supported by the Clinical and Translational Sciences Award (CTSA) program of National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS). NCATS—one of 27 Institutes and Centers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH)—was established to transform the translational process so that new treatments and cures for disease can be delivered to patients faster. 

Last updated June 1, 2020

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center is a full-service, acute tertiary care hospital and the largest nonprofit hospital in the western United States. Cedars-Sinai is located on a 24-acre site, which includes a 1.6 million square feet main complex and 12 other structures, for a total of more than 4.1 million square feet. This tertiary care facility contains over 886 beds for Internal Medicine, Obstetrics, Gynecology, Pediatrics and Surgery; a 51-bed psychiatric facility; a 28-bed rehabilitation and outpatient surgery unit; a 29-bed Skilled Nursing and Assessment Unit; and the 150-bed Saperstein Critical Care Tower. Cedars-Sinai is a major teaching facility of the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine. Most of the full-time Cedars-Sinai faculty are also faculty at UCLA and are active in the governance and committee structure of UCLA Academic Senate (graduate and undergraduate schools alike). Biomedical research is an integral function of Cedars-Sinai’s commitment to developing excellent patient care. Translational and clinical research at Cedars-Sinai falls under the purview and oversight of the Burns and Allen Research Institute, ranked as the top 11th in non-university biomedical research institutions in the nation in terms of funding from the National Institutes of Health. It includes over 270,000 square feet of laboratory and laboratory support space, including the seven-story, 216,000 square foot Barbara and Marvin Davis Research Building adjacent to the main hospital. The recent completion of the Advanced Health Sciences Pavilion in May 2013 is a testament to Cedars-Sinai 's commitment to bolstering its research capacity and has increased existing wet lab space to 400,000 square feet while co-locating all programs of the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute. Specialized core facilities are shared resources servicing the entire Medical Center’s research community.

Cedars-Sinai serves the diverse Los Angeles community with 2,624 physicians across every clinical specialty, 3,191 nurses, and thousands of other healthcare professionals, staff and volunteers.  In FY20, Cedars-Sinai cared for more outpatients and inpatients than ever before, with 802,354 outpatient visits, occurring at over 250 primary and specialty care locations throughout Los Angeles County, and had 50,646 admissions, 91,014 emergency visits, with a total of 268,011 patients cared for within the Cedars-Sinai medical network. Greater geographic expansion in southern California including Marina del Rey Hospital, affiliate Torrance Memorial Medical Center and partner Providence St. Joseph Health, has created new opportunities for the coordination of care and shared expertise that benefits patients.

Last updated June 1, 2020

Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science

Charles R. Drew University (CDU) is a premier mission-driven university dedicated to transforming the lives of underserved communities through health professions education, biomedical research and compassionate patient care. Since the school was incorporated in 1966 out of the ashes of the Watts Riots, it has been serving South Los Angeles and beyond by working to eliminate health disparities and providing unique, quality education and training opportunities. CDU has earned designation as a minority-serving institution by the U.S. Office for Civil Rights, and is recognized by the Department of Education under Title III B as a Historically Black Graduate Institution. The University is also a charter member of the Hispanic-Serving Health Professions Schools. CDU has produced thousands of diverse healthcare leaders ready to provide care in today’s workforce with excellence and compassion. CDU is located within the Watts/Willowbrook area of Los Angeles County’s Service Planning Area (SPA) 6—one of the most ethnically diverse and socio-economically deprived regions of the country. 95% of the 1,048,734 residents of SPA 6 are from underrepresented minority populations and 52% of residents are foreign born. These residents have been historically isolated from participation in clinical and translational research.

Last updated June 1, 2020

Lundquist Institute for Biomedical Innovation at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center

The Lundquist Institute for Biomedical Innovation at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center is the largest independent, not-for-profit biomedical research institute in Los Angeles County. The Lundquist Institute has an international reputation for scientific discovery, the training of physician-scientists, and the provision of community service programs. Affiliated with both the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and the Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, the Lundquist Institute has an annual budget of over $90M. The Institute traces its roots back to 1952, when researchers and physicians of what was then known as Harbor General Hospital conducted a handful of research studies. Today, more than 1,000 active projects are taking place at the Institute in areas encompassing emerging infections, cancer, women’s health, male reproductive health, pulmonary rehabilitation, neonatology, autoimmune diseases, cardiology, neurosurgery, health services and outcomes as well as genomics/personalized medicine. The Lundquist Institute also plays an active role in promoting the health and well-being of nearby communities through the provision of more than 60 community service programs that meet a variety of important social and medical needs. The 150+ entrepreneurial physician-scientists at Lundquist/Harbor-UCLA have made major contributions to the advancement of medicine, discoveries that have been translated, through Lundquist/Harbor-UCLA’s technology transfer program, into novel paradigms, diagnostics, devices and therapies with global impact.

Paradigms developed at Harbor-UCLA/Lundquist include the conception and development of the first training programs for paramedics as well as nurse practitioners. Diagnostics developed at the Institute include the currently used test for serum cholesterol, the newborn thyroid deficiency screening test now used nationwide for every newborn, and a screening procedure for Tay-Sachs disease that dramatically diminished the incidence rates of this disease worldwide. Therapies include a genetically engineered enzyme replacement therapy for mucopolysaccharidosis, injections to dissolve submandibular fat, an inexpensive treatment for sickle cell anemia and a cross-kingdom vaccine to combat nosocomial infections currently in phase II trials. Pioneering devices include a variety of stents to treat aortic aneurysms and a number of pediatric cardiac monitoring devices including one to give early warning signs to parents of an imminent SIDS event. 

Research at the Lundquist Institute is organized in eight multidisciplinary and trans-departmental “Institutes-within-the-Institute” (IWIs): Cancer Biology and Immunotherapeutics, Health Services and Outcomes, Infection and Immunity, Metabolic Diseases, Neurotherapeutics, Respiratory Medicine, Translational Genomics, and Women’s and Children’s Health. These institutes generate close to $70M in grants and contracts per year, and carry on around 200 clinical trials in any given year. The Lundquist Institute operates on its own 11.5-acre research park on the Harbor-UCLA Medical Center campus, and as a result has extensive interactions with Harbor-UCLA medical staff and the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services.

The Harbor-UCLA Medical Center draws on a catchment area of about 3 million residents, 550,000 of which are below the poverty level including 75% underrepresented minority populations (55% Latino and 20% African American). The hospital is the cornerstone of healthcare services for more than 700,000 residents in the greater South Bay providing high quality healthcare to every patient regardless of ability to pay. It has over 300 full-time faculty members (with academic appointments the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA) and 500 trainees. Harbor-UCLA is actively involved in teaching 50% of all UCLA medical students.

Last updated June 1, 2020

UCLA

UCLA is the second-oldest campus of the UC system. It offers over 125 undergraduate majors and nearly 150 graduate degree programs in a wide range of disciplines. With an enrollment of 31,600 undergraduate and 14,300 graduate students, UCLA has the largest enrollment in the UC system, with more than 168,000 freshman applications for Fall 2021.

The university is organized into six undergraduate colleges, eight professional schools, and four professional health science schools. 15 Nobel laureates have been affiliated with the university as faculty, researchers, or alumni, 11 UCLA faculty and alumni are National Medal of Science winners, and three professors have won Pulitzer Prizes for general non-fiction or history. Among the current faculty, 55 are members of the National Academy of Science; 32 are members of the National Academy of Engineering; 41, the National Academy of Medicine; and 156, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

The 2022 U.S. News & World Report ranked UCLA 1st among public universities and 20th overall among national universities. UCLA ranked 14th in U.S. News & World Report Global Ranking and 20th in the Times Higher Education World Reputation Rankings (2022). UCLA ranked 12th among all universities for research spending in the sciences and engineering during FY17 according to a report by the National Science Foundation. In FY21, UCLA ranked 12th in NIH funding, with 915 awards totaling over $590M. In 2020, UCLA’s total research awards exceeded more than $1 billion, receiving $1.427 billion from federal agencies, industry-sponsored awards, nonprofit and charitable organizations, state government, and institutions of higher education.

In the 2022 edition of the U.S. News & World Report, UCLA Medical Center was placed on its honor roll for the 33rd consecutive year while its hospitals in Westwood and Santa Monica were ranked No. 1 in Los Angeles and No. 1 in California. It was also ranked 3rd in the Nation in "Best Hospitals" report based on 16 different disciplines that vary from patient care to “quality, safety, efficiency and reputation.” UCLA Medical Center was also in the top 3% of institutions that were ranked as top in the nation in specialties, including top 10 rankings in 12 specialties: diabetes and endocrinology (No. 4); gastroenterology and gastrointestinal surgery (4); geriatrics (4); pulmonology and lung cancer (4); ophthalmology at the UCLA Stein and Doheny Eye Institutes (5); orthopedics (5); psychiatry at the Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital at UCLA (5); cancer (8); neurology and neurosurgery (8); urology (8); cardiology and heart surgery (9); and rheumatology (9).

Last updated March 18, 2022

Clinical and Translational Research Centers

Cedars-Sinai Clinical & Translational Research Center (CTRC)

The Cedars-Sinai Clinical and Translational Research Center (Cedars-Sinai CTRC) is designed to serve the needs of clinical research in a variety of settings, both inpatient and outpatient. The CTRC at Cedars provides clinical support services in an outpatient facility located in the Steven Spielberg Building of the Medical Center on Alden Drive in Los Angeles.  Each of its exam rooms offers subjects a comfortable reclining lounger or a hospital bed and are equipped with flat screen TVs and DVD players to help subjects relax through long procedures, while receiving excellent care delivered by highly skilled certified research nurses. Additional facilities include a processing lab, freezer storage, a DXA imaging procedure room, and administrative offices.

One of the unique features is the CTRC's mobility, allowing support of research activity in the field. Such “field” services include providing support in CSMC clinics, surgical units or inpatient units, and assisting with data or specimen collection from patients and their family members.  

The CTRC also has a Research Subject Advocate who oversees research and data safety issues in close collaboration with the clinical investigators who utilize the CTRC.  In addition, the CTRC has recently implemented a new program providing Clinical Research Coordinator services to CSMC investigators to perform regulatory, study activation, recruitment and study close out activities.

Last updated June 1, 2020

Charles R. Drew University Clinical & Translational Research Center (CTRC)

The Charles R. Drew University Clinical and Translational Research Center (CDU CTRC) is located in a 5,000 square foot outpatient and administrative unit with seven exam/treatment rooms, a processing laboratory and a dedicated consultation space for study participant interviews. We provide cardiovascular and metabolic assessment resources, a site dedicated pharmacist, negotiated lab fees for assays, and participant transportation. Our site also offers Wi-Fi and a conference room capable of state of the art collaborative meetings for community partners and collaborators. In addition to our CTRC unit, the University offers additional conference room spaces and dedicated Cancer Research and Core Laboratories.

Our CTRC clinical staff is knowledgeable and skilled in protocol implementation, clinical trials, data collection, phlebotomy, IV insertions, pharmacokinetic studies, administration of investigational drugs, multiple sample collection, Oral Glucose Tolerance Tests, EKGs, and assisting investigators with minor bedside procedures. Pharmacy services include procurement, disposal, packaging, randomization and dispensing. Currently CTRC services seven actively recruiting studies in the areas of HIV/AIDS, Cancer, Social/ Behavioral and Cardio-metabolic Research.

Last updated June 1, 2020

Lundquist/Harbor-UCLA Clinical and Translational Research Center (CTRC)

The Clinical and Translational Research Center at Lundquist/Harbor-UCLA (Lundquist/Harbor-UCLA CTRC) is located at The Lundquist Institute for Biomedical Innovation at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center and provides clinical support services with 9 exam rooms, six of which have beds to accommodate extended or overnight visits, two consult/interview rooms, one sleep lab with monitoring equipment, two multipurpose rooms (includes beds, infusion chairs, a phlebotomy area, retinal eye camera and pQCT), a sample processing lab, research kitchen, nutritional classroom, DXA, indirect calorimeter and small conference room. The CTRC provides support and resources for studies on human research participants. The CTRC also provides consultation and support in biostatistics, study design, data management, and biomedical informatics and supports community engagement and research. In addition the CTRC supports a large number of Translational Research Cores. 

All protocols requesting use of CTSI resources are independently reviewed for scientific merit, research participant safety, valid justification for resource utilization by the UCLA CTSI Scientific Advisory Committee at Lundquist/Harbor-UCLA, the Human Subjects Committee or the Institution Animal Use and Care Committee as appropriate, and the Research Committee. All protocols must be approved at all three levels before use of the UCLA CTSI resources are possible.

Last updated June 1, 2020

UCLA-Westwood Clinical & Translational Research Center (CTRC)

The UCLA-Westwood Clinical and Translational Research Center (UCLA CTRC) supports and supervises human  clinical trials in all therapeutic areas and within all age groups, including Phase I studies and first-in-human clinical trials. The UCLA CTRC includes 8 private rooms with beds, 3 private procedure suites, and 1 infusion room with 4 infusion bays. There is also space for research subject interviews, a phlebotomy area, a playroom for pediatric patients and a research kitchen. The CTRC is staffed with 8 full-time RNs CITI-trained in clinical research and also certified in ACLS, PALS and chemotherapy administration. The CTRC also has two nurse practitioners available to assist study teams with obtaining informed consent, writing and signing orders, clinical evaluations or protocol-derived procedures. Other staff include a medical assistant, a  registered dietician and administrative support staff to assist with budgets, billing and coordination of appointments. Both the RNs and the MA are capable of providing mobile services to all inpatient areas, outpatient areas, and portions of upper campus. In addition, off campus mobile services may be available on a case-by-case basis.  The CTRC is open Monday – Friday from 7am to 7pm, with after hours and weekends available by prior arrangement.

Last updated February 22, 2021

CTSI program areas

Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Research Design Program

The Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Research Design Program provides integrated services and biostatistical support. Services include contemporary data analysis methodology consultation, implementation, and epidemiology expertise; the best available clinical data management software; study design assistance; and bioinformatics/computational biology data analysis.

Last updated June 1, 2020

Community Engagement in Research Program

The Community Engagement and Research Program (CERP) partners with community members and researchers, to identify and research public health priorities, towards the goal of improving health equity in LA County. CERP develops, implements, and refines models of community engagement and community capacity building, and facilitates research collaborations between academics and community partners. Activities include designing and developing new models of engagement with public and private health systems; advancing the use of local health and social data by community stakeholders, and expanding patient and community participation in a broad range of scholarly activities and studying the impact of this enhanced participation on translational research.

Last updated June 1, 2020

Informatics Program

The Informatics Program provides access to electronic health record (EHR) data across multiple institutions, builds computation resources for data management, analysis and sharing and formulates and implements coordinated plans for providing data security. A data consulting service helps researchers access UCLA clinical data, enabling cohort search in three federated networks involving the five UC Medical Centers, the six LA-area medical centers (Los Angeles Data Resource) and the nationwide CTSA network (ACT). The program also provides the following biomedical informatics training: an ACGME-accredited clinical informatics fellowship program, graduate-level training in biomedical informatics, and introductory researcher workshops for instruction in various informatics tools and standards.

Go to the Research Tools category on this page to view boilerplates for all the Informatics Program clinical data request tools. These include: ACT, i2b2, LADR, REDCap and xDR.  

Last updated June 1, 2020

Integrating Special Populations

The Integrating Special Populations Program (ISP) focuses on three special groups: children, older adults, and groups affected by health disparities. We prioritize these groups because of their poor health status in Los Angeles and nationally, the implications of their health for society including costs of care, and the emerging science of how life develops over the life course. The program will work to catalyze and strengthen research in special populations in three ways: (1) by attempting to increase the number of investigators studying special populations; (2) by offering advice on study design and intense mentoring to improve the quality of research; and (3) through thoughtful recruitment/retention activities.

Last updated June 1, 2020

Network Capacity

The Network Capacity (NC) component of the UCLA CTSI provides the infrastructure for participation in national collaborations while contributing to the transformation of the conduct of multisite clinical trials. We are participating in the Trial Innovation Network (TIN), the Trial Innovation Centers (TICs) and the Recruitment Innovation Center (RIC). We match investigator expertise with trial opportunities and refer hub researchers to TIN network services and consultations. Our team guides proposal submission through the TIN website. We participate in NIH initiatives to improve both study activation and enrollment.

Partnerships and notable achievements include: (1) harmonizing network institutional review board (IRB) reviews (e.g., with Vanderbilt University, University of Utah, and Johns Hopkins University), (2) piloting of the NIH Single IRB Policy at our hub and (3) collaborating with the Streamlined, Multisite, Accelerated Resources for Trials (SMART) to implement SMART IRB authorization agreements. We are supporting the transformation of local hub infrastructure to promote efficiency. We adopted the Federal Demonstration Partnership Clinical Trials Subaward Agreement (FDP-CTA), the standard agreement system for network trial and study contracting. The collective impact of our participation in these national programs is transformative. 

Our overall goal is to build on our infrastructure and to strengthen our collaborations with the TIN and the National Center for Data to Health (CD2H). Together with other CTSAs, we will continue to engage with new data sharing networks such as the National COVID Cohort Collaborative (N3C). 

Last updated June 1, 2020

Participant and Clinical Interactions

The Participant and Clinical Interactions (PCI) Program plays a critical role in assuring that clinical research at the UCLA CTSI partner institutions—Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science, The Lundquist Institute for Biomedical Innovation at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, and UCLA—is performed safely, efficiently and reliably. The PCI offers a research-friendly environment that provides investigators and research staff with the training and support required to design and successfully complete studies capable of testing well-conceived research hypotheses. PCI certifies the competency and credentialing of research teams, holds rigorous scientific peer reviews and measures and share elements of a study’s successes and failures. 

The PCI program also mentors and oversees role-based clinical education and assists in collecting data analytics in order to assess research staff performance. PCI  maintains an equitable service voucher system and pilot initiatives to streamline, speed and avoid common research roadblocks.

As part of PCI, the Clinical and Translational Research Centers (CTRCs) support and supervise human studies and clinical trials conducted at each partner institution. CTRCs also assist with training junior investigators in the conduct of translational clinical research. Additional CTRC resources and services include: private beds, procedure suites, infusion room and bay, rooms equipped for sleep studies, a spinal cord injury center, interview rooms, inpatient unit, bionutrition services, and skilled RN and medical assistant staff.

Last updated June 1, 2020

Pilot, Translational and Clinical Studies

The Pilot Translational and Clinical Studies Program provides seed funding for collaborative research, team-building activities and development of novel technologies and approaches. The program administers the following competitive mechanisms: Team Science Awards (up to $200,000) to enable multidisciplinary teams to develop preliminary data for extramural funding for high-impact translational research; Catalyst Grants (up to $5,000) to support team-building activities, including seminars; symposia; meetings related to a specific disease or scientific problem to stimulate team formation; Core Vouchers (up to $10,000 in institutional funds) defray the cost of core services at the CTSI partner sites for feasible, translational and unique research addressing health problems.

Last updated June 1, 2020

Population Health

The Population Health program equips health agencies with the skills that they need to introduce and sustain the practice and application of critical translational science methods. The program focuses on preparing researchers and health agencies to: apply dissemination, implementation and improvement (DII) research methods to the development, scale-up and spread of multi-component, multi-level population health interventions; apply innovative modeling techniques and use large datasets for population health research and improvement; and apply DII sciences to address real-world population health problems. 

Last updated June 1, 2020

Precision Health

The Precision Health Program develops the necessary processes and infrastructure to bring genomic information into the clinical realm. It mobilizes and integrates genomic data with clinical data for translational research that involves genetics, genomics, patient phenotypes, and biomaterials.

Last updated June 1, 2020

Regulatory Knowledge and Support

The Regulatory Knowledge and Support (Regulatory) Program ensures that research is in full regulatory compliance and meets the highest quality assurance standards. It offers ethics and regulatory compliance guidance and consultation.

Last updated June 1, 2020

Team Science

The Team Science Program augments the translational mission by continuing to develop new theoretical and evidence-based tools to improve, assess, and evaluate the capacity of interdisciplinary and translational science teams to effectively combine team members’ diverse expertise. The program specifically conducts research to understand the characteristics of high-performing teams. The impact of differences among team members in experience, background, culture, and disciplines are being studied. Program leaders adapt their training for academic community teams to provide novel training in communication and collaboration. To facilitate multidisciplinary collaboration, the UCLA CTSI has redesigned the Pilot Translational & Clinical Studies Program to exclusively support team science.

Last updated June 1, 2020

Workforce Development

The Workforce Development Program houses most of our education and training activities. It ensures CTSI trainees acquire the core competencies needed to conduct multidisciplinary research and to integrate community priorities and input into research across the T1 to T4 spectrum.

The Program emphasizes three key areas:

  • Training and consultation in entrepreneurship and the product commercialization process
  • Informatics training for investigators and faculty at all levels of experience
  • Training and certification in good clinical practices for all research staff

The program offers the CTSI Training Program in Translational Science (TPTS) to scientists and trainees at all CTSI partner institutions and from multiple professional schools (Medicine, Dentistry, Nursing, Public Health, Education and Informational Science, Public Policy). TPTS provides several training options: a two-year Translational Science Certificate program; a two-year Master of Science in Clinical Research program focused on research and clinical trials; and a two-year Master of Science in Clinical Research program with a research and biomedical informatics emphasis.

The Workforce Development Program integrates with the CTSI KL2 training program for junior faculty and the TL1 training programs for pre-doctoral, post-doctoral and health professional students. This is accomplished through externships in industry, government and the not-for-profit health sectors as well as lectures and coursework offered by the Training Program in Translational Science, Health Policy & Management, Bioinformatics, and the National Clinician Scholars Program. 

The Workforce Development Program interacts closely with the CTSI Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Research Design (BERD) Program, the CTSI Integrating Special Populations Program, the CTSI Informatics Program, the CTSI Population Health Program, the CTSI Team Science Program, and the CTSI Community Engagement and Research Program, each of which offer separate education and training activities.

Last updated June 1, 2020

CTSI-supported collaborations and initiatives

Building Infrastructure Leading to Diversity (BUILD) Initiative

BUILD awards consist of linked grants issued to undergraduate institutions to implement and study innovative approaches to engaging and retaining students from diverse backgrounds in biomedical research, potentially helping them on the pathway to become future contributors to the NIH-funded research enterprise. BUILD awards differ from other NIH-funded training grants in that they aim to achieve simultaneous impact at the student, faculty and institutional levels. Through implementing a variety of innovative approaches to research skill building and training, mentorship and institutional change, the BUILD-funded institutions address various challenges faced by students, faculty and institutions. In addition, by disseminating effective interventions and strategies to diversify biomedical research, BUILD institutions contribute to broader transformational impact at an institutional level.

In FY 2014, 10 5-year BUILD awards were issued to undergraduate institutions across the country. Eligibility for BUILD primary institutions included having fewer than $7.5 million in total NIH research project grant funding, and a student population with at least 25 percent Pell Grant recipients. BUILD institutions serve a geographically and racially diverse population, and include historically Black colleges and universities, Hispanic-serving institutions, Asian American/Native American/Pacific Islander-serving institutions, and projects with targeted outreach to special populations. Funded BUILD institutions partner with nearly 100 institutions, both pipeline and research-intensive, to broaden the pool of students participating in biomedical research training and maximize opportunities for faculty/staff development. As part of the Diversity Program Consortium, BUILD is a cooperative agreement, in that NIH project scientists and program officials work with each BUILD institution, and the institutions collaborate with each other on planning and sharing ideas for new, creative ways to address their students’ needs in real time. Each site has a core for administration, institutional development, student training, and research enrichment, which helps ensure programming is targeted to each of the three levels.

Last updated June 1, 2020

CITI Good Clinical Practices (GCP) Training

The Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI Program) at the University of Miami is a leading provider of research education content. Their web-based training materials serve millions of learners at academic institutions, government agencies, and commercial organizations in the U.S. and around the world. CITI Program's GCP content includes distinct courses tailored to the different types of clinical research. GCP courses are suitable for research teams involved in clinical trials of drugs, biologics, and devices. Training in this is a prerequisite for IRB approval for all clinical research key personnel. CITI provides three courses for the GCP program.

Last updated June 1, 2020

CITI Program - Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) Course

Federal grant proposals (all proposals to NSF, training proposals for NIH) normally include a requirement that all trainees are provided with instruction in the Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR). An RCR program normally covers these areas: ethics, conflict of interest, responsible authorship, policies for handling misconduct, data management, data sharing, and policies regarding the use of human and animal subjects. UCLA utilizes the CITI-hosted Responsible Conduct of Research Course for UCLA.

RCR consists of a basic course, additional content that can be incorporated based on organizational and learner needs, and a refresher course, which reemphasizes and expands on key concepts. It is suitable for any person involved in research ranging from upper-level undergraduates to established faculty. Particular emphasis is given to the educational needs of graduate students and postdoctoral researchers. RCR can provide students or other researchers with a conceptual foundation that can enhance the quality of in-person training. These courses are written and peer-reviewed by experts.

Last updated June 1, 2020

ClinicalTrials.gov

The Food and Drug Administration Amendments Act of 2007, Section 801 (FDAAA 801) requires Responsible Parties to register and submit summary results of clinical trials with ClinicalTrials.gov and applies to certain Clinical Trials of drugs (including biological products) and medical devices. The International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) requires trial registration as a condition of the publication of research results generated by a clinical trial as required by ICMJE. Finally, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) require inclusion of an 8-digit Clinical Trial number from ClinicalTrials.gov on claims associated with Clinical Trial participation. The Office of Regulatory Affairs provides support, for non-cancer studies, to assist and advise Principal Investigators with their obligations.

Last updated June 1, 2020

Confidential Consultation in Research Ethics

The CTSI offers confidential consultations in research ethics to all members of research teams, including those at partner institutions. Services can include assistance with: (1) study design—including the recruiting and consenting of vulnerable and international populations; (2) study execution—including ensuring privacy and confidentiality especially with genomic information, and encouraging study completion; (3) study reporting—including data treatment, authorship and conflicts of interest; (4) involvement of communities and culturally distinct populations; (5) disagreements among team members and with collaborators; (6) questionable research integrity; (7) uses of social media and other technologies; and (8) disclosures and other regulatory requirements. Consultations are led by the CTSI Associate Director-Ethics, Dr. Stanley Korenman. His input can facilitate the development of innovative translational science studies. He is a Distinguished Professor of Medicine-Endocrinology and Associate Dean for Ethics at the David Geffen School of Medicine. At UCLA he provides an annual course on "The Responsible Conduct of Research Involving Humans"(M261) that is taken primarily by graduate students, fellows from clinical departments, and junior faculty in the School of Medicine.

Last updated June 1, 2020

CTSA Consortium Good Clinical Practices (GCP) Program

The Good Clinical Practices (GCP) Program is an international ethical and scientific quality standard for the design, conduct and record of research involving humans. Comprising 13 core principles, GCP applies to all clinical investigations that could affect the safety and well-being of human participants (in particular, clinical trials of medicinal products). GCP was developed by the regulatory authorities of the EU, Japan and US in a steering group termed the Tripartite International Conference on Harmonization (ICH) and provides international assurance that data and reported results of clinical investigations are credible and accurate and rights, safety and confidentiality of participants in clinical research are respected and protected.

Last updated June 1, 2020

CTSI K Scholars Society

The K Scholars Society, managed by the UCLA CTSI’s KL2 Program, supports the career development of junior investigators building careers in clinical and translational research. This program is designed for scholars within the UCLA CTSI partner institutions who have current career developments awards from the National Institutes of Health (e.g. K01, K08, K23, K99/R00), or equivalent awards from other federal (e.g. DOD, VA) and non-federal (e.g. AHA, ACS, Doris Duke) funding agencies. The program has two-year curriculum activities:

  • Monthly meetings generally take place on the 3rd Tuesday of each month. Ad hoc sessions are also scheduled as needed.
  • Monthly Didactic Seminars (1 hr): grant writing, communication, storytelling, presentation skills, team science, career strategy, entrepreneurship, mentorship, and leadership trainings.
  • Monthly Work-in-Progress Sessions (1 hr): Investigators will have the opportunity to present their work in progress to a diverse group of scholars and faculty.
  • Priority for Grant Writing Studios: These are individually tailored to each scholar for longitudinal mentoring on NIH K and R grant submissions. Studios are comprised of a panel of 3-4 mentors (scientific, career and statistics) with expertise in K and/or R grant development. The panel meets with the scholar 2-3 times from the concept phase to final product. The scholar will then participate in a mock study section for a final review of the draft grant application.
  • NIH Mock Study Section. Investigators will have the opportunity to submit final drafts of their NIH grant applications for grantsmanship review by senior faculty and peer reviewers. These are designed to simulate an actual NIH study section.

Program resources include professional grant writer consultations, scientific networking and the fostering and nurturing of multidisciplinary collaborations.

Last updated June 1, 2020

CTSI Online Grant Library

The CTSI Online Grants Library is a repository of successful grant proposals that are accessible to UCLA CTSI faculty, fellows, residents, students, staff and volunteers. Principal investigators of successfully funded grants have contributed their grant proposals to the CTSI for online sharing. Sample application types include: F32, K01, K08, K23, K24, K99/R00, R01, R03, R18, R21, R33 and U54 applications plus NIH Biosketches (2015 version). This secure, web-based platform allows permitted users to view the grant proposals online, but also prevents individuals from copying, downloading or sharing the proposals outside of the platform. Thus, investigators can provide their successful grant knowing that their proposal will not be disseminated further without their permission. The library is a fully searchable tool and grants users quick access to different aspects or sections of a grant proposal. The library was initiated in 2015, has more than 40 grant proposals, and is actively growing. It has over 300 active users. The successful grants library is an important resource for junior faculty and other trainees in writing their first K or R grant. KL2 Scholars who are successful in obtaining extramural support are asked to submit their proposals to the successful grants library.

Last updated June 1, 2020

Enhancing the Diversity of the NIH-funded Workforce Program (or NIH Diversity Program Consortium)

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) Enhancing the Diversity of the NIH-funded Workforce Program (also called the NIH Diversity Program Consortium) was established in FY 2014 in response to recommendations provided in 2012 by the NIH Advisory Committee to the Director (ACD) Working Group on Diversity in the Biomedical Research Workforce. The working group explored ways to improve the recruitment of individuals from diverse backgrounds underrepresented in biomedical research and prepare them for successful biomedical research careers. (These individuals include persons from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups, people with disabilities, and people from disadvantaged backgrounds. The group provided recommendations, endorsed by the ACD, about how to develop and support individuals from diverse backgrounds across the lifespan of a biomedical research career. In response to these recommendations, the NIH established the Enhancing the Diversity of the NIH-Funded Workforce program.

This trans-NIH program is funded by the NIH Common Fund and managed by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS). The overarching goal of the program is to develop, implement, assess and disseminate innovative and effective approaches to engaging, training and mentoring students; enhancing faculty development; and strengthening institutional research training infrastructure to enhance the participation and persistence of individuals from underrepresented backgrounds in biomedical research careers. The unique aspects of this program include:  a focus on three levels of impact: student, faculty and institutional; the integration of social science research and psychosocial interventions into the process of training and mentoring students and faculty; rigorous assessment and evaluation of the training and mentoring interventions implemented across the program. Through the implementation and evaluation of effective approaches to improve training and mentoring across the consortium, this program aims to have a significant impact on the participation and persistence of individuals from diverse backgrounds in the biomedical research pipeline, as well as on transforming the culture and efficacy of biomedical research training and mentoring nationwide. The program, also referred to as the Diversity Program Consortium (DPC), consists of three integrated initiatives: Building Infrastructure Leading to Diversity (BUILD), the National Research Mentoring Network (NRMN), and the Coordination and Evaluation Center (CEC) at UCLA.

Last updated July 1, 2018

Healthy Elderly Longevity Cohort (Wellderly)

Against this genomic breakthrough of whole genome association studies, the demographics in the United States are quickly changing. The older population (age > 65 years) in 2030 is projected to be twice as large as in 2000 representing nearly 20 percent of the total US population. The first baby boomers turn 65 in 2011 and will challenge all facets of health care in the coming decades. The demographic changes underscore the need to understand the mechanisms that promote health and disease in this cohort. Genomic discoveries will help individuals and may reduce medical costs and benefit society. The objective of this study is to obtain blood and/or saliva samples in order to help model health and disease phenotypes through population genomics. The blood and/or saliva samples may allow for participants' entire genomes to be sequenced if such comprehensive analysis becomes feasible and economical.

Last updated July 1, 2018

Internal Monitoring and Auditing

Sponsor-Investigators are responsible for the selection of qualified study monitors and ensuring that the trials are adequately monitored throughout the life of the trial.  At UCLA, the Office of Regulatory Affairs offers assistance with monitoring and quality assurance auditing for investigator-initiated studies. This service helps ensure compliance with FDA, GCP, and IRB regulations, and UCLA Health System policies and guidance, as related to clinical research. Please contact the Office of Regulatory Affairs for more information. The ORA monitoring program provides a proactive (rather than “for cause”) regulatory assessment and has a strong educational component.  Investigators are required to provide monitoring findings to the IRB according to their policies. The ORA auditing program includes routine and for-cause reviews (requested by institutional officials). The purpose of routine reviews is to assist investigators with achieving and maintaining regulatory compliance. The reviews are meant to be educational rather than punitive in nature. The ORA summarizes and reports the findings directly to the investigators and the CTSI DSMB.

Last updated June 1, 2020

Jackson Heart Study

The primary objective of the Jackson Heart Study is to investigate the causes of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in African Americans to learn how to best prevent this group of diseases in the future. This population-based longitudinal study is based in Jackson, Mississippi. The JHS is the largest single-site, prospective, epidemiologic investigation of cardiovascular disease among African Americans ever undertaken. It is also the largest study in history to investigate the inherited (genetic) factors that affect high blood pressure, heart disease, strokes, diabetes and other important diseases in African Americans. These studies are likely to lead to the development of new treatments that do more good and less harm than treatments that are available today. The JHS is a collaborative effort among three Jackson-area academic institutions University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson State University, and Tougaloo College, and consists of five centers: a Field Center and a Coordinating Center (UMMC); a Community Outreach Center and a Graduate Training and Education Center (JSU); and an Undergraduate Training and Education Center (Tougaloo College). The JHS is supported by contracts from NHLBI and NIMHD.

Last updated July 1, 2018

National Research Mentoring Network (NRMN)

NRMN is a nationwide consortium of biomedical professionals and institutions collaborating to provide trainees across the biomedical, behavioral, clinical and social sciences with evidence-based mentorship and professional development programming that emphasizes the benefits and challenges of diversity, inclusivity and culture. The goal of the National Research Mentoring Network is to enhance the diversity of the NIH-funded research workforce and is one of the components of the NIH Diversity Program Consortium.

Last updated July 1, 2018

Preparing for an FDA or Sponsor Inspection

Upon notification of an FDA inspection, Office of Regulatory Affairs (ORA) can provide guidance and assistance.  The ORA can provide one-on-one inspection/audit preparation guidance, education on how to interact with the FDA, and provides support for responding to the FDA’s findings, if needed. If there is a concern about the study preparedness for a Sponsor audit, investigators can contact the Office of Regulatory Affairs to request an audit readiness assessment for both industry and investigator-initiated studies. This program helps ensure compliance with FDA, GCP, and IRB regulations, and UCLA Health System policies and guidance, as related to clinical research. The results of the pre-audit assessment will be provided for investigators and teams.

Last updated June 1, 2020

Project Students Training in Researching Involving Disparity Elimination (STRIDE)

In response to the critical shortage of minorities in biomedical research and the health professions, the overarching goal of Project STRIDE is to increase the number of underrepresented minority and disadvantaged students in the pipeline who are committed to research careers in the health sciences. Increasing the nation’s cadre of minority clinicians and researchers is a crucial component to eliminating health disparities, especially given that minority researchers and physicians are more likely to work in minority communities than their non-minority counterparts. STRIDE aims to increase the diversity and quality of the research workforce specifically in regard to the ongoing nationwide effort to better understand the complex health-related needs of low-income, medically underserved populations and thereby, ultimately, to reduce disparities in health care accessibility, quality, and outcomes. Project STRIDE also provides an in-depth health science immersion experience to underrepresented high school students, though all program enrollees will be primarily from King/Drew Magnet High School of Medicine and Science, Health Sciences Academy and other high schools in the Watts community of South Los Angeles. The STRIDE education and training experience will encompass exposure to critical methodologies and principles of biomedical and clinical research in disease areas identified by Healthy People 2020 as disproportionately prevalent among underserved minority and low income communities. This ten-week clinical research program requires students to work full-time with an assigned mentor on a research project of their interest. Each student writes an abstract on their project, creates a poster and gives a presentation at a Research Day. Participants receive a stipend for their involvement.

Project STRIDE II is a program for students who have previously completed the high school Project STRIDE program. Undergraduate students have the opportunity to expand their research knowledge and capabilities. They are exposed to many complex research techniques and produce a community-relevant translational project. The projects are aimed to also produce a meaningful publication, manuscript or submission of abstracts to national conferences.

The program is supported by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.

Last updated July 1, 2018

Regulatory Binder Preparation

A Regulatory Binder assists sites in achieving and maintaining regulatory compliance and ensuring the highest standards of human subject research.  Regulatory binders house all study documentation including, but not limited to, the study protocol, staff CVs, licenses, logs, IRB documents, consent forms, data collection/CRFs, lab documents, sponsor documents, drug/device accountability, FDA documentation, financial disclosure documentation, DSMB information, and more.

FDA IND/IDE Guidance and Support. Support for investigators holding an IND or IDE at all stages of an investigation including:

  • Determination of product classification (i.e., drug, device, combination product, biologic)
  • Applicability of an IND or IDE
  • Assistance with IND or IDE application and subsequent submissions (amendments, safety reports, annual and final reports)
  • Preparation, coordination, facilitation, and attendance at FDA meetings
  • Preparation for and regulatory support during FDA inspections of investigator-sponsored clinical trials
  • Update regarding new guidance documents, inspection trends, inspection actions and new regulatory actions taken by FDA relating to clinical trials

Last updated June 1, 2020

ResearchGO

ResearchGO is a virtual clinical research resource that provides a single portal to a wealth of resources, expertise, and best practices for investigators and research staff to facilitate efficient, compliant and ethical study conduct and management. This collaborative effort across a number of organizations and administrative units was built to leverage existing resources and create new content where readily accessible resources currently don't exist.  Whether you're a principal investigator or supporting clinical research in some other capacity, the website can help investigators design, set-up, conduct, and close-out a study. The Goals of ResearchGo are to: (1) promote excellence in the quality of clinical research management through information and education; (2) facilitate effective and timely clinical research initiation by improving institutional processes and providing clinical research protocol, regulatory, budget, and financial assistance and tools; (3) increase awareness of clinical trials in the community and with our Partners through education and community participant recruitment outreach activities; and (4) interface with institutional/industry partners to support enhanced clinical research best-practice and efficiency.

Last updated June 1, 2020

Scientific Review Committee

Established in September 2016, the Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) Scientific Review Committee (SRC) provides a scientific and feasibility review of non-oncology clinical research to ensure that UCLA clinical research is of the utmost quality, The degree of review required varies based on the type of research, funding, and institutional factors. CTSI SRC review is conducted on those clinical trial protocols that have not already received documented full peer review. The Committee meets on the first and third Wednesday of every month. Investigators are not required to initiate SRC reviews and there is no application process. All study documentation is collected by the ORA staff and provided to the SRC for review.  SRC review occurs in parallel with IRB review.

Last updated June 1, 2020

Short-Term Research Experience Program for Underrepresented Persons (STEP-UP)

The Short-Term Research Experience Program for Underrepresented Persons (STEP-UP Program) is a federally funded program managed and supported by the Office of Minority Health Research Coordination (OMHRC) in the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney (NIDDK) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) of the National Institutes of Health is the sponsor for the STEP-UP Program. The program provides an opportunity for high school and undergraduate students to conduct biomedical research for eight (8) to ten (10) weeks in the summer in labs throughout the country. The purpose of the program is to increase the number of ethnic minorities who are involved in biomedical research with an emphasis on the areas of diabetes, digestive and kidney diseases. There is a critical shortage of minorities in biomedical research and the health professions (Hispanic/Latino, African Americans, Native Americans, Asian Pacific Islanders, and Alaskan Native Population). As a result, critical insights and perspectives from these groups are lacking in the development, implementation, and evaluation of the growing and important field of biomedical research and health science. The program is a collaborative effort between the NIH and CDU as well as University of California San Francisco, University of Hawaii and the University of Nevada Las Vegas.

Last updated July 1, 2018

Team Science Training

Participation in collaborative team science endeavors that can foster translational breakthroughs requires interdisciplinary collaboration. Despite the depth of knowledge that experts from different disciplines possess, difficulties can arise as these individuals seek to work across boundaries to coordinate and integrate their frameworks, perspectives, and ideas. To address these barriers to collaboration, training modalities must be adapted to meet the needs of researchers so that they will be better equipped to work and lead at the interface of disciplines and practice communities. More specifically, researchers will need to be prepared to communicate across disciplinary boundaries, manage teams (i.e. leadership), lead in collaboration with other leaders (i.e. shared leadership) and write research grants that simultaneously address basic, clinical and translational questions. To prepare researchers for success, team science training will help researchers to effectively launch translational research teams. Drawing on National Science Foundation supported research by Salazar & Lant (2012), team science provides investigators with two types of short-term interventions: 1) strategic team mapping to identify how to best assemble a team to foster collaboration around their focal research question, and 2) utilization of four evidence-based communication principles to support cross-boundary knowledge sharing, integration and creation.

Last updated July 1, 2018

UCLA Clinical Research Management System (CRMS)

CRMS is an enterprise-wide system designed to track patient data for clinical trials and billing purposes. The eResearch system, built by Velos, Inc., has been implemented at UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center and Translational Oncology Research International (TORI), an affiliated clinical research network. UCLA has deployed the system in non-cancer studies being conducted in the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA as well as at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and Harbor-UCLA in the second quarter of 2016. This allows CTSI affiliates to (i) track clinical studies and study subjects in real time, (ii) facilitate efficient coordination of clinical trials and (iii) allow accurate financial tracking of study procedures and processes.

Last updated June 1, 2020

COVID-19 resources

AI/Causal Modeling

CTSI's Population Health modeling processes and methods are currently being utilized with the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health to predict the demand for an inpatient service surge in the COVID-19 pandemic.

Last updated June 1, 2020

California Get Out The Vaccine (GOTV) campaign

The California Get Out The Vaccine (GOTV) campaign is a UCLA contracted campaign to reduce structural barriers to vaccine registration and facilitate vaccination through on-the-ground community outreach in low-socioeconomic communities with low vaccination rates. Outreach is based upon real-time assessments of these characteristics based upon zip code. It entails a household-by-household outreach canvassing campaign based upon “Get Out the Vote” infrastructure, technology, mapping, engagement, and coordination. To do so, GOTV partners with community-based organizations to hire, train and deploy over 1000 “Vaccine Navigators.” These Vaccine Navigators will sign Californians up by canvassing door-to-door, using multiple languages, and other facilitation support such as facilitating transportation. Canvassers will also set up vaccine registration and vaccination facilitation at higher traffic locations (like supermarkets, food banks, etc.) and cooperate with partners (churches, unions, community-based organizations, and elected officials). One key element utilized in this campaign is to maximize the effectiveness of this canvassing program by hiring members of the local community. Based on our experience in numerous canvassing efforts across California, local community members are trusted validators who will get the most positive responses possible. In addition, at a time of economic hardship, this approach ensures that local communities benefit from this considerable expenditure of the state’s resources, and the Vaccine Navigators are paid an hourly wage ($22/hr) well above the federal and state minimum.

Last updated June 16, 2021

Consortium for Clinical Characterization of COVID-19 by EHR (4CE)

The UCLA CTSI has contributed aggregate data on demographics, comorbidities, and ICU utilization, plus labs by-day after diagnosis, for COVID+ patients. 4CE is an international collaboration involving 96 hospitals across North America, Europe and Asia.

Last updated June 1, 2020

COVID-19 ACT Network

The UCLA CTSI is among one of the nine CTSA hubs that have formed this sub-network of ACT that will involve COVID-tested patients to enable queries with a COVID-19 ontology (i.e. ICU days, COVID RNA tests). Data is updated at least biweekly. The COVID-19 ACT Network has the potential to benefit a large cohort of patients as the test network expands to all 58 ACT sites in the CTSA consortium.

Last updated June 1, 2020

COVID-19 Universal Intake Process

UCLA's David Geffen School of Medicine provides a universal intake process for registering COVID-19 research projects and requesting COVID-19 research funding and resources. This streamlined process helps the recently established COVID-19 Oversight and Governance Committees better monitor systemwide activities and allocate resources to maximize benefits to human health. The Universal Intake three-step process includes registering a project, confirming and saving the registration number and requesting resources. Committees review and prioritize requests, assess projects based on operational feasibility as well as scientific excellence. Please email the COVID-19 DGSOM communications team with suggestions or questions regarding the universal intake process.

Last updated June 1, 2020

CTSI COVID-19 Research Initiative

The UCLA CTSI is serving as the information hub for the UCLA research community and leveraging its existing infrastructure in response to the urgent need for COVID-19 research. The CTSI has formed a task force that has established a COVID-19 registry, informed consent for treatment trials, a symptom survey, and banked biospecimens. This centralized response allows UCLA to have a single, well-managed hub to facilitate COVID-related efforts on campus and at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center. The CTSI is also supporting efforts related to centralized EMR data extraction, symptom surveillance as part of quality improvement efforts as well as supporting testing efforts including detection, validation of commercial tests kits, and overall infrastructure in helping to identify antibodies.

The UCLA CTSI Office of Clinical Research administratively supports UCLA Health’s 11-member COVID-19 Scientific Prioritization and Feasibility Committee (see full description below). OCR has facilitated the start-up of COVID-19 studies in as few as 75 hours. 

The CTSI's ResearchGo, administered by OCR, is the clinical research home for UCLA’s COVID-19 research efforts:

  • CTSI Clinical Research COVID-19 help desk mailbox helps capture, facilitate and answer questions related to COVID-19 research.
  • COVID-19 New Study Registration Form is a Qualtrics survey that enables investigators in designing COVID-19 studies to quickly submit to the Prioritization and Feasibility Committee.
  • COVID-19 Study Staff Support Registration is a Qualtrics survey that allows UCLA staff interested in supporting these studies to register.  
  • COVID-19 FAQs for Clinical Research
  • COVID-19 Information for Monitors and CROs
  • Clinical Trial Opportunities for COVID-19+ Patients
  • COVID-19 Temporary Policy for Human Subjects-Related Research Visits maintains information on UCLA’s updated policies for ensuring the protection of participants, researchers, and the larger UCLA Health community.

Last updated June 1, 2020

National COVID Cohort Collaborative (N3C)

The National COVID Cohort Collaborative (N3C) is a self-governed resource that is coordinated by NCATS and supported by the Center for Data to Health (CD2H). By leveraging shared resources such as data, analytics expertise, medical insights from clinicians, support and funding from NCATS with coordination by the CD2H, TIN, and CLIC, the N3C allows the CTSA consortium to address the pandemic. N3C provides a: (1) row-level, limited dataset of COVID-19 patients and controls consisting of all available EHR data related to these patients; (2) partnership amongst CTSA hubs and other clinical institutions, clinical data sharing networks with government agencies such as NIH, HHS, FDA, VA, CDC, and other organizations; (3) secure, FedRAMP-compliant analytical environment where tools and algorithms can be rapidly evaluated, allowing clinicians and researchers to address complex clinical questions; and (4) national resource that is complementary and synergistic with individual institutional and consortia activities. In order to determine the most efficient process for collaboration, four initial workstreams have been installed: (1) Data Partnership & Governance, (2) Phenotype & Data Acquisition, (3) Data Ingest & Harmonization, and (4) Collaborative Analytics. These workstreams will be available to all participants and materials openly shared. The goal is to coordinate community input and transparency with rapid development and deployment to address the pandemic.

Last updated June 1, 2020

PRIORITY (Pregnancy CoRonavIrus Outcomes RegIsTrY)

Pregnant women during flu outbreaks tend to have more severe illness, hospitalizations, miscarriage, or preterm births, and babies born with defects. Little information is currently available on COVID-19 and pregnancy. This nationwide prospective registry assesses the impact of COVID-19 on pregnant women and their newborns. Led by UCSF with 150 sites across the country, including UCLA and supported by the UCLA CTSI, this study aims to answer key questions that can help patients during pregnancy. Issues related to health disparities and outcomes will be assessed.

Last updated June 1, 2020

UCLA COVID-19 Governance Structure: Oversight COVID-19 Research Committee (OCRC)

The UCLA COVID-19 Research Governance structure is led by a central Oversight Committee to help facilitate strategic, prioritized allocation of financial resources, biospecimens, PPE, and research facilities. In collaboration with the CTSI, the OCRC helps to organize the COVID-19 research priorities supported by the CTSI and the David Geffen School of Medicine (DGSOM). CTSI leadership are members of this Committee. There are task force committees with broad expertise across specific domains that will report to the OCRC for research related to COVID-19 in order to accelerate problem-solving and decision-making. CTSI faculty are members of the DGSOM-CTSI COVID-19 Clinical Research Task Force, the Biospecimen Use Task Force, the COVID-19 Basic Science Research Task Force, the Heath Data Oversight Committee, and the COVID-19 Scientific Prioritization and Feasibility Committee.

Last updated June 1, 2020

UCLA CTSI Clinical and Translational Research Centers (CTRCs)

A mobile nurse unit is tasked with delivering COVID-19 study drugs to patients in multiple hospital intensive care units and medical wards. UCLA Therapeutic Antibody Laboratory (TAL). The TAL, in partnership with the Molecular Screening Shared Resource (MSSR), have the capability to produce therapeutics-grade antibodies and proteins in a rapid, large-scale manner. These resources are being focused to generate both accurate serology testing as well as therapeutics.

Last updated June 1, 2020

UC Health Data Warehouse (UCHDW)

The UCHDW, through UC BRAID, is coordinating communication between the UC medical campus CTSAs to facilitate the activation of several COVID-19 treatment trials. It is disseminating research guidance developed by each campus to share best practices while establishing a system-wide clinical data warehouse biorepository and convalescent plasma study.

Last updated June 1, 2020

CTSA consortia

California Consortiums & Related Activities

Western CTSA Education Consortium (WCEC)

The Western CTSA Education Consortium is a voluntary consortium of Clinical Translational Science Award (CTSA) Education, Training and Workforce Development Unit Directors and Administrators. The purpose of the consortium is to integrate resources and talent across the CTSA hubs to accelerate the training and mentoring of the next generation of clinical and translational scientists. WCEC's mission is to create an environment that reduces barriers, leverages and combines resources, enables teams, and serves as a model for collaborative training and mentoring consortia. The collaborating CTSA institutions include Scripps Research Institute, University of Southern California, Stanford University, UC Davis, UC Irvine, UC Los Angeles, UC San Diego, UC San Francisco, Oregon Health and Science University, University of Washington, and University of New Mexico. The Consortium has a common goal of advancing the health of residents of California through our activities and has developed an agenda of shared activities considered to be highly relevant for all of their institutions and also nationally. Activities underway or in development are: a webinar on research in diverse populations and education and training related to research in diverse populations. Future collaborative efforts include UC San Diego’s VirBELA Clinical Trial Video Game: this 5-minute video game based on scenario of a multi-site clinical trial was created to enhance effectiveness in team skills. UCSD was interested in receiving feedback on the game as well as avenues of dissemination.

Last updated July 1, 2018

UCSF CTSI Mentor Development Program

The CTSI Mentor Training Program is a comprehensive program with both online and in person components designed to train faculty to become the next generation of confident and effective clinical and translational research mentors. Faculty dedicated to clinical and translational research can apply for participation in the CTSI Mentor Training Program (MTP) offered annually. The CTSI MTP has created an integrated environment for senior mentors and mentors-in-training, encouraging creative and innovative networking, discussing a range of mentoring challenges and a myriad of solutions, developing a toolbox of strategies, and using discussions and collective experiences to build a community of mentoring excellence. The six core modules through web-based and face-to-face meetings provide an overview of the core competencies needed by mentors using learning objectives, readings (required and suggested), short lectures, videos of mentors and mentees, and exercises. Seminar topics include: mentorship from the beginning, mentoring models and mentor selection, aligning goals and expectations, communicating effectively with mentees, dealing with mentoring challenges, and mentoring across differences.

Last updated July 1, 2018

Los Angeles Consortiums

Greater Los Angeles Consortium

The Greater Los Angeles CTSA Consortium was established to leverage our local talents in collaborations that benefit both our local communities and our approaches to clinical research. The two main activities that are currently underway are (a) a Community Engagement working group that is developing and evaluating an intervention with promotoras to increase Latino representation in clinical trials research, and (b) a series of training opportunities offered by each consortium member for faculty and staff of the other members' institutions. Our collective goal is to collaborate to develop curricula and online courses that can ultimately be shared with the national consortia online while supporting collaborative efforts across the Greater Los Angeles area through onsite, in-person programs and seminars.

Curricula underway or in development include: UCLA's Biomedical Informatics for Clinicians course and the Therapeutic Discovery and Development program, UC Irvine's Science of Team Science Boot Camp and Introduction to Systems Biology for Clinical Translational Scientists course, and USC's Regulatory Science for Clinical Research Boot Camp, Engaging Diverse Communities in Clinical Research Boot Camp and Regulatory Science Boot Camp.

Last updated July 1, 2018

National CTSA Consortia

NCATS Accrual to Clinical Trials (ACT)

NCATS’ Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSA) program supports efforts to solve system-wide translational research problems in part by developing and implementing ways to improve the success of U.S. clinical trials. One initiative, CTSA Accrual to Clinical Trials (CTSA ACT), was launched recently to do just that by developing a nationwide network of sites that share EHR data. Building on existing platforms and operating models to create a “federated” network with common standards, data terminology and shared resources, CTSA ACT investigators are focused on data harmonization (using the same term for the same type of data) across EHR platforms; technical needs assessment and implementation; regulatory approaches to ensure compliance with protocols for data access and participant contact; and governance development to establish proper agreements among institutions. NCATS ACT provides infrastructure for streamlined informatics solutions across the CTSA Consortium.

Last updated July 1, 2018

Child Health Research Acceleration Through Multisite Planning (CHAMP)

UC BRAID's Child Health research Acceleration through Multisite Planning (CHAMP) is designed to support investigator-initiated child health and lifespan research that requires multisite involvement to achieve special population recruitment goals. CHAMP is a catalyst that offers team-building conferences for research teams in critical early phases of project development. The CHAMP concept was selected for presentation at the July 2014 CTSA Principal Investigators Meeting. The idea was vetted by a group of nationally recognized leaders in child health research. Both UC BRAID Child Health and CHAMP are responses to the Institute of Medicine’s 2013 report recognizing the seminal role that the CTSAs and NCATS could play in promoting child health clinical research.

Last updated July 1, 2018

NCATS-CTSA Lifespan Integration Domain Task Force

Dr. Peter Szilagyi from the UCLA CTSI is a co-leader of the national steering committee of the Lifespan Integration Domain Task Force. The task force focuses on: integrating translational science across the entire lifespan to attain improvements in health for all, launching efforts to study special population differences in the progress and treatment of disease processes and developing a seamless integrated approach to translational science across all phases of research

Last updated July 1, 2018

CTSA Good Clinical Practices (GCP) Program

In response to the NIH Clinical Trial Working Group recommendation to standardize training, NCATS led a Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSA)-wide initiative to promote Good Clinical Practice (GCP) training for clinical trial personnel. GCP is composed of three phases, which the investigators described in three recent papers in the Journal of Clinical and Translational Science. In the first phase, the investigators developed a consensus across the CTSA Program national network about training guidelines and standards in the implementation of clinical trials. The second phase focused on developing competencies and minimum qualifications for a training curriculum for researchers involved in clinical studies. During the third phase, the investigators established best practices for conducting social and behavioral research, with the goal of creating learning modules. Hub personnel are currently testing the effectiveness of the GCP training standards at their respective institutions.

Last updated July 1, 2018

SMART IRB (formerly IRBrely)

SMART IRB, the Streamlined, Multisite, Accelerated Resources for Trials IRB Reliance platform, is designed to harmonize and streamline the IRB review process for multisite studies, while ensuring a high level of protection for research participants. Launched in 2016, SMART IRB is funded by the NIH Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSA) Program, grant number 3UL1TR002541-01S1. The platform is intended to serve as a roadmap for institutions to implement The National Institutes of Health (NIH) Policy on the Use of a Single Institutional Review Board for Multisite Research.

SMART IRB began as a project called IRBrely, which was led by Dartmouth Synergy and funded by NCATS from September 2014 through April 2016. This collaborative effort built upon existing regional networks for IRB reliance to develop a master IRB reliance agreement and standard operating procedures (SOPs) suitable for use across the nation.

In July 2016, NCATS funded the next phase of work to enable IRB reliance on a national scale. This project is led by Harvard Catalyst, University of Wisconsin-Madison ICTR, and Dartmouth Synergy. SMART IRB is funded by the NIH Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSA) Program through grant number UL1TR001102-04S1. As of 2018, there are 440 participating institutions, including all CTSA hubs.

Last updated July 1, 2018

Trial Innovation Network

The Trial Innovation Network is a collaborative initiative within the CTSA Program and is composed of three key partners – the CTSA Program Hubs, the Trial Innovation Centers (TICs), and the Recruitment Innovation Center (RIC). The vision for the Trial Innovation Network is to innovatively address critical roadblocks in clinical research and accelerate the translation of novel interventions into life-saving thera-pies. The Trial Innovation Network is a collaborative national network that focuses on operational innova-tion, operational excellence and collaboration and leverages the expertise and resources of the CTSA Program. The Trial Innovation Network features a single IRB system, master contracting agreements, quality by design approaches, and a focus on evidence-based strategies to recruitment and patient en-gagement. The goal of the Trial Innovation Network is to not only execute trials better, faster, and more cost-efficiently but, importantly, to be a national laboratory to study, understand and innovate the process of conducting clinical trials. The UCLA TIN serves as the local and collaborative resource and connection tool for multi-site clinical trial studies between UCLA and its partner institutions. The UCLA TIN Liaison, housed in the GSU, is responsible for outreach and networking responsibilities, ensuring local resources and capacity are utilized at the local level before recommending to Regional and/or National networks for assistance to fulfill needs of teams engaging in multi-site clinical trials.

Last updated February 1, 2021

UC Biomedical Research Acceleration, Integration, and Development (UC BRAID)

UC Biomedical Research Acceleration, Integration, and Development (UC BRAID)

UC BRAID, or University of California Biomedical Research Acceleration, Integration, and Development, is a network of five UC campuses - Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco. Formed in 2010, the UC BRAID consortium aims to accelerate research and improve health through collaboration, sharing resources, and infrastructure development. We connect researchers and administrators to solve problems, increase opportunities, and create efficiency of scale. Our platform of shared governance acts as a catalyst for collaboration, enabling us to amplify individual work and multiply its impact. UC BRAID’s priorities are: to develop structures to support the interface between research and clinical care and create infrastructure and drive harmonization to increase efficiency in clinical and translational research through its initiatives and workgroups. UC BRAID's initiatives are: biobanking, child health, D4 (or drug, device, discovery & development), regulatory (IRB), the UC Center for Accelerated Innovation, contracting, participant recruitment, and UC ReX Data Explorer--a secure online system that enables cross-institution queries of clinical data from over 15 million de-identified records.

Last updated July 1, 2018

Alpha Stem Cell Clinic

The UCLA-UCI Alpha Stem Cell Clinic (ASCC) accelerates the implementation of clinical trials and delivery of stem cell therapies by providing world-class, state-of-the-art infrastructure to support clinical research. UCLA-UCI ASCC is a first-of-its-kind collaboration between the University of California, Los Angeles, Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research and University of California, Irvine Sue & Bill Gross Stem Cell Research Center. It is one of three clinics (alongside City of Hope and UC San Diego) funded through a five year $8M grant from the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), the state’s stem cell agency. These three Alpha Clinics comprise the CIRM Alpha Stem Cell Clinic Network.

Last updated July 1, 2018

Drug, Device Discovery, and Development (D4)

The Drug, Device Discovery, and Development workgroup is a UC BRAID committee focused on the early translation of academic discovery research into valuable and impactful therapies. The University of California Drug Discovery Consortium (UC DDC) grew out of this work, and is funded by a three-year UC Office of the President (UCOP) Multi-Campus Research Proposal Initiative grant (MRPI). The UC DDC aims to build a drug discovery community for the University of California. Initially, the UC DDC will involve representatives from UC San Francisco, UC Los Angeles, UC Irvine, UC Davis and UC San Diego. In the future, UC DDC hopes to expand to include all UC Campuses. UC DDC goals to: support the development of therapeutics with mentoring & pilot funding, strengthen drug discovery education & training, expedite access to existing drug discovery related core facilities across the UC system, build partnerships with industry to increase support for projects and develop sustainability and provide seed funding that will enable faculty members with promising ideas to advance drug discovery or drug development projects.

Last updated July 1, 2018

UC BRAID Biobanking Initiative

Lead by UCLA’s Dr. Sarah Dry, the UC BRAID Biobanking Initiative was established in order for biobanks to meet emerging federal standards and help accelerate the pace of translational research. It aims to aid in the creation of best practice documentation and a governance model for high-quality biospecimens banks. Through an inclusive governance model and standard processes for “UC-recognized” biobanks, this initiative hopes to ensure biosamples are the highest possible quality and that biobanks are operating ethically and meet professional accredited standards. It also aims to develop biobanking educational programs. Biobanking resources include standard operating procedures for distribution, procurement and storage as well as shared resources on developing efficient and ethical approaches to biobanking research within the UC, governance of biobanks, and outlining best practices for establishing biobanks at UC facilities.

Last updated July 1, 2018

UC BRAID Center for Accelerated Innovation (UC CAI)

The mission of the UC CAI, a collaboration of the five UC medical campuses, is to translate NHLBI- and NIDA-funded discoveries to improve health and healthcare and address unmet medical needs. The transition is accelerated by applying business and product-development practices from the biomedical industry to advance the most promising technologies toward commercialization. Based at UCLA, the UC CAI has four goals: engage University of California research innovators in entrepreneurism through a comprehensive education, training and mentorship program; solicit and select technologies with high commercial potential that align with the NIH Institute’s mission and address unmet medical needs or significant scientific opportunity; incubate our most promising technologies in accordance with industry requirements to facilitate their translation to commercial products that improve patient care and enhance health; and create a high-performing, sustainable infrastructure that will serve as a model to academic research centers. The UC CAI provides the support for courses such as Therapeutic Discovery & Development which will help support workforce aims in developing online training and education efforts.

Last updated July 1, 2018

UC BRAID Child Health

UC BRAID-Child Health (BRAID-CH) has transitioned to a new statewide collaboration, the California Child Health Research Coalition. This effort expands upon BRAID-CH’s experience, skills and innovative investigator-initiated research projects. The goal of the new Coalition is to incubate multisite research teams across California, focused broadly on gaps and barriers to optimal health for children in our region. The Coalition will build an innovative, collegial, and collaborative network of child health centers, hospitals, and clinics in an effort to support clinical research activities that will rapidly provide new therapies, medical devices, quality care, efficient healthcare delivery, and health prevention strategies to all the people in California and beyond. Since 2013, BRAID-CH has sought to serve as a UC consortium focused on a group of pediatric diseases while building on the strengths of the existing UC BRAID structure. Some of BRAID-CH’s accomplishments include: receiving a UC award to build and test EMR templates in representative pediatric research areas (Diabetes Nutrition, Chronic Disease), funding and implementing two Child Health Catalytic Grant Awards--serving as a model for a national initiative to support multidisciplinary pediatric research, holding the first UC wide Autism Summit in 2014, receiving a UC award for a multisite Autism Research Pilot Study and developing a partnership with the UC Fetal Consortium.

Last updated July 1, 2018

UC BRAID Contracting Initiative

Contracting offices face increasing internal and external pressure to improve turnaround times for clinical trial contract execution. At the same time, the proliferation of multisite studies provides opportunities for institutions to align contract negotiations and leverage one another’s resources. To address these challenges, UC BRAID convened a workgroup of campus contracting leadership to: measure and improve clinical trial contracting performance, share best practices and lessons learned, increase collaboration for multisite clinical trial agreement (CTA) negotiations and mitigate redundant effort and conserve resources. Recent accomplishments include the Network's paper, "Collaboration in Action: Measuring and Improving Contracting Performance in the University of California Contracting Network" published by NCURA's Research Management Review and establishment of a resource called Avoiding Investigator Initiated Trial Contracting Delays to facilitate efficient contracting and move clinical trials forward.

Last updated July 1, 2018

UC BRAID Participant Recruitment Initiative

Participant recruitment is a significant challenge in many studies involving human subjects. Recruiting an adequate sample and retaining participants through study completion is frequently more difficult than expected. The five campuses of UC BRAID, UC Riverside, and Stanford have partnered to build a portfolio of tools and services to improve the participant recruitment processes. The initiative aims to identify services that may be shared across campuses, find common solutions for how we engage potential research participants, and address ethical, regulatory and operational issues. Among the issues to address: improve the cost, efficiency, and effectiveness of recruitment approaches  position member institutions to be attractive for research grant dollars, both locally and with multi-center studies and trials; and develop capabilities to forge and respond to new public/private partnerships.

Last updated July 1, 2018

UC Single IRB Review for Multisite Studies

The regulatory landscape is changing faster than it has in decades. Upcoming revisions to the "Common Rule" will mandate single IRB review and UC must be prepared. Fortunately, UC BRAID and campus IRBs have a years-long partnership: UC Reliance Services (UCRS). UCRS leverages IRB Reliance, streamlines regulatory approval, and most importantly, speeds clinical trial activation. UC BRAID’s Regulatory initiative identifies problems and develops new infrastructure and processes that will streamline IRB approval. Its goals are to: establish infrastructure and processes to expand use of single IRB review, promote IRB reliances through outreach to researchers, staff and industry partners and assess current processes, determine potential causes of variability and delay, and develop methods for improvement. UC BRAID’s Regulatory initiative's paper, "A Multisite Study of Performance Drivers among Institutional Review Boards" was published July 24, 2017 in the Journal of Clinical and Translational Science.

Last updated July 1, 2018

UC TrialQuest

UC TrialQuest is the first UC-wide clinical trials search tool. It allows groups involved in the research process to search clinical trials across the five UC Health campuses in real time using a simple web-based search and offers researchers the option to export the search results. Clinical trials listed on the database are in the process of, or have received, IRB approval. Researchers can search on the following fields: submission date, campus/campus identifier, status, study title, sponsor, PI, and clinical trials.gov ID. UC TrialQuest was built in conjunction with UC San Francisco’s CTSI Virtual Home team, the UC Institutional Review Board (IRB) Directors, and the UC Office of the President. UC Trial Quest received Golden Awards in 2016, which recognizes the most innovative projects across the UC system.

Last updated July 1, 2018

Grant libraries

CTSI Grant Library

The CTSI Grant Library has over 70 successful award applications that are accessible to all CTSI investigators and designees. Sample application types include: F32, K01, K08, K23, K24, K99/R00, R01, diversity supplements and U54 applications. Users request access to the library and use a UCLA Logon ID which can be obtained without a UCLA affiliate.

Last updated October 16, 2020

UCLA Department of Neurology Grant Library

The UCLA Department of Neurology has a library of grant applications accessible to UCLA personnel through UCLA Box (login required). For assistance, contact Laura Saade.

Last updated October 16, 2020

Incubators, licensing and entrepreneurship

Harold and Pauline Price Center for Entrepreneurial Studies

The Harold and Pauline Price Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation is a recognized leader in entrepreneurial education and research at the UCLA Anderson School of Management. Working closely with its board of advisors, the Price Center fosters the study and practice of entrepreneurship and business innovation by providing the foundation on which creativity can flourish and individuals can succeed.

The UCLA Anderson School of Management and the Price Center work together to provide a challenging, interdisciplinary curriculum for students who intend to embrace global and integrationist thinking, work across boundaries, and muster an uncommon amount of courage to pursue their entrepreneurial vision. First-hand experience in an entrepreneurial environment is vital to the success of our curriculum. The Price Center funds numerous fellowships designed to afford students real-world business experiences. To encourage entrepreneurial research, the Price Center has established programs such as the Galef Symposium in Business Innovation, which supports the research of Ph.D. students, academic researchers and faculty whose projects demand an openness to flexibility and new ideas, a predisposition to study innovative methods, and a capacity to see beyond existing paradigms. The Price Center also maintains a strong commitment to serving the nonprofit and small business communities through management development programs and topical seminars. All of these efforts aim to foster the study and practice of entrepreneurship and business innovation. Join us and make true impact

Last updated July 1, 2018

The Knapp Venture Competition at UCLA

Since its establishement in 1981, the Knapp Venture Competition has evolved into one of the premier academic business plan competitions in Southern California. It encourages UCLA Anderson students to showcase their talents and learn from insights of successful entrepreneurs and business executives. The Knapp Competition has given more than 1,800 UCLA Anderson students a unique venture creation experience that has been instrumental in launching numerous businesses. Over the course of the academic year, UCLA Anderson students refine business concepts, build management teams, and develop business plans to submit to the Knapp Venture Competition. A select group of business plans are chosen for competition in the semifinals, with the top submissions advancing to the finals in May. The judging panels, which are comprised of entrepreneurs, venture capital investors and senior executives, play a critical role in shaping the outcome and educational experience of the competition. Our judges ask questions to evaluate each entry's viability, and also provide students with constructive feedback and suggestions for going forward with their ventures. After a closed deliberation, the Knapp finalists are announced at a reception.

Last updated July 1, 2018

UCLA Technology Development Group (TDG)

UCLA Technology Development Group serves as a campus-wide gateway to Innovation, Research and Entrepreneurship. Their mission is to:

  • Promote UCLA innovation, research, teaching and entrepreneurship to benefit society
  • Create economic value to support UCLA’s scholarly and educational missions and the State of California
  • Lead UCLA’s research community to bring innovation to market
The scope of activities include:
  • Commercially evaluating new technologies
  • Determining patentability and commercial value
  • Prosecuting patents
  • Marketing and licensing inventions
  • Facilitating UCLA faculty startups
  • Engaging industry to facilitate research collaboration
  • Negotiating license agreements and Material Transfer Agreements
  • Receiving and distributing royalties and other income to the inventors, UCLA Campus and its Departments

Last updated July 1, 2018

UCLA Ventures

UCLA Ventures is a community of entrepreneurs and venture capitalists who support each other, the university, and its entrepreneurial ecosystem. Using a unique pledge mechanism, Ventures has built a portfolio of leading UCLA-backed startups. As a community, they support these companies, as well as the entrepreneurs behind them. With the returns from the portfolio, Venture fosters UCLA’s entrepreneurial ecosystems through programming, volunteerism, and financial distributions to key initiatives on campus.

Last updated July 1, 2018

Mobile health institutes and centers

NIH MD2K (Mobile Data to Knowledge) Center of Excellence (part of the Big Data to Knowledge [BD2K] initiative)

NIH MD2K (Mobile Data to Knowledge) Center of Excellence, or MD2K, is one of 12 national Big Data Centers of Excellence awarded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) as part of its Big Data-to-Knowledge initiative. The MD2K Center brings together leaders in computer science, engineering, medicine, behavioral science, and statistics from 13 universities (Cornell Tech, Georgia Tech, Harvard, Northwestern, Ohio State, Rice, UCLA, UC San Diego, UC San Francisco, the University of Massachusetts Amherst, the University of Memphis, the University of Michigan and West Virginia University), and Open mHealth (a non-profit organization). The MD2K Team develops innovative tools to make it easier to gather, analyze and interpret health data generated by mobile and wearable sensors. MD2K’s goal is to develop big data solutions that reliably quantify physical, biological, behavioral, social, and environmental factors that contribute to health and disease risk. The MD2K Team aims to lay the scientific foundations for turning the wealth of mobile sensor data available through new and rapidly evolving wearable sensors into reliable and actionable health information, and contribute to the vision of predictive, preventive, personalized, participatory, and precision (P5) medicine.

Last updated July 1, 2018

The Los Angeles (LA) PRISMS Center

The Los Angeles Pediatric Research Integrating Sensor Monitoring Systems (LA PRISMS) Center is fostering the development and application of mobile health (mHealth) technologies that deepen our scientific understanding and clinical management of pediatric conditions. Bringing together leading experts from UCLA and USC in biomedical informatics, computer science, wireless health, environmental science and health, and pediatrics, this Center focuses on the creation of innovative end-to-end software infrastructure for pediatric sensor-based health monitoring. A part of the NIH's Pediatric Research Integrating Sensor Monitoring Systems (PRISMS) community, this collaborative effort focuses on pediatric asthma. Our Center's vision and proposed research is motivated by the following question: what if you could predict ahead of time, for a specific asthma patient, the potential for exacerbation and thus mitigate–if not prevent–the event? Any system with this ability must integrate the growing array of available physiologic and environmental data from sensors, and place such data into context to elucidate the patient's state and specific situation. The system must be able to act sufficiently quickly on sensed data to make timely recommendations, and end user compliance with system usage must be high to effect change. Our solution, the Biomedical REAl-Time Health Evaluation for Pediatric Asthma (BREATHE) platform, provides an extensible framework for the deployment of data collection protocols; secure data collection from sensors to a mobile device; integration of additional contextual information; and real-time analysis.

Last updated July 1, 2018

Regulatory

Data Safety Monitoring Plan

Next Steps

Contact: Terra Hughes
Regulatory Affairs
(310) 794-8900
tnhughes@mednet.ucla.edu

Data and Safety Monitoring Plan (DSMP) is just one of the mechanisms used to ensure the safety of study subjects as well as maintain data validity, integrity, and scientific merit. The UCLA Human Research Protection Program requires an adequate Data and Safety Monitoring Plan (DSMP) for all interventional research studies involving greater-than-minimal risk. DSMPs depend upon many variables, such as the degree of risk, disease being studied, subject population, and number of sites where the research is being conducted. Complex DSMPs frequently include a Data Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB).

No boilerplate is available because the data and safety monitoring plan must be commensurate with the risk, size, and complexity of the study.

Last updated July 1, 2018

Ethics and Accountability in Biomedical Research

Next Steps

Contact: Lynn Talton
Director, Office of Postdoctoral Affairs
LTalton@mednet.ucla.edu

The following boilerplate is intended for people who have taken or plan to take UCLA's C234 course on Ethics and Accountability in Biomedical Research.

C234: Ethics and Accountability in Biomedical Research (Instructors: Dr. Lynn Talton and faculty discussants) is a course in Biomedical Research Ethics and Responsible Conduct in Research and is available to all predoctoral and postdoctoral trainees, regardless of funding source. Trainees are required to attend ten 2-hour sessions, which start with a didactic presentation, followed by faculty-led case study discussion, in small groups of 10-12 trainees. The faculty members from the participating training programs actively participate as small-group discussion leaders, exposing the students to a number of different perspectives and interpretations of these difficult issues. The class presentations are supported by reading assignments from selections such as On Being a Scientist, National Academies Press, Making the Right Moves, from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and other additional articles provided by the course instructor. Trainees are asked to present case-studies within their small groups, while the discussion is led by the faculty mentor. Directed discussion is the primary mode of learning, although the course also contains more formal didactic instruction. The course introduces standard and ethical practices in biomedical and life sciences, with emphasis on responsibilities in research activities. 

  • The course format consists of mixture of didactic instruction and small-group discussions around case-studies.  The instructor or invited guest speaker will present briefly on the topic of discussion, and then students will break into groups of 10-12, to be led by faculty members from the participating training programs.  Each student is asked to present a case to the group each session, followed by group discussion of the ethical and practical considerations of each case.
  • The course subject matter includes standard and ethical practices in the life sciences, with emphasis on responsibilities in research activities, including: misconduct, malfeasance, and whistle-blowing, mentorship, scientific recordkeeping and data treatment, animal and human subjects, laboratory safety, authorship and peer review, conflicts of interest, ownership of data and intellectual property, collaborative research, and ethical issues related to research in emerging fields (such as, genetics and stem cell technology). An additional section has been added to discuss mentorship of colleagues and students to promote mental health and wellness, and to report and combat discrimination, bias and harassment. 
  • The course faculty participation consists of leadership of the small-group case-study discussions.  Faculty participants attend the didactic portion of the class and are asked to comment upon the presented material. Then, they lead their group of 10-12 students in discussions of related case-studies. There are opportunities for 50-60 faculty mentors to participate as a small group leader during the course, and faculty mentor involvement is rotated among the participating training programs so that each program contributes every year and every faculty mentor has a chance to regularly participate.
  • The course duration is 10 weeks of 2-hour classes offered each Spring quarter. The course frequency is the full C234 course during the first year of training and a refresher course in the fourth year of training). 

(optional) Refresher Training in Responsible Conduct of Research
The refresher course is based on the formal C234 course, but the cases and examples are more nuanced, reflecting the greater maturity and experience of the participants. The refresher course has the following changes from the formal course:

The refresher course format is small groups of 15-20 trainees in directed discussion of case studies. The discussion is led by the instructor and a guest faculty mentor. The refresher course duration is four half-day sessions with 2 sections of 1.5 hours each (12 total hours of training). The refresher course frequency is once in the fourth year of training following the full, formal C234 course in the first year of training. The refresher course subject matter covers the same topics as C234: research misconduct, protection of human subjects, welfare of laboratory animals, conflicts of interest, data management practices, mentor and mentee responsibilities, collaborative research, authorship and publication, peer review, and contemporary ethical issues. The refresher course faculty participation includes one active faculty mentor from our program leading the case-study discussion during each discussion group section (2 sections x 4 half-day meetings = 8 faculty participants per each group of 15-20 trainees).

Last updated May 31, 2019

Human Subjects Protection

Next Steps

Contact: Terra Hughes
Regulatory Affairs
(310) 794-8900
tnhughes@mednet.ucla.edu

NIH requires compliance with federal policy for the protection of human subjects in clinical research.

NIH defines clinical research as research with human subjects that is:

  1. Patient-oriented research. Research conducted with human subjects (or on material of human origin such as tissues, specimens, and cognitive phenomena) for which an investigator (or colleague) directly interacts with human subjects. Excluded from this definition are in vitro studies that utilize human tissues that cannot be linked to a living individual. It includes: (a) mechanisms of human disease, (b), therapeutic interventions, (c) clinical trials, or (d) development of new technologies.
  2. Epidemiological and behavioral studies.
  3. Outcomes research and health services research

Studies falling under 45 CFR 46.101(b) (4) (Exemption 4) are not considered clinical research by this definition.

NIH defines a clinical trial as a research study in which one or more human subjects are prospectively assigned to one or more interventions (which may include placebo or other control) to evaluate the effects of those interventions on health-related biomedical or behavioral outcomes. See Common Rule definition of research at 45 CFR 46.102(d) and Common Rule definition of human subject at 45 CFR 46.102(f).

The term "prospectively assigned" refers to a pre-defined process (e.g., randomization) specified in an approved protocol that stipulates the assignment of research subjects (individually or in clusters) to one or more arms (e.g., intervention, placebo or other control) of the clinical trial.

An intervention is defined as a manipulation of the subject or subject's environment for the purpose of modifying one or more health-related processes and/or endpoints. Examples include, but are not limited, to: drugs/small molecules/compounds, biologics, devices; procedures (e.g., surgical techniques); delivery systems (e.g., telemedicine, face-to-face); strategies to change health-related behavior (e.g., diet, cognitive therapy, exercise, development of new habits); and, treatment, prevention, and diagnostic strategies.

A health-related biomedical or behavioral outcome is defined as the pre-specified effect of an intervention on the study subjects. Examples include positive or negative changes to physiological or biological parameters (e.g., improvement of lung capacity, gene expression); psychological or neurodevelopmental parameters (e.g., mood management intervention for smokers; reading comprehension and/or information retention); disease processes; health-related behavior; and, well-being or quality of life.

Biomedical clinical trials of an experimental drug, treatment, device, or behavioral intervention may proceed through four phases:

Phase I. Tests a new biomedical intervention in a small group of people (e.g. 20-80) for the first time to determine efficacy and evaluate safety (e.g., determine a safe dosage range and identify side effects).

Phase II. Study the biomedical or behavioral intervention in a larger group of people (several hundred) to determine efficacy and further evaluate safety.

Phase III. Study to determine efficacy of the biomedical or behavioral intervention in large groups of people (from several hundred to several thousand) by comparing the intervention to other standard or experimental interventions as well as to monitor adverse effects, and to collect information that will allow the interventions to be used safely. Phase IV. Studies conducted after the intervention has been marketed. These studies are designed to monitor the effectiveness of the approved intervention in the general population and to collect information about any adverse effects associated with widespread use.

Last updated July 1, 2018

Responsible Conduct of Research

Next Steps

Contact: Terra Hughes
Regulatory Affairs
(310) 794-8900
tnhughes@mednet.ucla.edu

The following boilerplate is intended for people who are applying for grants as trainees or as new investigators and have taken or plan to take UCLA's M261 course on the Responsible Conduct of Research Involving Humans.

As a __(insert)__ trainee, I plan to take a course in the responsible conduct of research. The main UCLA course, entitled “Responsible Conduct of Research Involving Humans” (M261), is a didactic course of 20 hours taught over one quarter with experts leading discussions in a particular topic area. Students are expected to read course materials and actively participate in classroom discussions of relevant case scenarios. Topics covered include Responsible Conduct of Research, Professionalism and the Ethical Imperatives of Clinical Research, Protection of Research Subjects-- the IRB process, Managing the Practice of Research, Conflicts of Interest, Genetics and Stem Cell Research, Community and International Research, Misconduct, Rigor and Reproducibility, and Research Misconduct.

To build upon the above training, I will continue my responsible conduct of research training with my mentor, __(insert)__, while actively conducting my research project. My mentor will meet with me on a __(insert)__ basis and there will be additional collaborative meetings with colleagues to address specific related research topics. Some of those topics will include authorship, sharing of data, and data management.

The UCLA CTSI is strongly committed to upholding the highest ethical and professional standards in research endeavors and ensures all investigators, research staff, and students are educated and remain current in “best practices” in the responsible and ethical conduct of research. The comprehensive mentoring and training activities in this area will thoroughly prepare me to accomplish the proposed research and educational training activities during the period of this award and into the future as I renew such training every four years.

(optional content)
Other formats include both on-line and in-person opportunities for education. The Collaborative Institute Training Initiative (CITI) training platform for the Responsible Conduct of Research includes both a UCLA-specific RCR course as well as the CITI-provided course. To carry out clinical research the IRB requires the basic CITI course and it is a precondition for taking this course. Through an on-line training environment, University constituents self-identify for most of their required research training needs. The UCLA Office of the Human Research Protection Program, the Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI), and the Health System Office of Compliance offer seminar series, covering topics such as “Protecting Encryption Research Data” and “Obtaining and Documenting Informed Consent” to which all trainees are invited.

Last updated April 15, 2019

Research cores

Animal Cores – Cedars-Sinai Medical Center

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Biobank and Pathology Resource

Biobank and Pathology Resource

The Biobank is a state-of-the-art biorepository that: (1) collects human biospecimens based on institutional priorities for biomedical research and also for investigator-driven requests, (2) provides tissue, blood, and body fluid collection, processing, and storage services, (3) provides a uniform, institution-wide, consent process for facilitating research studies, (4) provides clinical annotation services and fulfills custom requests for chart review, and (5) aids in developing protocols for human biospecimen procurement and processing.

The Translational Research Core provides pathology and molecular services which include grossing of human/animal tissue, histopathology, tissue microarray generation, and the development of protocols for new antibodies and in-situ hybridization probes. Imaging and image analysis services include: (1) full slide scanning of human and animal cells/tissues on glass slides, including either chromogenic or fluorescent multispectral scanning, (2) image analysis of digital images generated with single or multiple probes in visible light or fluorescent wavelength ranges. The core also has a number of state-of-the art imaging and molecular instrumentation (laser-capture microdissection, nanostring, confocal, lightsheet microscope etc.) that are available to researchers.

Last updated February 1, 2023

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Biobehavioral Research Core

Biobehavioral Research Core

The Biobehavioral Research Core offers behavioral testing in rodents that ranges from the assessment of general health and neurological function (e.g., sensory and motor function) to the measurement of complex behaviors such as social interaction, memory, and learning. Assessments can be utilized to: (1) study animal models of human diseases and disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease, autism, and drug abuse, in addition to disease-specific behavioral effects of treatment/therapies, (2) uncover neurobehavioral deficits in transgenic animals, and (3) define the possible undesirable behavioral effects of drugs and biologics (gene, vaccine, and stem cell therapies).

Last updated February 1, 2023

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Mitochondria, Metabolism and Cardiac Phenotyping Core

Mitochondria, Metabolism and Cardiac Phenotyping Core

The Mitochondria, Metabolism, and Mouse Cardiac Phenotyping Core provides services for isolation of mitochondria from a range of tissues for respirometry and other mitochondrial studies. The Core also provides cardiac ultrasound for Ejection Fraction and Fractional Shortening, and surgical models of heart disease including transverse aortic constriction (thoracic or abdominal), permanent or reversible coronary artery ligation, or pulmonary artery banding.

Last updated February 1, 2023

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Research Imaging Core

Research Imaging Core

The Cedars-Sinai Research Imaging Core (RIC) is an advanced imaging center dedicated to providing high-quality imaging services tailored to the unique needs of the research community from rodents and large animals to human subjects. We offer a Clinical 3T MRI (Vida, Siemens) and simultaneous Clinical PET/MR (Biograph, Siemens) for human and large animal subjects, as well as  in-Vivo Small Animal/Specimen CT (PerkElmer Quantum GX2), Cryofluoresence Tomography (EMIT) Optical (IVIS Spectrum and Luminar XR), Small Animal image guided irradiator (X-RAD SmART), micro-ultrasound imaging system (Vevo 3100) and Small Animal 4Dx Lung imaging services for research.

Our facility is staffed with highly trained and experienced personnel, including expert research scientists, technologists, registered nurses, and additional support staff to ensure the most positive experience. We also offer core IRB/IACUC protocol support and seed grants to help get your research started quickly, and a dedicated research PACS and post-processing software to support data transfer, image analysis and data processing. In addition to research imaging, the Siemens systems are licensed for clinical use to allow standard-of-care, diagnostic imaging performed in conjunction with research imaging. We welcome and look forward to working with all CTSI investigators.

Last updated February 1, 2023

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Rodent Genetics Core

Rodent Genetics Core

The Rodent Genetics Core provides specialized services for the production of genetically modified animals. The core offers high-quality, specific pathogen-free transgenic and knockout (knock-in) mice focused on genes of specific interest to a broad range of biomedical research projects to investigators at Cedars-Sinai, as well as affiliated and outside institutions. The core also helps design the DNA constructs for pronuclear microinjection or gene targeting with the most up-to-date genetic technologies such as the CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing system. 

The core also offers assisted fertilization services followed by embryo transfer to save poorly breeding mutant mouse lines, as well as cryopreservation of embryos and sperm for conservation of genetic resources. The core encourages interactive usage of these animals among Cedars-Sinai or CTSI affiliated investigators. Other services include PCR genotyping, embryonic fibroblast preparation, intrabursal delivery of various substances (e.g., viral vectors, tumor cells, etc.) and blastocyst injection of ES/iPS cells.

Last updated February 1, 2023

Animal Cores – Lundquist/Harbor-UCLA

Learn more about this core:
Large Animal Core

Large Animal Core

The Lundquist/Harbor-UCLA Animal Care and Use Program is uniquely designed to accommodate large animal models, and is equipped with several large animal surgical suites containing anesthesia machines, monitoring equipment, fluoroscopes, and a CT Scanner. The major types of studies center around perinatal lung development, the effect of the fetal environment on development, antibody production, vascular implant surgery, and cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Services include: (1) protocol development, (2) animal procurement, (3) animal care procedures, (4) animal health programs, (5) special services, and (6) training programs.

Last updated February 1, 2023

Animal Cores – UCLA-Westwood

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Behavioral Testing Core

Behavioral Testing Core

The Behavioral Testing Core (BTC) brings researchers together in a collaborative effort to link genes, disorders, and treatments with behavior. It is available to investigators interested in the determination of behavioral phenotypes in different mouse and rat strains, and the effects that various treatment options have on these phenotypic characteristics. In addition to providing training and guidance in experimental design, proposal preparation, and statistical analyses, the core offers BTC staff-performed experiments.

Last updated February 1, 2023

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Cardiovascular Research Theme Small Animal Physiology Core

Cardiovascular Research Theme Small Animal Physiology Core

The Cardiovascular Research Theme at UCLA offers rodent models of cardiovascular disease as research resources to all researchers in the CV theme. The goal of this core is to provide CV theme researchers expertise and ready access to cardiac injury models for pre-clinical studies or mechanistic investigation of injury induced abnormalities affecting repair, scarring or electrical propagation.

Last updated February 1, 2023

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Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) Core

Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) Core

The ICP-MS Core Facility provides analytical chemistry characterization services to determine the qualitative and quantitative composition with wide element coverage, up to 80 elements. Chemical analysis is completed at a part per trillion (ppt, pg/mL) scale with high sensitivity. Trained staff will provide core services including: (1) Consultation for effective decision-making based on your needs, (2) Sample preparation (e.g., acid digestion), (3) Conduct analyses, and (4) Data reports with background corrections. Applications for the Core services include (but not limited to): (a) Drug delivery (drug release kinetics, biodistribution in different organs), (b) Concentration measurements of metal-containing proteins, (c) Cellular uptake, (d) Impurities / composition / stoichiometric ratio / ion release kinetics, (e) Toxic elements analysis (As, Pb, Cd, Hg, etc.) in food and soil, and (d) Trace metal analysis in drinking water and wastewater.

Last updated February 1, 2023

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Mouse Physiology Lab

Mouse Physiology Lab

The Mouse Physiology Core Laboratory facility is dedicated to the phenotypic assessment of mouse and rat models of disease using a wide variety of integrative approaches. Our aim is to provide a cost effective means for investigators to reveal important functional aspects of their mouse and rat models without having to individually invest in hiring skilled personnel and in the purchase of expensive instrumentation. We specialize in ultrasound (echo) & telemetric assessments, survival and non-survival surgeries, acute and chronic evaluations of cardiac and neuro-regulatory function as well as basic metabolic and exercise assessments.

Last updated February 1, 2023

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Radiation Oncology Animal Core

Radiation Oncology Animal Core

The Radiation Oncology Animal Core breeds and houses mice in a gnotobiotic environment. The core can supply various strains of mice to meet investigators’ needs (please see website). Mice from other facilities may be imported, after inspection of sentinel health reports, and housed in the extra-barrier area. Irradiators are available for both whole-body and partial body exposures including image-guided techniques. The core additionally maintains an ABSL2 facility.

Last updated February 1, 2023

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UCLA Humanized Mouse Core Laboratory

UCLA Humanized Mouse Core Laboratory

The overall goal of the UCLA Humanized Mouse Core Laboratory is to provide the infrastructure, materials, animals, technical expertise, and support that will facilitate the use of humanized immunodeficient mice in studies examining human tissues and disease in the context of a small animal model system. Services include: (1) procuring immunodeficient mice at a reduced cost, (2) providing specialized animal laboratories for the construction, housing, and maintenance of immunodeficient mice, (3) constructing humanized mice, (4) developing and optimizing new humanized mouse models, (5) providing technical expertise and consultation on humanized mouse models. The core also provides consultation in flow cytometry, immunohistochemistry, PCR, and other assays.

Last updated February 1, 2023

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Zebrafish Core

Zebrafish Core

The Zebrafish Core facilitates the use and quick access of common mutation, genetically-engineered transgenic zebrafish, and routine techniques of zebrafish manipulation by investigators. Services include: (1) providing space to house zebrafish and perform large-scale genetic screens, (2) providing embryos for experiments, (3) generation of transgenic zebrafish, and (4) cryostorage of zebrafish sperm and re- derivation of live fish. Training is available for select techniques and zebrafish husbandry.

Last updated February 1, 2023

Cell Cores – Cedars-Sinai Medical Center

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Biobank and Pathology Resource

Biobank and Pathology Resource

The Biobank is a state-of-the-art biorepository that: (1) collects human biospecimens based on institutional priorities for biomedical research and also for investigator-driven requests, (2) provides tissue, blood, and body fluid collection, processing, and storage services, (3) provides a uniform, institution-wide, consent process for facilitating research studies, (4) provides clinical annotation services and fulfills custom requests for chart review, and (5) aids in developing protocols for human biospecimen procurement and processing.

The Translational Research Core provides pathology and molecular services which include grossing of human/animal tissue, histopathology, tissue microarray generation, and the development of protocols for new antibodies and in-situ hybridization probes. Imaging and image analysis services include: (1) full slide scanning of human and animal cells/tissues on glass slides, including either chromogenic or fluorescent multispectral scanning, (2) image analysis of digital images generated with single or multiple probes in visible light or fluorescent wavelength ranges. The core also has a number of state-of-the art imaging and molecular instrumentation (laser-capture microdissection, nanostring, confocal, lightsheet microscope etc.) that are available to researchers.

Last updated February 1, 2023

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Flow Cytometry Core

Flow Cytometry Core

The CSMC Flow Cytometry Core is equipped with state-of-the-art equipment for cell analysis and sorting, utilizing fluorescent probes targeted to specific cell-associated molecules to characterize the diversity and function of complex cell populations. Fluorescence-activated cell sorters can also individually identify and isolate live cells with a defined phenotype that can later be expanded and/or further studied. The core is equipped to handle biohazardous samples and offers both, cell population and single cell sorting. The core is open 24/7 for analysis and can provide flexible hours for sorting to accommodate experimental needs. The core also provides training for new users and offers consulting for experimental design, for a fee.

Last updated February 1, 2023

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HLA and Immunogenetics Laboratory

HLA and Immunogenetics Laboratory

The HLA and Immunogenetics Laboratory provides state-of-the-art histocompatibility and immunogenetics testing for solid organ and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. The HLA Laboratory also provides histocompatibility testing for non-transplant services including disease association and drug hypersensitivity. Services include: (1) intermediate and high-resolution HLA typing by next generation sequencing, (2) HLA and non-HLA antibody detection by solid phase or cell-based assays, (3) KIR and MICA gene typing, (4) chimerism testing, and (5) other immune assessment.

Last updated February 1, 2023

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Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell Core

Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell Core

The Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell (iPSC) Core at the Regenerative Medicine Institute uses the latest techniques to reprogram, expand, and characterize human iPSCs from human skin or blood tissues of healthy subjects and diseased patients. iPSCs are then turned into specific cells of the human body including components of the nervous system, eyes, blood, bones, heart, gut, liver, and pancreas, for use by researchers. Applications of this technology include human disease modeling-in-a-dish, developing human reporter cell lines via genetic modification, drug screening on pathological human cell types, and potentially developing cell replacement or regenerative therapies. The iPSC Core offers: (1) PSC quality control and characterization services, (2) bio-banking and PSC thawing, (3) imaging services, (4) cell lines, (5) custom MEF generation, and (6) training.

Last updated February 1, 2023

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Mitochondria, Metabolism and Cardiac Phenotyping Core

Mitochondria, Metabolism and Cardiac Phenotyping Core

The Mitochondria, Metabolism and Cardiac Phenotyping Core provides comprehensive services for analysis of metabolism and mitochondrial function in the research setting, with plans to expand to provide clinical services. For in-depth mitochondrial characterization, services may include seahorse respirometry, seahorse XFp, mitochondrial isolation from tissue, seahorse data analysis, keyence microscope, indirect calorimetry (CLAMS), CLAMS data analysis, body composition (NMR), citrate synthase, complex 1, Amplex Red, Swelling Assay, and mtDNA/nucDNA. In-depth mitochondrial characterization may include mitochondrial morphometry, turnover rates, respirometry, membrane potential, mPTP susceptibility, cytochrome c release, free radical production, mtDNA sequencing and 8- oxo-dG analysis.

Last updated February 1, 2023

Cell Cores – Lundquist/Harbor-UCLA

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Bioimaging and Immunotherapeutics Research Core

Bioimaging and Immunotherapeutics Research Core

l time, and detection of signals from tissue, petri dishes, and microtiter plates; (3) a Luminex multiplex analyzer that utilizes xMAP microsphere technology and has the capability of performing up to 100 assays simultaneously in a single well of a microtiter plate; and (4) a Biotek Synergy 2 multi-mode microplate reader, a combination luminometer-fluorometer-absorbance detector capable of reading 96-well and larger plates that utilizes both filter-based and monochromatic-based light-detection technology.

Last updated February 1, 2023

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High-Resolution Tissue Respirometry Core

High-Resolution Tissue Respirometry Core

The High-Resolution Tissue Respirometry (HRTR) Core supports investigators in mitochondrial physiology and pathophysiology studies. The core provides consultation, training, and services for assessment of oxidative phosphorylation in isolated mitochondria, permeabilized cells, or tissue preparations. The HRTR Core uses Oroboros Oxygraph-2k High Resolution Respirometry equipment. Applications of HRTR include: (1) diagnosis of acquired and genetic mitochondrial diseases, myopathies, and neuromuscular pathologies, (2) study of pathologies with reduced cellular respiration, (3) studies on cell function and cell death, (4) aging and senescence, (5) oxidative stress and antioxidant systems, (6) ischemia-reperfusion injury, (7) cancer research / pharmacological tests, (8) environmental stress, and (9) metabolic substrate balance.

Last updated February 1, 2023

Cell Cores – UCLA-Westwood

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Cardiovascular Research Theme Cardiac Muscle Cell Core

Cardiovascular Research Theme Cardiac Muscle Cell Core

The UCLA Cardiovascular Research Theme will provide cardiac muscle cells as a core service at a highly subsidized rate. The goal of this service is to provide a readily available resource of cardiac muscle cells for investigators performing ex vivo experiments on cardiac muscle cells. Two types of cardiac muscle cells will be provided: (1) Neonatal rat ventricular cardiomyocytes. These cells beat in the dish for 3-7 days and provide a platform for determining effects of toxins, drugs or other genetic manipulation of the cardiac muscle cell, and (2) Human embryonic stem cell or human iPSC derived cardiomyocytes. H9 or other NIH approved lines and UCLA approved lines are used as a source for the differentiation of cardiac muscle cells. Human pluripotent stem cell derived cardiac muscle cells will be handed to investigators at their preferred time point of differentiation. To maintain consistency, standard differentiation programs are used. Crispr/Cas edited hPSC derived cardiomyocytes will be introduced as a core service in the near future.

Last updated February 1, 2023

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Centralized Laboratory Support Core for Center for AIDS Research

Center for Aids Research Virology Core Laboratory

The centralized laboratory support provides a wide array of services for both HIV/AIDS and other researchers. It offers testing services (p24 ELISA, and digital droplet PCR for the detection of HIV cDNA, HIV viral load), and blood cell products ( PBMCs and Monocytes) . Finally, the core is able to assist individual researchers with special projects related to, but not limited to, HIV detection.

Last updated February 1, 2023

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Flow Cytometry Core Laboratory

Flow Cytometry Core Laboratory

The core laboratory provides instrumentation and technical and professional assistance for performing laser-based flow cytometric analysis and cell sorting. The facility also offers training in basic flow cytometry principles and in the operation of analytic cytometers. A second course teaches nucleic acid analysis and measurement of proliferation by flow cytometry as well as hands-on instrument set-up and use of the specialized DNA analysis software.

Last updated February 1, 2023

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Immune Assessment Core (IAC)

Immune Assessment Core (IAC)

The Immune Assessment Core (IAC) is a CLIA certified laboratory that provides comprehensive immunological testing services for basic, clinical, and translational studies. The IAC provides both standardized and customized multi-parameter flow cytometry, multiplexed immunoassays and cellular immune function assays to evaluate the innate and adaptive immune status of study subjects. Validated tests include comprehensive immunophenotyping panels, multiplexed cytokine/chemokine detection in body fluids or culture supernatants, Single-molecule array (Simoa) ultra-sensitive assay, several ELISA assays, allo- and virus-specific T cell activation, T and B cell proliferation to antigens and mitogens, NK cell cytotoxicity, and granulocyte/monocyte oxidative burst. The core also performs customized assay development to meet the investigators’ needs.

Last updated February 1, 2023

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Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) Core

Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) Core

The ICP-MS Core Facility provides analytical chemistry characterization services to determine the qualitative and quantitative composition with wide element coverage, up to 80 elements. Chemical analysis is completed at a part per trillion (ppt, pg/mL) scale with high sensitivity. Trained staff will provide core services including: (1) Consultation for effective decision-making based on your needs, (2) Sample preparation (e.g., acid digestion), (3) Conduct analyses, and (4) Data reports with background corrections. Applications for the Core services include (but not limited to): (a) Drug delivery (drug release kinetics, biodistribution in different organs), (b) Concentration measurements of metal-containing proteins, (c) Cellular uptake, (d) Impurities / composition / stoichiometric ratio / ion release kinetics, (e) Toxic elements analysis (As, Pb, Cd, Hg, etc.) in food and soil, and (d) Trace metal analysis in drinking water and wastewater.

Last updated February 1, 2023

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Mitochondrial and Metabolism Core

Mitochondrial and Metabolism Core

The UCLA Mitochondrial and Metabolism Core provides the necessary technical and conceptual resources for studying mitochondrial function. Services include respirometry assays in intact cells, permeabilized cells, and isolated mitochondria using the Seahorse XF96 Extracellular Flux Analyzer. An Operetta High Content Imaging System is also available for measurements of mitochondrial mass, membrane potential and reactive oxygen species, among other applications. The Mitochondrial and Metabolism Core provides in-depth training and scheduled use of instruments or full service options for assay design, performance, and data analysis.

Last updated February 1, 2023

Computational Cores – Cedars-Sinai Medical Center

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Biostatistics & Bioinformatics Core

Biostatistics & Bioinformatics Core

The Biostatistics & Bioinformatics Core is a resource for biostatistical and bioinformatics consulting and related methodological research, and serves as a focal point from which investigators may draw statistical expertise for planning, management, and analysis of their studies. Faculty and staff at the Biostatistics and Bioinformatics Core: (1) coordinate and manage statistical activities at Cedars-Sinai to ensure that investigators have ready access to statistical consultation and support, (2) provide statistical expertise in the design of experiments and studies, including research proposal development, sample size determination, randomization procedures and plans for interim reviews and final analysis, (3) assist with the writing of statistical components of manuscripts, (4) review the integrity and statistical soundness of all studies involving human subjects, (5) provide statistical analysis for projects using appropriate statistical and computing methodologies and assist in the interpretation and presentation of results, (6) interact and collaborate with the Clinical Research Office in the development of protocols and the monitoring and reporting of clinical data, (7) maintain a computing facility with up-to-date software for statistical analysis to support program project investigators, and (8) conduct biostatistical and bioinformatics methodology research on practical problems arising in basic science populational and clinical studies.

Last updated February 1, 2023

Computational Cores – UCLA-Westwood

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Computing Technologies Research Laboratory

Computing Technologies Research Laboratory

The Computing Technologies Research Laboratory (CTRL) specializes in research and clinical data collection, management, and reporting solutions. They develop Internet-accessible, web-based database applications that enable and enhance clinical & basic research and education, in the biomedical community. Services include: (1) web application development, (2) mobile app programming, and (3) database design and hosting.

Last updated February 1, 2023

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Department of Medicine Statistics Core

Department of Medicine Statistics Core

The primary objective of DOMStat is to provide statistical analysis collaboration to investigators across the translational research spectrum (basic science, bioinformatics, observational studies, clinical trials, electronic health records research and health services). DOMStat offers faculty and staff level statistical collaboration for grant proposals, data analysis, manuscript preparation, and other research activities requiring statistical input.

Last updated February 1, 2023

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Informatics Center for Neurogenetics and Neurogenomics

Informatics Center for Neurogenetics and Neurogenomics

The Informatics Center for Neurogenetics and Neurogenomics (ICNN) provides CNN faculty experts in statistical genetics, gene expression analysis, and bioinformatics will oversee the activities of highly-trained staff members who will accomplish three goals: 1) provide expert consultation and analyses for neurogenetics and neurogenomics projects; 2) develop and maintain a shared computing resource that will include a computational cluster for computation-intensive analyses, web-servers and state-of-the-art software tools for a wide range of applications (including user-friendly versions of public databases, as well as workstations on which ICNN users will be trained to employ these tools; and 3) provide hands-on training in analysis and informatics to the users. ICNN is developing a whole- genome data analysis pipeline, aimed at filtering and prioritizing genetic variation identified in whole-genome sequencing studies for further study.

Last updated February 1, 2023

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Semel Institute Biostatistics Core (SIStat)

Semel Institute Biostatistics Core

The Semel Institute Biostatistics Core (SIStat) is a team of expert biostatisticians, methodologists, programmers and research support staff. The mission of the core is to foster research productivity and quality by helping faculty and trainees design sound research projects; obtain independent funding; securely collect, store, and share data; and conduct rigorous analyses. Services include: (1) Statistical consulting and analytic support; (2) development of customized systems for data entry/capture, study management and dissemination; (3) programming of specialized software and tools for analysis, patient assessment, questionnaire scoring, and administrative systems; (4) website construction and graphical design; and (5) submission of materials to the National Data Archives or other repositories. Support is offered for projects ranging from small pilot studies to large, long-running, multi-site centers.

Last updated February 1, 2023

Genetics Cores – Cedars-Sinai Medical Center

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Applied Genomics, Computation & Translational Core (AGCT Core)

Applied Genomics, Computation & Translational Core (AGCT Core)

The Applied Genomics, Computation & Translational Core (AGCT Core) is a fully equipped, automated, high-throughput genomics facility offering the latest in next generation and single cell sequencing technologies. Our goal is to generate and interpret single cell omics, genomics, transcriptomics, epigenomics, and metagenomics information for basic and clinical research. We offer general but complete laboratory and bioinformatics analysis pipelines to accommodate standard needs, as well as work actively in collaborations to offer more sophisticated or custom solutions on most omics-wide investigations.

As a 10x Genomic certified service provider, the AGCT Core specializes in single cell omics applications, including scRNA-Seq, scATAC-Seq, scV(D)J immune profiling, and scCNV. We also offer mRNA-Seq and total RNA-Seq for all sample types, including low-input or degraded RNA. Sequencing-only services and high-throughput qPCR are also available. The Core houses the latest in next-generation sequencing equipment, including Illumina’s NovaSeq, NextSeq, MiSeq, and MiniSeq, 10x Genomic’s Chromium Controller, automated liquid handlers, automated nucleic acid purification systems, nucleic acid fragment analyzers, and focused ultrasonicators.

The AGCT Core’s bioinformatics team provides analytical capabilities to support advanced biomedical research. We have set up solid pipelines associated with each sequencing service for primary data processing, including reads alignment, quality control and expression quantification (RNA-seq), variants calling (WGS/WES) and peak calling (ChIP-seq/ATAC-seq). We have also developed packages for in-depth, customized computational analyses driven by specific biological questions defined by investigators. Furthermore, we provide support on interpretation and presentation of results, generating extensive reports with publication-ready images and drafting of bioinformatics and statistical methodology for manuscripts. We also provide lifelong data curation and cloud storage for collaborators.

Please visit the AGCT Core’s website for a complete list of available services, instrumentation, and detailed information about data processing and analyses.

Last updated February 1, 2023

Genetics Cores – Lundquist/Harbor-UCLA

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Institute for Translational Genomics and Population Sciences

Institute for Translational Genomics and Population Sciences

The Institute consists of 3 core laboratories—the Laboratory for Biochemistry, Molecular Phenotyping, and Microarray; the Laboratory for Statistical and Mathematical Genetics; and the Laboratory for Molecular Genetics, Bioinformatics, and High Throughput Genotyping. The Genomics Institute Faculty have been extremely active in large scale genetic studies and both single cohort and in multi-cohort (and multi-ethnic) consortium efforts that have identified many genetic loci for cardiometabolic traits. We have contributed to the design stages, to performance of biochemical phenotyping, to large scale genotyping, and to statistical genetic analysis. The many loci we and our collaborators have identified are being utilized by ourselves and others to generate multi-loci genetic risk scores as powerful tools to dissect disease etiology and to perform risk assessment in populations. Besides our involvement in many large scale genome wide association studies (GWAS), we are now actively involved in large scale whole genome sequencing studies (WGS) and Multi-Omics studies.

Last updated February 1, 2023

Genetics Cores – UCLA-Westwood

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Microbiome Core

Microbiome Core

The UCLA Microbiome Core performs services related to microbiome studies including 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequencing, shotgun metagenomics sequencing, human/animal sample collection and processing (feces, tissues, intestinal lavage, oral and vaginal swabs), frozen fecal sample aliquoting, bioinformatics analysis of 16S rRNA and shotgun metagenomics data, quantitative PCR of total bacterial load, and fecal calprotectin measurement.

Last updated February 1, 2023

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Neuroscience Genomics Core

Neuroscience Genomics Core

The UCLA Neurosciences Genomics Core (UNGC) currently operates an Illumina high throughput SNP genotyping system (iScan), operates a PacBio Sequel IIe long read sequencer and has access to Illumina NovaSeq instruments on the UNCLA campus. Services include: RNA/DNA library preparation and sequencing on NovaSeq and PacBio platforms. Genotyping available using all current Illumina Infinium genotyping arrays. Whole genome methylation assays using Illumina Meth-Epic and Horvath custom pan-mammalian arrays are available. For project specific pricing please contact Joe DeYoung, facility manager. Non UCLA neuro labs please inquire about service availability.

Last updated February 1, 2023

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Technology Center for Genomics and Bioinformatics

Technology Center for Genomics and Bioinformatics

Technology Center for Genomics and Bioinformatics (TCGB) is a fully automated, high-throughput genomic facility equipped with all major next generation sequencing and microarray platforms. The Core provides pre-experiment consultation and post-experiment support, including preparation of grant applications and publications, and strategic planning for additional research steps. The TCGB also provides educational training to faculty, staff, and students to raise awareness on new directions and major discoveries in the areas of genomics and bioinformatics. Services include: (1) next generation sequencing, (2) microarray analysis, and (3) quality control services for RNA, miRNA, and DNA samples including RNA/DNA extraction, cDNA synthesis for quantitative-PCR, and qRT- PCR.

Last updated February 1, 2023

Human Cores – Cedars-Sinai Medical Center

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Biobank and Translational Research Core

Biobank and Translational Research Core

The Biobank is a state-of-the-art biorepository that: (1) collects human biospecimens based on institutional priorities for biomedical research and also for investigator-driven requests, (2) provides tissue, blood, and body fluid collection, processing, and storage services, (3) provides a uniform, institution-wide, consent process for facilitating research studies, (4) provides clinical annotation services and fulfills custom requests for chart review, and (5) aids in developing protocols for human biospecimen procurement and processing.

The Translational Research Core provides pathology and molecular services which include grossing of human/animal tissue, histopathology, tissue microarray generation, and the development of protocols for new antibodies and in-situ hybridization probes. Imaging and image analysis services include: (1) full slide scanning of human and animal cells/tissues on glass slides, including either chromogenic or fluorescent multispectral scanning, (2) image analysis of digital images generated with single or multiple probes in visible light or fluorescent wavelength ranges. The core also has a number of state-of-the art imaging and molecular instrumentation (laser-capture microdissection, nanostring, confocal, lightsheet microscope etc.) that are available to researchers.

Last updated February 1, 2023

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HLA and Immunogenetics Laboratory

HLA and Immunogenetics Laboratory

The HLA and Immunogenetics Laboratory provides state-of-the-art histocompatibility and immunogenetics testing for solid organ and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. The HLA Laboratory also provides histocompatibility testing for non-transplant services including disease association and drug hypersensitivity. Services include: (1) intermediate and high-resolution HLA typing by next generation sequencing, (2) HLA and non-HLA antibody detection by solid phase or cell-based assays, (3) KIR and MICA gene typing, (4) chimerism testing, and (5) other immune assessment.

Last updated February 1, 2023

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Mitochondria, Metabolism and Cardiac Phenotyping Core

Mitochondria, Metabolism and Cardiac Phenotyping Core

The Mitochondria, Metabolism, and Mouse Cardiac Phenotyping Core provides services for isolation of mitochondria from human tissues including skin fibroblasts, endomyocardial biopsies, platelets, or peripheral blood mononuclear cells for respirometry studies.

Last updated February 1, 2023

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Research Imaging Core

Research Imaging Core

The Cedars-Sinai Research Imaging Core (RIC) is an advanced imaging center dedicated to providing high-quality imaging services tailored to the unique needs of the research community from rodents and large animals to human subjects. We offer a Clinical 3T MRI (Vida, Siemens) and simultaneous Clinical PET/MR (Biograph, Siemens) for human and large animal subjects, as well as  in-Vivo Small Animal/Specimen CT (PerkElmer Quantum GX2), Cryofluoresence Tomography (EMIT) Optical (IVIS Spectrum and Luminar XR), Small Animal image guided irradiator (X-RAD SmART), micro-ultrasound imaging system (Vevo 3100) and Small Animal 4Dx Lung imaging services for research.

Our facility is staffed with highly trained and experienced personnel, including expert research scientists, technologists, registered nurses, and additional support staff to ensure the most positive experience. We also offer core IRB/IACUC protocol support and seed grants to help get your research started quickly, and a dedicated research PACS and post-processing software to support data transfer, image analysis and data processing. In addition to research imaging, the Siemens systems are licensed for clinical use to allow standard-of-care, diagnostic imaging performed in conjunction with research imaging. We welcome and look forward to working with all CTSI investigators.

Last updated February 1, 2023

Human Cores – Lundquist/Harbor-UCLA

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Bionutrition Core

Bionutrition Core

The CTRC Bionutrition Core at Lundquist/Harbor-UCLA provides services to outpatient, overnight / extended stay and community based studies. A metabolic kitchen is dedicated to the preparation of nutrient controlled and regular meals. The Bionutrition Core has a metabolic assessment room with DXA, indirect calorimetry, BIA and anthropometric tools that integrates body composition, bone mineral density, and energy expenditure testing. The Bionutrition Core also provides state-of-the-art nutrition computing facilities with programs for nutrient analysis, semi-quantitative food frequency analysis, and design and specification of research diets. The Bionutrition Core personnel are experienced with REDCAP and can facilitate the collection and tracking of nutrition data for research studies. Training in nutrition research methodology is available to research fellows and other students.

Last updated February 1, 2023

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Computed Tomographic Core

Computed Tomographic Core

The Computed Tomographic (CT) Core specializes in cardiac, vascular, and body composition imaging using advanced CT workstations, advanced quality control methods, systems storage, and analytical methods for multiple investigations. It provides unique services in atherosclerosis imaging including plaque quantification, perfusion imaging, and diagnostic services. In addition, the CT Core offers collaborations in the area of renal, hepatic, vascular, and pulmonary imaging, as well as body composition and endothelial function assessment.

Last updated February 1, 2023

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Endocrine and Metabolic Research Core

Endocrine and Metabolic Research Core

The Endocrine and Metabolic Research Laboratory supports clinical and translational investigators in many aspects of research through expertise in analytical testing and development of new methods. Over forty different procedures are offered through the Endocrine and Metabolic Research Laboratory utilizing a variety of techniques including radioimmunoassay, fluoroimmunoassay, fluorometry and LC-MS/MS. Additionally, semen analyses and special andrological testing are available in the Andrology Laboratory.

Last updated February 1, 2023

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Pulmonary Function and Cardiopulmonary Exercise Testing Core Lab

Pulmonary Function and Cardiopulmonary Exercise Testing Core Lab

The pulmonary function testing (PFT) cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) core lab facility supports investigators in pulmonary function and cardiopulmonary exercise testing studies. PFT consists of an array of non-invasive tests of abnormality of lung mechanics and pulmonary gas exchange used to detect the presence of, and quantify the severity of, a range of lung diseases. CPET provides a whole-body assessment of the integrative exercise responses involving the pulmonary, cardiovascular, hematopoietic, neuropsychological, and skeletal muscle systems, which are not adequately reflected through the measurement of individual organ system function. The CPET Core Lab will provide consultation, training, and services for clinical research using PFT and CPET. The Core Lab is also highly-experienced in multicenter clinical trials using PFT and CPET measurements.

Last updated February 1, 2023

Human Cores – UCLA-Westwood

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Center for Computer Vision and Imaging Biomarkers Laboratory

Center for Computer Vision and Imaging Biomarkers Laboratory

The UCLA Center for Computer Vision and Imaging Biomarkers (CVIB) provides imaging core lab services, including: (1) standardized multi-center imaging protocol development and quality control, (2) image de-identification, transfer, banking, and distribution, (3) cutting-edge quantitative image feature extraction, analysis, and data management, and (4) imaging research database support. CVIB also provides clinical quantitative imaging services within UCLA Healthcare and to overseas hospital departments.

Key attributes of the CVIB Core Laboratory are: (1) image quality, (2) accurate and reproducible quantitation, (3) rigorous science, (4) high throughput, (5) well-managed and on-time service, and (6) user friendly.

Last updated February 1, 2023

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Center For Human Nutrition

Center For Human Nutrition

The Center for Human Nutrition provides Dual Energy X-Ray Absorptiometry (DXA or DEXA) Body Composition Analysis. DXA body composition analysis is considered the "gold standard" for measurement of body fat including visceral fat estimation, and gives an accurate assessment of overall health by quantifying the basal metabolic rate. Specialized scans of the lumbar spine and femoral neck are available to evaluate Bone Mineral Density, which can be utilized for assessing bone health and risk estimation of osteopenia and osteoporosis.

Last updated February 1, 2023

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Exercise Physiology Research Laboratory

Exercise Physiology Research Laboratory

The UC Fit-Exercise Physiology Research Laboratory, part of the Airway & Exercise Physiology Research Laboratory, promotes a prevention model of wellness, focused on forestalling disease progression through the enhancement of health and fitness practices. Recently, the lab was distinguished as part of the Exercise is Medicine® on-campus recognition program through the American College of Sports Medicine, together whose vision is to create a campus culture that embraces physical activity and exercise as a daily facet of life and views it as essential for long-term health and wellness. Health-fitness assessments include: (1) aerobic performance; (2) pulmonary function; (3) body composition; (4) muscle performance; (5) functional movement screen; (6) total energy expenditure; (7) sleep quality; (8) cardiovascular health risk & HRV; (9) posture; (10) performance tracking; (11) consultation for exercise program development.

Last updated February 1, 2023

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Immune Assessment Core (IAC)

Immune Assessment Core (IAC)

The Immune Assessment Core (IAC) is a CLIA certified laboratory that provides comprehensive immunological testing services for basic, clinical, and translational studies. The IAC provides both standardized and customized multi-parameter flow cytometry, multiplexed immunoassays and cellular immune function assays to evaluate the innate and adaptive immune status of study subjects. Validated tests include comprehensive immunophenotyping panels, multiplexed cytokine/chemokine detection in body fluids or culture supernatants, Single-molecule array (Simoa) ultra-sensitive assay, several ELISA assays, allo- and virus-specific T cell activation, T and B cell proliferation to antigens and mitogens, NK cell cytotoxicity, and granulocyte/monocyte oxidative burst. The core also performs customized assay development to meet the investigators’ needs.

Last updated February 1, 2023

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Immunogenetics Center

Immunogenetics Center

The Immunogenetics Center provides comprehensive testing for organ and tissue transplantation to physicians, patients, pharmaceutical companies, and other medical facilities. It is one of the leading laboratories in the world, providing state-of-the-art technology and methodology with a comprehensive quality assurance program to ensure accuracy in testing. Services include: (1) HLA-class I (A,B,C) and class II (DR, DQ, DP) gene polymorphism typing, (2) histocompatibility testing (HLA antibody and identification testing and lymphocyte crossmatch testing) and non-HLA antibodies (AT1R, MICA, Autoantibody Panel, Endothelial Crossmatch, (3) KIR and MICA gene typing, (4) HLA and Disease Association testing and (4) immune assessment to alloantigens and pathogens.

Last updated February 1, 2023

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Pathology Research Portal

Pathology Research Portal

Two previous research laboratories, the Clinical and Translational Research Laboratory (CTRL) and the Clinical Immunology Research Laboratory (CIRL) have been restructured into the Pathology Research Portal (PRP). The PRP is a CAP accredited laboratory. This new addition to the Center for Pathology Research Services (CPRS) functions as the biospecimen liaison between researchers and clinical testing, and provides coordination for sample receiving, accessioning, processing, short term and long term storage, dispatching to multiple core facilities for testing, and result retrieving. PRP also provides shipping and temporary storage services, and can also provide customized services to meet various research needs.

Last updated February 1, 2023

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Pulmonary Function and Respiratory Physiology Laboratory

Pulmonary Function and Respiratory Physiology Laboratory

The Pulmonary Function and Respiratory Physiology Laboratory, part of the Airway & Exercise Physiology Research Laboratory, specializes in COPD research from pediatrics through geriatrics and houses a multitude of spirometers, oscillometers, body plethysmograph equipment for measuring spirometry, lung volumes, diffusing capacity, and bronchodilator challenge to assess lung function.  Our facilities include clinical and research subject encounters, interviews, resting ECG’s, and blood and sputum samplings.  Moreover, physical performance tests such as the six-minute-walk-test, hand grip strength test and short-physical-performance battery can be assessed.  The lab is highly-experienced in multicenter trials using PFT and has acted as the primary reading and quality control site in many clinical trials.

Last updated February 1, 2023

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Staglin IMHRO Center for Cognitive Neuroscience

Staglin IMHRO Center for Cognitive Neuroscience

Our primary service is human MRI research scanning; the rate is 600/hour, and we have a full suite of advanced pulse sequences for structural functional, diffusion, blood flow and spectroscopic imaging. We also have EEG systems in shielded rooms, and MRI compatible EEG.

Last updated February 1, 2023

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Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Lab

Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Lab

The Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) Clinical and Research Service in the Semel Institute operates six TMS devices that are capable of a full range of clinical and research TMS procedures. The Service also is equipped with a neuronavigation system that allows MRI-guidance of coil placement as well as TMS-compatible EEG that allows recording during stimulation procedures.

Last updated February 1, 2023

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Translational Pathology Core Laboratory

Translational Pathology Core Laboratory

The Translational Pathology Core Laboratory (TPCL) provides an array of pathology-related services in support of basic, translational, and clinical research. Expert consultative services are offered to investigators in pathology-related study design, tissue selection, microscopic interpretation, immunohistochemistry/in situ hybridization, spatial gene expression (Visium), laser capture microdissection, digital image analysis, and IRB-related tissue questions. Services include: (1) tissue procurement, storage, and provision, (2) histology-related services, (3) immunohistochemistry, (4) in situ hybridization, (5) digital imaging and image analysis, (6) spatial gene expression (7) laser capture microdissection, (8) pathology consultative services, and (9) advice on research protocols, safety issues, and IRB applications.

Last updated February 1, 2023

Imaging Cores – Cedars-Sinai Medical Center

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Biobank and Translational Research Core

Biobank and Translational Research Core

Imaging and image analysis services include: (1) full slide scanning of human and animal cells/tissues on glass slides, including either chromogenic or fluorescent multispectral scanning, (2) image analysis of digital images generated with single or multiple probes in visible light or fluorescent wavelength ranges. The core also has a number of state-of-the art imaging and molecular instrumentation (laser-capture microdissection, nanostring, confocal, lightsheet microscope etc.) that are available to researchers.

Last updated February 1, 2023

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Research Imaging Core

Research Imaging Core

The Cedars-Sinai Research Imaging Core (RIC) is an advanced imaging center dedicated to providing high-quality imaging services tailored to the unique needs of the research community from rodents and large animals to human subjects. We offer a Clinical 3T MRI (Vida, Siemens) and simultaneous Clinical PET/MR (Biograph, Siemens) for human and large animal subjects, as well as  in-Vivo Small Animal/Specimen CT (PerkElmer Quantum GX2), Cryofluoresence Tomography (EMIT) Optical (IVIS Spectrum and Luminar XR), Small Animal image guided irradiator (X-RAD SmART), micro-ultrasound imaging system (Vevo 3100) and Small Animal 4Dx Lung imaging services for research.

Our facility is staffed with highly trained and experienced personnel, including expert research scientists, technologists, registered nurses, and additional support staff to ensure the most positive experience. We also offer core IRB/IACUC protocol support and seed grants to help get your research started quickly, and a dedicated research PACS and post-processing software to support data transfer, image analysis and data processing. In addition to research imaging, the Siemens systems are licensed for clinical use to allow standard-of-care, diagnostic imaging performed in conjunction with research imaging. We welcome and look forward to working with all CTSI investigators.

Last updated February 1, 2023

Imaging Cores – Lundquist/Harbor-UCLA

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Bioimaging and Immunotherapeutics Research Core

Bioimaging and Immunotherapeutics Research Core

The Bioimaging and Immunotherapeutics Research Core provides four major resources to researchers: (1) the BD Calibur flow cytometer facility, which employs a dual-laser (argon and helium-neon), 4-color FACS Calibur flow cytometer and cell sorter to facilitate the molecular and physiological examination of individual cells and enable collection of living cells for further study; (2) the IVIS Lumina II system, a high- sensitivity, in vivo imaging technology platform that enables non-invasive visualization of both bioluminescent and fluorescent signals, tracking of cellular and therapeutic activities within a living organism in real time, and detection of signals from tissue, petri dishes, and microtiter plates; (3) a Luminex multiplex analyzer that utilizes xMAP microsphere technology and has the capability of performing up to 100 assays simultaneously in a single well of a microtiter plate; and (4) a Biotek Synergy 2 multi- mode microplate reader, a combination luminometer-fluorometer-absorbance detector capable of reading 96-well and larger plates that utilizes both filter-based and monochromatic- based light-detection technology.

Last updated February 1, 2023

Imaging Cores – UCLA-Westwood

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Advanced Light Microscopy and Spectroscopy Laboratory

Advanced Light Microscopy and Spectroscopy Laboratory

The mission of the Advanced Light Microscopy and Spectroscopy Laboratory (ALMS) is to provide consultation, services, and support for the application of novel microscopic and spectroscopic methods and advanced image analysis techniques for the study of macromolecules, cellular dynamics, and nano-scale characterization of bio-materials. The facilities provide a collection of high-level, customized fluorescence microscopes and small-animal imaging devices that provide the ability to study biological processes with high spatial and temporal resolution in whole organisms and in living cells down to the single molecule detection level with nanometer accuracy. Services include: (1) wide-field fluorescence imaging microscopy, (2) confocal and two-photon laser scanning microscopy (point scanning and spinning disk), (3) fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS), (4) fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET), (5) microscopic and macroscopic fluorescence lifetime imaging (FLIM) with time-correlated-single-photon-counting and near-infrared detection, (6) super-resolution microscopy (STED and STORM), (7) microscopic and macroscopic (small animal) spectral unmixing, (8) laser capture microdissection, (9) light-sheet microscopy and (10) image analysis.

Last updated February 1, 2023

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Ahmanson-Lovelace Brain Mapping Center

Ahmanson-Lovelace Brain Mapping Center

The Ahmanson-Lovelace Brain Mapping Center is committed to facilitating the development and growth of the field of Brain Mapping, a sub-discipline of neuroscience which uses brain imaging to better understand the structure and function of the human brain in health and alterations associated with disease. It is comprised of resources located in the core facility, the Ahmanson-Lovelace Brain Mapping Center, as well as additional resources housed in the Reed Neurological Research Center and the Neuroscience Research Building. Services include: (1) imaging (MRI), (2) NeuroModulation, (3) data analysis, (4) data center, and (5) the DIVE (Data Immersive Visualization Environment).

Last updated February 1, 2023

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Biological Chemistry Imaging Facility

Biological Chemistry Imaging Facility

The Biological Chemistry Imaging Facility (BCIF) provides resources for data acquisition and analysis for radioactive, fluorescent, and photographic samples as well as digital imaging and document production. BCIF provides round-the-clock access to a cluster of modern equipment such as Typhoons 9410 and 9400 Variable Mode Imagers, Storm 820 and 840 imagers, Laser Densitometer, Gel Documentation System, color printers, and high-resolution scanners. In addition, BCIF provides unlimited scientific data storage space on its secure storage arrays to all participating labs and access to a number of software packages for data analysis and digital data processing.

Last updated February 1, 2023

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Brain Research Institute Electron Microscopy Core Facility

Brain Research Institute Electron Microscopy Core Facility

The Brain Research Institute Electron Microscopy Core Facility houses a JEOL 100CX transmission electron microscope. A Reichert Ultracut ultramicrotome is also available for use by trained personnel. Services include: (1) fixation and embedding of specimens, thin sectioning, (2) use of the electron microscopes (with or without assistance), (3) gold labeling, (4) negative stain, and (5) light microscopy of plastic embedded materials. The facility offers advice on appropriate preparatory procedures and other technical matters. Training and assistance in the use of the electron microscope is also offered.

Last updated February 1, 2023

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Brain Research Institute Microscopic Techniques Laboratory

Brain Research Institute Microscopic Techniques Laboratory

The Brain Research Institute Microscopic Techniques Laboratory offers instructions in microscopic techniques and assistance in tissue specimen preparation including rodents perfusion for light microscopic observation. Histological procedures available include: (1) some immunocytochemistry staining, (2) special stains, (3) paraffin sectioning, (4) vibratome sectioning, (5) cryostat sectioning, (6) plastic embedding and (6) sectioning. The laboratory also provides staining setups, a cryostat, microtomes, a vibratome, and a Nikon photomicroscope for use by trained personnel.

Last updated February 1, 2023

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Electron Imaging Center for Nanomachines

Electron Imaging Center for Nanomachines

The Electron Imaging Center for Nanomachines (EICN) provides state-of-the-art electron microscopy instruments and assisted usage services. Highly experienced staff provides necessary training and can help users address complex electron imaging needs. EICN offers advanced electron imaging techniques for visualizing materials, nanomachines, and cellular structures at atomic or nanometer scales in 2D and 3D. Services available: (1) instrument training, (2) self usage, (3) assisted usage, and (4) data processing.

Last updated February 1, 2023

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Nano and Pico Characterization Laboratory

Nano and Pico Characterization Laboratory

The Nano and Pico Characterization (NPC) Laboratory provides Provides both state-of-the-art microscopic techniques to visualize surfaces, adsorbates, nanostructures and devices at the atomic and molecular scale as well as a unique opportunity for researchers to gain insight into local properties under a wide range of experimental conditions.

Last updated February 1, 2023

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Preclinical Imaging Technology Center

Preclinical Imaging Technology Center

Provides state-of-the-art small animal imaging. It functions both as a shared preclinical imaging resource for UCLA researchers and as a hub for emerging imaging research and technology development. The same technologies and services are also available to the larger research community including other academic institutes and industry groups through contract work. The Imaging Center, operating through its sales- and-service, offers microPET, microCT, bioluminescence and fluorescence imaging modalities and complementary in vitro/ex vivo services including cell-based assays, biodistribution, digital autoradiography and dosimetry. Companion PET tracer radiochemistry and radiolabeling services are available in-house and is supported by on- campus cyclotron facilities. Technical and analytical support are available throughout the study process: initial consultation, experimental design and optimization, imaging protocols and techniques, post-acquisition data analysis and interpretation. Training and staff assistance are available. The Imaging Center is part of the Crump Institute for Molecular Imaging and is supported by the expertise of its faculty members, world leaders in various imaging sciences.

Last updated February 1, 2023

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Staglin IMHRO Center for Cognitive Neuroscience

Staglin IMHRO Center for Cognitive Neuroscience

Our primary service is human MRI research scanning; the rate is 600/hour, and we have a full suite of advanced pulse sequences for structural functional, diffusion, blood flow and spectroscopic imaging. We also have EEG systems in shielded rooms, and MRI compatible EEG.

Last updated February 1, 2023

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Translational Research Imaging Center

Translational Research Imaging Center

The Translational Research Imaging Center (TRIC) at UCLA is a state-of-the-art, pre-clinical and human cadaver, diagnostic and interventional imaging center. With over 25 years of expertise, our team of physicians, scientists, fellows, technologists, and veterinary staff support pre-clinical studies and imaging procedures across the field of medicine. TRIC is dedicated to the development and testing of new medical devices, imaging technologies, drug therapies as well as novel treatments. Our dedicated staff include: Board-certified Interventional Radiologists, Board-certified Radiologists, MR Physicists, Veterinarians, Statisticians, and Experienced Research Assistants. The TRIC Lab imaging equipment and support systems include: Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)– Siemens Magnetom 3T Prisma MRI whole-body system, X-Ray Angiography – Siemens Artis Zeego Angiogram Suite with robotic C arm with 3D rotational angiography and DynaCT capabilities, Computed Tomography (CT) – Siemens Somatom Definition 64 Dual Source scanner, X-Ray Angiography – Philips Allura Xper FD-10 Angiogram Suite with floor mounted C arm with 3D rotational angiography capabilities, iU22 Philips Ultrasound system for general imaging, PACS data management system, observation and recovery suites, multi-modality 3D-image post-processing, High-Definition video integration for Telepresence video conferencing.

Last updated February 1, 2023

Molecule Cores – Cedars-Sinai Medical Center

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Molecular Therapeutics Core

Molecular Therapeutics Core

The Molecular Therapeutics Core provides a cross-disciplinary resource for researchers engaged in structural biology, therapeutics development, and drug discovery research. Services include: (1) pilot recombinant protein production, (2) large-scale protein production, (3) biophysical characterization, (4) molecular modeling and drug design, and (5) x-ray crystallographic services. Initial consultations are available free-of-charge.

Last updated February 1, 2023

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Proteomics & Metabolomics Core

Proteomics, Metabolomics and Mitochondrial Function Core

The Proteomics, Metabolomics and Mitochondrial Function Core is defined by technically diverse instrumentation with the most advanced technologies available to the fields of proteomics, metabolomics, and quantitative targeted protein assays. These technologies are dedicated to the identification and quantitative analysis of analytes from all types of biological samples including whole blood, plasma, CSF, cells or tissues and include samples originating from cell culture, animal models or patient-derived research studies. Services include a wide variety of discovery proteomics assays, identification of co- and post-translational modifications (phosphorylation, acetylation, methylation citrullination and more), as well as the fields leading methodologies for protein dynamics and protein-protein interactions.

A selection of targeted mass spectrometry-based assays is available for quantification of protein panels associated with important cellular pathways and functions. In addition to the many mass spectrometry-based assays available, the core is equipped with two of the field’s leading immunoassay platforms, (1) ultra-sensitive digital ELISA, SIMOA HD-1 Analyzer (2) high-performance electrochemiluminescence ELISA platform, MESO QuickPlex SQ 12, and a brand new O-Link Immunoassay platform. 

New this year, single-cell functional proteomics are also available via the Isoplexis DuoSpark system.

All Proteomics and Metabolomic Core services include data analysis and a data release consultation. Advanced bioinformatic services for biological pathway analyzes and multi-omic data integration are also available through the core bioinformatic services.

To complement molecular phenotyping of mitochondria by metabolomics and proteomics, we recently incorporated instrumentation for seahorse respirometry and support a suite of seahorse XFp instruments. These respirometry platforms enable quantification of cellular metabolism by glycolytic and oxidative pathways and in response to numerous nutrient sources and perturbations. Our Mitochondria and Metabolomics experts wield expertise to advise on complex interrogations of mitochondrial biology and we offer consultation and support on techniques for in-depth mitochondrial characterization beyond respirometry, to include mitochondrial morphometry, turnover rates, membrane potential, mPTP susceptibility, cytochrome c release, free radical production, mtDNA sequencing and 8- oxo-dG analysis.

Last updated February 1, 2023

Molecule Cores – Lundquist/Harbor-UCLA

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Biomedical Mass Spectroscopy Facility

Biomedical Mass Spectroscopy Facility

The Biomedical Mass Spectrometry Facility (BMSF) supports clinical research projects in clinical nutrition and metabolic research. The BMSF specializes in experimental design using stable isotopes and analytical methods (13C carbon tracing) for physiological or metabolic investigations. It provides unique services in isotopomer distribution analysis of metabolites (tracer-based metabolomics) using GC/MS (or LC-TOF). In addition, the BMSF offers collaborations in the area of metabolite profiling and modeling of metabolic systems with tracers. Services provided include: (1) sample preparation, (2) quantitative and qualitative analysis by GC/MS, IRMS and LC/MS, (3) consultation, (4) collaboration in metabolite profiling and tracer-based metabolomics, and (5) training on approved projects.

Last updated February 1, 2023

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Guenther Molecular Biology Core

Guenther Molecular Biology Core

The Guenther Molecular Biology Core supports investigators performing morphological, biochemical, cell and molecular biological studies both at cellular and subcellular levels. Consultation and training services are provided for localization of genes, RNA transcripts and proteins in complex tissues as well subcellular distribution in tissues. The laboratory houses five types of state-of the art equipment: an Agilent Bioanalyzer, two Applied Biosystem StepOne Plus Sequence Detection Systems, one Applied Biosystems 7900HT 384 well real-time quantitative PCR system, one Leica Confocal SP8 platform, and a Palm Microbeam. The Guenther Core also has a facility for immunohistochemistry studies.

Last updated February 1, 2023

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Institute for Translational Genomics and Population Sciences

Institute for Translational Genomics and Population Sciences

The Institute consists of 3 core laboratories—the Laboratory for Biochemistry, Molecular Phenotyping, and Microarray; the Laboratory for Statistical and Mathematical Genetics; and the Laboratory for Molecular Genetics, Bioinformatics, and High Throughput Genotyping. The Genomics Institute Faculty have been extremely active in large scale genetic studies and both single cohort and in multi-cohort (and multi-ethnic) consortium efforts that have identified many genetic loci for cardiometabolic traits. We have contributed to the design stages, to performance of biochemical phenotyping, to large scale genotyping, and to statistical genetic analysis. The many loci we and our collaborators have identified are being utilized by ourselves and others to generate multi-loci genetic risk scores as powerful tools to dissect disease etiology and to perform risk assessment in populations. Besides our involvement in many large scale genome wide association studies (GWAS), we are now actively involved in large scale whole genome sequencing studies (WGS) and Multi-Omics studies.

Last updated February 1, 2023

Molecule Cores – UCLA-Westwood

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J.D. McCullough Crystallography Laboratory

J.D. McCullough Crystallography Laboratory

Provides 3-dimensional structure of small molecules in solid crystals via X-ray crystallography. Equipped for characterization of polycrystalline solid materials using powder and thin film diffraction techniques. The laboratory is a full service facility where staff deals with all aspects of service from crystal selection to publication of results. In-house training is a requirement if you wish to use the equipment yourself. Part of the UCLA Molecular Instrumentation Center, which is a campus wide facility open to the UCLA community. The facility also collaborates with personnel from other universities and industry both locally and internationally.

Last updated February 1, 2023

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Lipidomics Laboratory

Lipidomics Laboratory

The UCLA Lipidomics Laboratory provides the highest quality of quantitative lipid measurements from biological samples including cells, tissue, serum, and media. The lab offers automated sample preparation and two distinct mass spectrometry platforms: 1) shotgun lipidomics providing measurement of 1100 complex lipid species and 2) a fatty acid and sterols analysis compatible with isotopic labeling. Our full-service lab provides data analysis (including computational modeling of lipid flux parameters) and consultation services.

Last updated February 1, 2023

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Macromolecular Crystallization Facility

Macromolecular Crystallization Facility

Consultation and technical assistance available to researchers prior to, and following, experiments. Evaluation of sample via Dynamic Light Scattering. Automatic setup of 4000 crystallization conditions per hour using 500uL of sample. (Hanging or Sitting Drops). The Mosquito from TTP, Labcyte ECHO525 and Tecan GENESIS are used for Liquid Dispensing.  Capable of distinguishing between organic and inorganic crystals using a sophisticated UV/vis microscope. Optimization of crystallization conditions. Storage of plates in temperature controlled incubators at 4, 15, and 20C. Optimization of crystallization conditions using a library of 1,500 commercial compounds. Affinity and Kinetics Characterization with the ForteBio OCTET Red96 instrument. The Labcyte ECHO 525 is used for acoustic liquid dispensing. Production of stereolithography files from Pymol, 3D design of labware, 3D SLA and Filament printing.

Last updated February 1, 2023

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Magnetic Resonance Facility

Magnetic Resonance Facility

The Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) Lab at the Molecular Instrumentation Center (MIC) is heavily used with broad participation of users from many disciplines. Researchers from many different research groups in 12 different campus departments, make use of the instrumentation in the NMR lab after a thorough training process. The major equipment available consists of six NMR spectrometers: Bruker NEO600, DRX500, AV500, AV400, AV300 for liquid samples and AV600 for solid-state samples. Most spectrometers are equipped with broadband probes covering frequencies from 31P to 15N, the AV500 is equipped with a cryoprobe capable of only 1H and 13C experiments, the NEO600 is equipped with a broadband cryoprobe and 19F experiments are available on the AV300 and AV400. Variable temperature and multipulse experiments are also available.

Last updated February 1, 2023

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Mass Spectrometry Laboratory

Mass Spectrometry Laboratory

The Mass Spectrometry Laboratory provides a wide range of sample characterization techniques for researchers. Mass spectrometry services include: (1) a variety of ionization methods including electron, chemical, matrix assisted laser desorption, direct analysis in real time, electrospray, and atmospheric pressure chemical ionization and ICP, (2) a variety of analyzers including time of flight, quadrupole, ion trap, Orbitrap, and several tandem combinations of mass analyzers, and (3) microflow, nanoflow and regular flow liquid chromatography. For proteomics studies, some equipment is available for protein/peptide identification. In addition, the facility provides consultation for sample preparation, experimental design, analysis of protein expression patterns, data mining, and operation of the various instruments. This laboratory is a part of the UCLA Molecular Instrumentation Center.

Last updated February 1, 2023

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Materials Characterization Laboratory

Materials Characterization Laboratory

The Materials Characterization Laboratory offers thermal, optical, microscopic, electrical, and magnetic characterization of materials and elemental analysis of surfaces via a wide range of instruments including: (1) light scattering spectrometers, (2) several spectrophotometers, (3) scanning probe microscopes (AFM/STM), (4) a SQUID magnetometer, (5) a scanning electron microscope, and (6) an X-Ray photoelectron spectrometer. This laboratory is a part of the UCLA Molecular Instrumentation Center.

Last updated February 1, 2023

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Metabolomics Center

Metabolomics Center

The UCLA Metabolomics Center enables investigators to study metabolism with a particular focus on central carbon metabolism and several branch pathways (glycolysis, pentose phosphate pathway, TCA cycle, nucleos(t)ide synthesis, etc.). Metabolite analysis can be performed on a variety of specimens (e.g. cultured cells, culture medium, blood, urine, tissue). Generally, relative amounts of metabolites are measured, but absolute amounts can be determined as well. Tracing experiments using stable isotope-labeled metabolites (C13, N15, D) are routinely performed. For data analysis, relative amounts of metabolites as well as mass isotopologue distributions (if isotope tracing was performed) are calculated. Results are illustrated using bar graphs, heatmaps, and principal component analysis. Customized analysis is available.

Last updated February 1, 2023

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Molecular Screening Shared Resource

Molecular Screening Shared Resource (MSSR)

The Molecular Screening Shared Resource (MSSR) is a core facility open to all research labs on campus. The services provided include assay development and execution, data mining and the use of robotic high throughput screening (HTS) technology. 

For small molecule drug discovery, a total of roughly 300,000 compounds in various libraries are available. The MSSR is currently funded by the JCCC and the California NanoSystems Institute as well as grants from the NIH and DOD. We have libraries covering FDA approved drugs, kinases, natural products as well as human metabolites. Assays will be automated to enable rapid screening of 10,000+ tests per diem using our custom robotics. Also available are accompanying assay development services that can take advantage of our set of 20 validated reporter gene constructs. We have high content screening capabilities or support all plate reader based readouts including luminescence, alpha, TF-FRET, FRET, fluorescence, OD etc..

For CRISPR cell line engineering, we offer CRISPR services such as the generation of KO cells in all cellular backgrounds as well as the execution of CRISPR screens using Cas9 or Cas-i/a. Also available are services for the generation of cell lines overexpressing any transgene desired through lentiviral or transposon based technologies. Also available are arrayed cDNA, siRNA, shRNA and CRISPR sets for the mouse/human genome. Individual clones are any of these libraries (cDNA, lentiviral cDNA , shRNA and CRISPR) are available against nearly any gene in the genome. Resulting cells are available as populations or individual clones. 

For automated confocal or widefield imaging, we provide services including the robotically automated imaging of samples in multi-well format (e.g. 6 well, 96 well and 384 well plates) as well as slide based imaging. The services include fully automated imaging which does not require any manual labor. 

For image analysis we provide services that take advantage of an industrial strength data processing pipeline that offers conventional image analysis through pre-formulated algorithms as well as novel artificial intelligence based image analysis capabilities that enable quantification of complex phenotypes (e.g. neurite outgrowth, colony formation etc.) and also enable image analysis from phase contrast images without fluorescent stains. This platform also offers deep learning approaches towards phenotype classification algorithms useful for categorizing of phenotypic cellular responses. 

Last updated February 1, 2023

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Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) Core Technology Center

Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) Core Technology Center

The NMR Core Facility provides advanced NMR spectrometers and related equipment for the study of macromolecular structure and dynamics in solution by experienced users. In this capacity the core facility primarily provides the research tools in which to perform detailed measurements on complex biological systems. Non-expert members of the DOE laboratory receive access to NMR spectroscopy for more routine applications. These applications include: screening wild-type and mutated protein samples to determine their structural integrity, making small molecule binding affinity measurements, and temperature and denaturant studies of protein stability.

Last updated February 1, 2023

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Pasarow Mass Spectrometry Laboratory

Pasarow Mass Spectrometry Laboratory

Provides consultation, training, and access to and technical assistance for metabolomics, proteomics (top-down and bottom-up) and targeted small molecule quantitation using mass spectrometry and chromatography.

Last updated February 1, 2023

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Protein Expression Technology Center

Protein Expression Technology Center

The Protein Expression Technology Center (PETC) facilitates the expression and purification of proteins for structure/function studies. The PETC provides support in all aspects of protein expression from cloning through expression optimization and protein purification. The core also offers peptide and protein display services to identify protein binders (peptides, nanobodies, and DARPins) by bacterial and yeast display. The lab has recently acquired a fluorescent activated cell sorter (FACS) to facilitate display, and other projects, requiring sorting of bacterial and yeast cells. The PETC is a UCLA-DOE Institute for Genomics and Proteomics facility but is open to all researchers.

Last updated February 1, 2023

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Proteome Research Center

Proteome Research Center

The UCLA Proteome Research Center is a full-service technology center that offers a comprehensive suite of proteomic services to the UCLA community and other partnering institutions. By bringing together state-of-the-art instrumentation and high- level technical staff, the goal of the facility is to transform traditional experimental paradigms by providing investigators access to powerful analytical workflows for systems-level characterization of complex biological systems, biomarker discovery and validation, and protein complex characterization. Available services include: (1) complex protein mixture analysis using single and multidimensional fractionation strategies, (2) peptide quantitation using SILAC, iTRAQ / TMT, and label-free methodologies, (3) targeted and global PTM enrichment and characterization approaches, (4) identification of protein interaction networks using affinity-based isolation and proximity tagging techniques, and (5) targeted proteomic assay development using parallel reaction monitoring (PRM) for relative and absolute quantitation.

Last updated February 1, 2023

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UCLA-DOE & Biochemistry Shared Instrumentation Core Facility

UCLA-DOE & Biochemistry Shared Instrumentation Core Facility

The UCLA-DOE and Biochemistry Shared Instrumentation core facility provides the UCLA research community open access to sophisticated equipment for biochemical studies. These facilities house a wide array of detection systems useful for analysis, quantification, and identification of all types of macromolecules and their molecular interactions. It also carries equipment for cell culturing, harvesting, lysis, and high-speed centrifugation useful for biomolecule preparation.

Last updated February 1, 2023

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UCLA Nanofabrication Laboratory (UCLA NanoLab)

UCLA Nanofabrication Laboratory (UCLA NanoLab)

The Nanoelectronics Research Facility (NRF) and Integrated Systems Nanofabrication Clean Room (ISNC) have merged to form the UCLA Nanofabrication Laboratory (UCLA NanoLab). UCLA NanoLab is a shared-use clean-room that provides state-of-the-art equipment, facilities, and technical expertise for fabricating the most demanding nano-scale structures and devices. The UCLA NanoLab was created to support all aspects of nanofabrication-related research and to advance research and learning in nano-science. Services include: (1) e-beam lithography, (2) optical lithography, (3) thin-film deposition, (4) dry etch, (5) thermal processing, (6) metrology, and (7) access to integrated bio-suites.

Last updated February 1, 2023

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X-ray and EM Structure Determination Core Technology Center

X-ray and EM Structure Determination Core Technology Center

X-ray and EM Structure Determination  Core Technology Center in the UCLA-DOE Institute provides state-of-the-art resources to researchers, enabling the detailed 3-D analysis of biological macromolecules that play essential roles in human health. The facility operates as a full service core that offers access to sophisticated equipment and technologies as well as advice and technical assistance in sample preparation, data collection, processing, atomic refinement, and modeling. Services include: (1) aid in crystallization and sample preparation for CryoEM, (2) X-ray and characterization of crystals, (3) In-House data collection of X-ray and micro Electron Diffraction and at the synchrotron, (4) processing and quality analysis of data, and (5) structure determination and display.

Last updated February 1, 2023

Semiconductor and Nanofabrication Cores – UCLA-Westwood

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Computer Shop

Computer Shop

The Computer Shop provides technical support for research, teaching, and administrative functions. Two IT Programmer/Analysts are on staff to provide electronic design and fabrication for custom electronics solutions to unique situations encountered in research projects. The staff has expertise in Macintosh, IBM clone computers, peripherals, printers, and network interfacing, including installation, setup, upgrades, demonstration, troubleshooting, repair, and modification services. The Computer Shop also provides design, development, and installation of local area networks, specifying hubs, network cards, cable types, and software. Consultation is provided to determine appropriate hardware/software solutions.

Last updated February 1, 2023

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Integrated Nanomaterials Laboratory (INML)

Integrated Nanomaterials Laboratory (INML)

The Integrated Nanomaterials Laboratory (INML) is a state-of-the-art nanomaterials synthesis and characterization facility. INML addresses the critical technological needs of the future through material development as nanoscience is integrated with disciplines such as electronics, photonics, renewable energy, chemistry, biology, and physics. Services include: (1) Epitaxial services by molecular beam epitaxy and (2) characterization services by cryogenic-temperature photoluminescence, Micro-Photoluminescence, FTIR, and I-V/C-V.

Last updated February 1, 2023

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UCLA Nanofabrication Laboratory (UCLA NanoLab)

UCLA Nanofabrication Laboratory (UCLA NanoLab)

The UCLA Nanofabrication Laboratory (UCLA NanoLab) is a shared-use clean-room that provides state-of-the-art equipment, facilities, and technical expertise for fabricating the most demanding nano-scale structures and devices. The UCLA NanoLab was created to support all aspects of nanofabrication-related research and to advance research and learning in nano-science. Services include: (1) e-beam lithography, (2) optical lithography, (3) thin-film deposition, (4) dry etch, (5) thermal processing, (6) metrology, and (7) access to integrated bio-suites.

Last updated February 1, 2023

Research tools

Accrual to Clinical Trials (ACT)

The ACT Network is a nationwide federation of leading academic research institutions that share aggregate patient counts from electronic health record data. Its development is funded by the NIH through the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) and the Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) program. It contains over 40 million patient records, and by the end of 2018 included ~60% of the CTSA consortium. The ACT Network queries the total numbers of patients at each participating site meeting your inclusion or exclusion criteria for demographics (age, gender, race, etc.), diagnoses (ICD9/10 codes), lab results, and most frequently prescribed medications. Not all data points are available for all patients. ACT helps clinical investigators conduct cohort discovery before a trial starts, to establish feasibility of a clinical protocol for grant applications, IRB submission, etc. ACT also helps investigators identify additional sites for a clinical trial. By allowing investigators to thoroughly explore patient cohorts and potential sites before finalizing their clinical protocols, ACT increases the odds of successfully completing clinical trial recruitment.

Last updated April 15, 2019

Amazon Web Services

Amazon Web Services (AWS) is a broad set of commercial computing, storage, database, analytics, application, and deployment services. AWS is used by the UC locations to host websites and web applications, provide backup and disaster recovery, support high bandwidth computing services, and more. As of February 2017, UCLA is an Amazon Web Service (AWS) Educate Institution. AWS Educate is Amazon’s global initiative to provide students and educators with the resources needed to greatly accelerate cloud-related learning to help prepare students for a cloud-enabled workplace. AWS Educate provides four pillars of grant-based support for educators and students: 1) content on the Cloud contributed by top educators and AWS to help build courses; 2) training materials to better understand AWS; 3) collaboration tools such as discussion forums, events, and places to upload and rate content; and 4) credits to access AWS services for free.

Last updated January 31, 2019

California Health Interview Survey (CHIS)

The California Health Interview Survey (CHIS) is the largest state health survey in the nation and is conducted by the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research in collaboration with the California Department of Public Health and the Department of Health Care Services. It is a random-dial telephone survey that asks questions on a wide range of health topics. CHIS is conducted on a continuous basis allowing the survey to generate timely one-year estimates. More than 20,000 Californians--including adults, teenagers and children--are interviewed each year, and several years of data can be combined to create an even larger sample. Participants in the CHIS survey are chosen at random and the sample is extensive enough to be statistically representative of California's diverse population. As an example, in 2013-2014, more than 48,000 Californians in each county were surveyed, including 3,484 households in Los Angeles County (3,350 adults and 660 children). Out of these households in LA County, CHIS estimated that around 600 were below the poverty level, ~600 are African American and ~1,500 are Hispanic. Thus, although the sample sizes are not enormous for each disparity population, analysis of the CHIS can provide a window for health metrics for prevalent conditions and for the larger special populations – children, elderly, and some disparity populations (African-Americans and Hispanics). The survey provides: statewide information on the overall population including many racial and ethnic groups, county-level information for most counties to aid with health planning, priority setting, and to compare health outcomes in numerous ways, plus ZIP code, city and legislative district information via their online web tool, AskCHIS Neighborhood Edition (NE). CHIS is conducted by the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research in collaboration with the California Department of Public Health and the Department of Health Care Services.

Last updated July 1, 2018

eMERGE

eMERGE is a national network organized and funded by the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) that combines DNA biorepositories with electronic medical record (EMR) systems for large scale, high-throughput genetic research in support of implementing genomic medicine. In its projects, eMERGE studies and pilots genomic medicine translation through discovery, implementation, tools, and policy. During Phase I and II, the Network deployed more than 40 electronic phenotype algorithms across more than 55,000 participants with dense genomic data. Returning clinical results has been implemented or planned for pilot at sites across the Network. A large-scale survey of patient attitudes regarding data sharing is being sent to 90,000 clinic patients across the country. A multicenter pilot of returning genome sequence information to electronic medical records (EMRs) for use in healthcare is almost complete. Themes of genomics, bioinformatics, genomic medicine, ethnics, data sharing, privacy, and community engagement are of particular relevance to eMERGE.

eMERGE was initiated in 2007 and included five biorepositories linked to EMRs. The network demonstrated that EMR phenotyping to develop cohorts for genome-wide studies was a robust approach to genetic discovery, defined approaches for enhancing privacy of shared EMR data, and engaged patients and communities in consent and data sharing. eMERGE expanded to include 7 clinical sites in 2011 and 2 pediatric sites in 2012.

eMERGE is openly interested in collaborations. Current external collaborations include the US Air Force, ENCODE, IGNITE, and the larger ELSI (Ethical, Legal, and Social Issues) community. eMERGE is dedicated to developing tools, identifying best practices, and communicating results for participant consent, data sharing, and returning genomic research results, to benefit the broader medical and scientific communities and the general public.

Last updated July 1, 2018

GATK Best Practices

The GATK Best Practices provide step-by-step recommendations for performing variant discovery analysis in high-throughput sequencing (HTS) data. There are several different GATK Best Practices workflows tailored to particular applications depending on the type of variation of interest and the technology employed. The Best Practices documentation attempts to describe in detail the key principles of the processing and analysis steps required to go from raw reads coming off the sequencing machine, all the way to an appropriately filtered variant callset that can be used in downstream analyses. Wherever we can, we try to provide guidance regarding experimental design, quality control (QC) and pipeline implementation options, but please understand that those are dependent on many factors including sequencing technology and the hardware infrastructure that are at your disposal, so you may need to adapt our recommendations to your specific situation.

Last updated July 1, 2018

High Performance Computing

The high performance computing (HPC) organization within the UCLA Institute for Digital Research and Education (IDRE) has been supporting scientific computing on the UCLA campus since the early 1960s. Advanced research has moved beyond the capacity of a single computer for detailed multi-level simulations, data analysis, and large-scale computations. Because of the increasing complexity and requirement for sheer computational horsepower, these needs are increasingly met with tightly integrated cluster systems consisting of hundreds to hundreds of thousands of processors, terabytes to petabytes of high-performance storage, and high bandwidth/low latency interconnects consuming megawatts of power. In addition to the need for powerful hardware, the software that runs on these systems must be written to take advantage of the computational power available on a particular system. This is the domain of High-Performance Computing (HPC). The IDRE-HPC group is a strong team of experienced researchers in High Performance Computing. The group provides its expertise and support to empower scholars in their abilities to compute on high-end computer systems. IDRE-HPC also supports the Hoffman2 shared cluster and manages the IDRE Cluster Hosting Program for UCLA researchers. These resources meet campus needs for small- to medium-sized cluster computing and may provide a starting point to resources at national computing centers.
  • Hoffman2. UCLA’s Shared Hoffman2 Cluster has 64-bit nodes, currently 774 and 7,508 cores, with an Ethernet network and Infiniband interconnect, that includes a scheduler, GCC and the best performing compiler for C, C++, Fortran 77, 90 and 95 on the current Shared Cluster architecture, applications and software libraries that offer languages, compilers and software specific to Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Engineering, Mathematics, Visualization, Programming and an array of miscellaneous software. The current peak performance of the cluster is in order of 75 Trillion Floating Point, double precision, operations per second (TFLOPS). Hoffman2 is currently the largest and most power cluster in the University of California system. Additional resources for researchers include complete system administration for contributed cores, cluster access through a 10Gb network interconnect to the campus backbone, high performance home and scratch storage space, capability to run large parallel jobs that can take advantage of the cluster’s InfiniBand interconnect, and web access to the Hoffman2 Cluster through the UCLA Grid Portal, and access to the BlueArc and Panasas storage systems. The cluster is also an end point on Globus online service using 10Gb network interconnect backbone, thus providing researchers a facility for fast and reliable data movement between Hoffman2 and most leadership class facilities across USA.
  • Dawson2 Cluster. UCLA’s Dawson2 GPU CLuster, ranked 148 in the Top500, comprises 96 HP ProLiant SL390 G7 systems, each having dual socket Intel Xeon X5650 processors, 3 Nvidia M2070 Graphics processors, and 48 GB of main memory giving peak performance of 1.66 double precision Trillion Floating Point operations per second (TFLOPS). The cluster uses QDR Infiniband networking and 160 Terabytes of high performance common disk space from Panasas for communication and storage respectively.

Last updated July 1, 2018

Informatics for Integrating Biology & the Bedside (i2b2)

The Informatics for Integrating Biology & the Bedside (i2b2) Cohort Discovery System contains data from 2.5 million unique patients at UCLA. i2b2 is a secure online tool designed for UCLA investigators to conduct searches on clinical data from Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, Santa Monica UCLA Medical Center and other UCLA-affiliated clinics and departments. The search results provide a numeric count of patients that are based on de-identified data extracted from UCLA’s clinical data warehouse. Search criteria include demographics, diagnosis and procedure codes (ICD-9, ICD-10 and CPT), labs, medications, visit details (including site locations), vital signs and vital status.

Last updated April 15, 2019

Los Angeles Data Resource (LADR)

Los Angeles Data Resource (LADR) is a joint project of major Los Angeles healthcare provider organizations, including UCLA, Cedars-Sinai (CSMC), Charles Drew University (CDU), USC, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) and the City of Hope, aimed at enabling research that improves the health of all people in the region using data representing the continuum of care across the region’s major health systems. LADR allows investigators to conduct interactive searches across the participating organizations on patient demographics, diagnosis and procedure codes (ICD-9, ICD-10 and CPT), labs, medications, visit details, vital signs and vital status and will be available to you and your research team for recruitment purposes for your study. LADR formally launched in May 2014 with two organizations, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and Cedars-Sinai Medical Center (CSMC). Since then, Keck Medical Center of USC and City of Hope have also gone live, and investigators can now search a total of 6.6 million patient records. Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science has joined the LADR consortium and will become functional in the near future.

Last updated April 15, 2019

Qualtrics

Qualtrics is an online tool available to the UCLA CTSI for generating surveys, processing data, and creat-ing reports for sharing findings. This online survey platform is HIPAA and FERPA compliant. Qualtrics provides support, user guides, and training to research staff.

Last updated February 1, 2021

Research Electronic Data Capture (REDCap)

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REDCap

REDCap (Research Electronic Data Capture) is a secure, HIPAA compliant web-based application for quickly building and managing online surveys, data collection forms and databases. REDCap provides audit trails for tracking data manipulation and user activity, as well as automated export procedures for seamless data downloads to Excel, PDF, and common statistical packages (SPSS, SAS, Stata R).

Last updated April 15, 2019

UC Data Warehouse

The University of California Data Warehouse (UCDW) provides an integrated, universal source for reporting, analytics and business intelligence. Functioning as an analytical data warehouse, it stores historical institutional data sourced from University of California campuses transactional databases via flat files and enrichment data from external educational bodies and boards, such as California Department of Education (CDE) and IPEDS. Data taken from campuses directly may not necessarily match information provided to the CDE or IPEDS. These agencies have various definitions for reporting that are not initially stored in source systems, and thus are not necessarily imported into the data warehouse. The enrichment data will be utilized for comparative analysis and as such, are sourced at aggregated levels.

The vision of the UC data warehouse is for this repository to be the source of authorized information around student, staff, faculty, budget and staff data. This data warehouse will be accessible by university executives, faculty, staff, administrators and researchers. It is expected that this analytical enterprise data source will provide UC with the following benefits:

  • Tools To Combine Data Differently – The data warehouse environment will give users a tool for looking at data differently. This tool allows decision makers to ask new questions and an opportunity to solve problems differently. This benefit is related to reporting and its associated tools. 
  • End User Empowerment – The warehouse will empower institutional decision makers by placing inquiry and analysis tools at their fingertips. 
  • Timely Information Access – The data warehouse will shorten the time span between user reporting data needs and information delivery, giving decision makers instant access to historical (static) data through the use of ad-hoc query and reporting tools. 
  • Future Vision From Historical Trends – The data warehouse will provide the data needed for effective business analysis which includes forecasting and trending using historical multiple academic years, or terms, worth of data using various points in time—snapshots. 
Subject areas currently available include Student Enrollment, Course Enrollment, Degree, Undergraduate Enrollment, Contracts and Grants, Climate Survey, UCUES, and Payroll/Personnel.

Last updated January 31, 2019

UCLA Health Box

UCLA Digital Technology 
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UCLA Health's Box is implemented by the UCLA Health Sciences that ensures safe, unlimited and HIPAA-compliant storage for nearly any kind of data. The intuitive cloud-based tool lets users securely access files from any location, on any device. Features of Box include collaborative note-taking, workflow planning, real-time communication, and Office 365 integration. Box also offers cross-device syncing capabilities on any device, and ensures the security of its files via multi-factor authentication. Files on UCLA Health Box can be shared with external collaborators upon completing a training course to ensure HIPAA compliance.

Last updated February 1, 2021

UCLA’s Integrated Clinical and Research Data Repository (xDR)

UCLA’s Integrated Clinical and Research Data Repository (xDR) is OHIA’s large scale clinical data warehouse that supports data analyses and extractions for research as well as analytics to support clinical quality management functions of the UCLA Health System. The xDR contains data derived from multiple clinical systems including a full copy of the CareConnect Clarity data warehouse, which is linked to disease registry data, other data from systems in Radiology, Pathology and other departments, and “legacy” data from older outpatient and hospital billing and managed care systems. The UCLA CTSI serves as the “storefront” for research access to xDR data.

Last updated April 15, 2019

Zoom (for UCLA Staff)

UCLA Digital Technology
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Zoom is an online communication and collaboration tool accessible by the internet (computers, tablets, smartphones) and telephone that provides unlimited video-conferencing, web-conferencing, and audio-conferencing (both VOIP and telephone), all with a highly intuitive and easy to use user-interface. Each conference session can have one or more hosts and participants. Zoom is free to UCLA Health staff with valid Mednet AD credentials. Zoom is HIPAA-compliant; it signs the HIPAA Business Associate Agreement (BAA) for healthcare customers and keeps sensitive information secure by encrypting all audio, video, and screen sharing data.

Last updated February 1, 2021

CTSI education and training programs and courses

Biomathematics 170A: Introductory Biomathematics for Medical Investigators

Biomathematics 170A. Introductory Biomathematics for Medical Investigators. (4) Lecture, three hours; discussion, one hour. Intensive elementary statistics course emphasizing design and applications to observational studies and experiments/clinical trials. Statistical topics include study design, descriptive statistics, elementary probability and distributions, confidence intervals and hypothesis testing, sample size and power, linear regression and correlation, analysis of variance, nonparametric statistics. Applications to biomedical literature and design of clinical trials. Letter grading.

Last updated June 1, 2020

Biomathematics 259: Controversies in Clinical Trials

Biomathematics 259. Controversies in Clinical Trials. (2) Lecture, one hour; discussion, one hour. Preparation: completion of professional health sciences or M.D. degree. Required of all MS in Clinical Research students. Discussion and analysis of eight published and well-known trials with students, one invited clinical faculty member, and course director. Development of critical ability to evaluate trial design and pitfalls. S/U or letter grading.

Last updated June 1, 2020

Biomathematics M260A-M260B: Methodology in Clinical Research I, II

Biomathematics M260A-M260B. Methodology in Clinical Research I, II. (4-4) Lecture, four hours. Recommended preparation: M.D., PhD, or dental degree. Requisites: courses 170A, 265A. Course M260A is requisite to M260B. Presentation of principles and practices of major disciplines underlying clinical research methodology, such as biostatistics, epidemiology, pharmacokinetics. S/U or letter grading.

Last updated June 1, 2020

Biomathematics M260C: Methodology in Clinical Research III

Biomathematics M260C. Methodology in Clinical Research III. (4) (Same as Medicine M260C.) Discussion, four hours. Recommended preparation: M.D., PhD, or dental degree. Presentation of principles and practices of major disciplines underlying clinical research methodology, such as biostatistics, epidemiology, pharmacokinetics. S/U or letter grading.

Last updated June 1, 2020

Biomathematics M261: Responsible Conduct of Research Involving Humans

Biomathematics M261. Responsible Conduct of Research Involving Humans. (2) (Same as Medicine M261.) Lecture, two hours; discussion, two hours. Preparation: completion of one basic course in protection of human research subjects through Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative. Discussion of current issues in responsible conduct of clinical research, including reporting of research, basis for authorship, issues in genetic research, principles and practice of research on humans, conflicts of interest, Institutional Review Board (IRB), and related topics. S/U or letter grading.

Last updated June 1, 2020

Biomathematics M262: Communication of Science

Biomathematics M262. Communication of Science. (2) (Same as Psychiatry M230.) Lecture, two hours; discussion, one hour. Presentation of various types of scientific writings and their good practice. Details of writing specific articles: methods, results, discussion. Writing of review article. Grant submissions: aims, background, results, design. Role of appendices. Communication with lay public. S/U or letter grading.

Last updated June 1, 2020

Biomathematics 264: Applied Data Collection and Analysis

Biomathematics 264. Applied Data Collection and Analysis. (4) Lecture, four hours. Presentation of research project development, including protocol development, data collection, quality control, clinical/electronic health record (EHR) data, structuring data for analysis, and data archival. Lectures, in-class practicums using actual studies and datasets, and student presentations. Letter grading.

Last updated June 1, 2020

Biomathematics 265A: Data Analysis Strategies I

Biomathematics 265A. Data Analysis Strategies I. (4) Lecture, two hours; laboratory, two hours. Preparation: MD or PhD degree. Requisite: course 170A. Designed to provide students with hands-on experience developing and testing hypotheses using various types of databases. Topics include developing testable hypothesis, data management, and analysis strategies and written presentation of findings. Experience with full process of hypothesis generation, operationalization of variables, selection of analysis techniques, and presentation of findings so students are better prepared to complete data analysis, interpretation of results, and written presentation of their findings (e.g., for master’s thesis and subsequent articles). Students encouraged to provide their own data. Databases provided for use in completing exercises for those without available data. Letter grading.

Last updated June 1, 2020

Biomathematics 266A: Applied Regression Analysis in Medical Sciences

Biomathematics 266A. Applied Regression Analysis in Medical Sciences. (4) Lecture, three hours; laboratory, one hour. Requisite: course 170A. Proficiency in applied regression analysis, with focus on interpretation of results and performing computation. Primary topics include simple linear regression, multiple regression, regression model selection, analysis of variance, logistic regression, and survival analysis. Letter grading.

Last updated June 1, 2020

Biomathematics 266B: Advanced Biostatistics

Biomathematics 266B. Advanced Biostatistics. (4) Lecture, three hours; discussion, one hour. Requisite: course 266A. Continuation of course 266A. Some traditional multivariate methods, such as principle components, factor analysis, cluster analysis, and more contemporary methods, including recursive partitioning and missing data. Multilevel and longitudinal analysis. Letter grading.

Last updated June 1, 2020

Biomathematics 285: Introduction to High-Throughput Data Analysis

Biomathematics 285. Introduction to High-Throughput Data Analysis. (4) Seminar, three hours. Requisites: courses M260A, M260B. Introduction to high-throughput data analysis, including DNA microarray technologies and next- generation sequencing technology. Presentation of statistical methods and software for handling complex data produced by experiments using these technologies. Some hands-on training on data analysis provided. S/U or letter grading.

Last updated June 1, 2020

Biomathematics 596: Directed Individual Study or Research in Biomathematics

Biomathematics 596. Directed Individual Study or Research in Biomathematics. (2 to 12) Tutorial, to be arranged. Individual study on topics not yet covered by offerings of department. May be repeated for credit with topic change. S/U or letter grading.

Last updated June 1, 2020

UCLA administrative units

Clinical Trials Administrative Office (CTAO)

The Clinical Trials Administration Office (CTAO) has the authority to negotiate and execute agreements that meet the UCLA definition of a clinical trial and when it is funded by a pharmaceutical, device, biotech company, or for-profit Clinical Research Organization (CRO) whether directly of through another academic medical center or non-profit organization (i.e. Pfizer to Yale to UCLA). A Clinical Research Study at UCLA is more broadly defined to include research such as retrospective chart reviews and analysis of existing medical data. The Office of Contract and Grant Administration has the authority to negotiate and execute agreements for clinical research studies and clinical trials funded by the government or a non-profit entity.

Last updated July 1, 2018

Conflict of Interest Review Committee (CIRC)

Established by the Chancellor in the mid-1980s, the Conflict of Interest Review Committee (CIRC) is a peer review panel composed of faculty from a broad cross section of academic disciplines throughout campus. The CIRC is responsible for reviewing personal financial interests disclosed by UCLA researchers, making determinations about whether those outside financial interests constitute conflicts of interest, and making recommendations about how those conflicts of interest can be eliminated, reduced, or managed so that research awards can be accepted and work can commence. In this role, the CIRC serves as the substantive independent review committee required under the State of California Political Reform Act and as the “designated official(s)” required under federal policy/regulation on financial conflicts of interest related to research.

Last updated July 1, 2018

Institutional BioSafety Committee (IBC)

The UCLA Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC) was established as the local review body responsible for oversight of all research activities – including teaching laboratories – involving the use of hazardous biological material and recombinant or synthetic nucleic acids, as required and outlined in the NIH Guidelines for Research Involving Recombinant or Synthetic Nucleic Acid Molecules (NIH Guidelines) and the CDC/NIH Biosafety in Microbiological and Biomedical Laboratories (BMBL). The IBC is a faculty-led committee appointed by the UCLA Vice Chancellor for Research (VCR) and consists of experts in various fields, including biosafety, human gene therapy, infectious disease, recombinant DNA, animal containment, plant containment, and occupational health. The IBC is responsible for establishing, monitoring, and enforcing policies and procedures involving hazardous biological materials and recombinant/synthetic nucleic acids to meet applicable federal, state, local and institutional regulations and guidelines.

The IBC reviews and approves protocols for academic research and teaching laboratories involving the following materials: recombinant/synthetic nucleic acid molecules, as covered by the NIH Guidelines; infectious agents that can cause disease in healthy humans and/or significant environmental or agricultural impacts, as covered by the BMB; select agents and select toxins, as covered by the CDC DSAT regulations; human and nonhuman primate materials, as covered by the Cal/OSHA Bloodborne Pathogen Standard; genetically-modified animals and whole plants, as covered by the NIH Guidelines. At its discretion, the IBC may also review protocols involving animals or animal specimens known to be reservoirs/vectors of zoonotic diseases.

Last updated July 1, 2018

Office of Clinical Research (OCR)

The UCLA Office of Clinical Research (OCR) provides services aimed at accelerating the entire clinical research process. The Office serves the UCLA Health system, and the services provided help navigating the process from industry-sponsored contracting to IRB submission and reliance to study activation support. In order to deliver these comprehensive services, the Office of Clinical Research is comprised of six groups, including: Coordination Services & Education (CSE); Financial Coverage & Activation (FCA); Clinical Research Informatics Systems (CRIS); Clinical Trial Contracts & Sponsor Relations (CTC-SR); Office of Regulatory Affairs (ORA); and Embedded Clinical Research Innovation (ECRI).

Coordination Services & Education (CSE). CSE is a resource within the OCR that assists UCLA faculty, staff, and clinical research teams with the regulatory, financial and compliance-related components of clinical research during study activation, conduct, and closeout of a clinical trial. CSE includes three dedicated teams focused on advancing contributions in study activation, study conduct and study team training and education.

Financial Coverage & Activation (FCA). The Financial Coverage & Activation (FCA) team within the Dean’s Office School of Medicine and the Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) provides a centralized performance of Coverage Analysis at UCLA (Health System). Nationally recognized as a thought-leader and best practice model for coverage analysis, FCA provides services that include the development of compliant clinical research budgets pursuant to Federal, State, and local laws and regulations as well as to UCOP and UCLA policies. Additionally, the FCA mitigates clinical research billing compliance risk, particularly those associated with multi-million dollar settlements with the federal government. 4c. Regulatory Coordinator Services.

Clinical Research Information Systems (CRIS). UCLA Clinical Research Informatics Systems (CRIS) leverages technology in concert with workflow re-engineering to ensure efficient, compliant and nimble clinical research business processes. CRIS produces transparent and actionable business metrics, provides business support and analytics, as well as system configuration, data management/migration, and workflow re-engineering. Other functions include training and end-user support. Additionally, the CRIS team manages and maintains OnCore, which is a clinical trials management system (CTMS) used at UCLA for the management of clinical trials in clinical research. The system maintains and manages planning, performing and reporting functions at the study and subject level along with participant contact information, tracking deadlines and milestones. The use of OnCore enables the study team to set up and manage all protocols and subjects in one place, supports clinical research billing, simplifies data management and monitoring , improves patient recruitment and tracking and automates the flow of information between UCLA based systems including WebIRB, PATS and CareConnect. The CRIS team works collaboratively with Financial Coverage and Activation, Clinical Research Business Partners (CRBP) and Research Connect team members to provide a variety of data solutions and operation management tools for clinical research teams.

Clinical Trial Contracts & Sponsor Relations (CTC-SR). The Clinical Trial Contracts & Sponsor Relations (CTC-SR) negotiates Industry Supported Clinical Trial Agreements for the Health System. Services include negotiating compliant terms and conditions for clinical trial agreements, outbound subcontracts, master agreements, and confidentiality agreements for both sponsor-initiated and PI-initiated clinical trials. Additionally, the CTC-SR ensures clinical trials are performed in accordance with applicable law through arm’s length negotiations with industry; manages perceived conflicts of interest and/or bias in the conduct of studies; ensures fair and equitable treatment of resulting University Intellectual Property; manages risk amongst contracting parties; provides consultation, guidance, and advice to faculty and staff on applicable law, University policies, and University business norms related to the conduct of clinical trials; and ensures all necessary internal approvals are in place prior to contract execution.

Office of Regulatory Affairs (ORA). The Office of Regulatory Affairs (ORA) provides a broad spectrum of support for clinical investigators and their study teams in the conduct and navigation of clinical research regulatory requirements. Services provided by this office include: Scientific and Feasibility Review, Data and Safety Monitoring, internal monitoring and auditing support, FDA and Sponsor inspection/audit preparation and guidance, ClinicalTrials.gov registration and results reporting assistance, FDA IND/IDE guidance and support, regulatory binder preparation, and more. The mission of the ORA is to guide and support the UCLA clinical research community through the different compliance requirements associated with the conduct of clinical research. 

To see OCR services and programs, see the boilerplates "CTSI-supported collaborations and initiatives" section.  

Last updated June 1, 2020

Office of Contract and Grant Administration (OCGA)

The UCLA Office of Contract and Grant Administration (OCGA) assists the campus research community in reviewing, approving and submitting proposal applications and negotiating and executing contracts and grants from government and non-profit sponsors. OCGA has primary responsibility for the interpretation of University-wide and campus policy, sponsor guidelines, and applicable federal and state laws and regulations related to governmental and non-profit sponsored activities. OCGA also executes all outgoing Subawards issued under grants or collaborative agreements.

Last updated July 1, 2018

Office for the Protection for Research Subjects (OHRPP)

The Office of the Human Research Protection Program (OHRPP) is the administrative arm of the UCLA Human Research Protection Program (HRPP). The OHRPP in partnership with the research community is responsible for ensuring the safety and welfare of participants in Human Research Projects conducted under the aegis of UCLA. The OHRPP, which is a Division within the Office of Research Administration, provides the campus and the five UCLA Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) with professional guidance and administrative support.

Last updated July 1, 2018

Office of Research Administration (ORA)

The primary role of the Office of Research Administration (ORA) is to provide the campus with professional guidance and administrative support for all sponsored research activities. ORA maintains accurate records and administrative oversight of research projects and ensures proper administration of contracts and grants awarded to CTSI researchers at UCLA through the following mechanisms: Office of Contract and Grant Administration (OCGA), Office of Research Policy and Compliance (ORPC), Extramural Fund Management (EFM), Office for the Protection for Research Subjects (OHRPP) and Research Safety and Animal Welfare (RSAWA).

Last updated July 1, 2018

UCLA Academic Planning and Budget (APB)

Reporting to the Vice Chancellor and Chief Financial Officer, the Office of Academic Planning and Budget (APB) supports UCLA executive management and campus-level strategic planning by providing objective and timely data and analysis to inform central and unit decision making processes. It acts in an advisory role to the Chancellor and Executive Vice Chancellor/Provost in the allocation and administration of all campus funds. In addition, the office interacts with the Office of the President (OP) to ensure that the campus resource base and its flexibility are maximized and that the campus academic performance and programs are accurately characterized in systemwide reports. Working with academic units, APB also plays a key role in providing guidance and support at the programmatic level. APB compiles data from official campus sources and generates institutional information and analyses used by the college, schools, and departments in program planning and resource management. Institutional data are also provided to accrediting organizations, federal departments, the state legislatures, and ranking agencies as part of the accountability reporting schedule.

Last updated July 1, 2018

UCLA Institutional Review Boards (IRB)

The UCLA Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) are the committees designated by UCLA to review the conduct of research involving human subjects that is conducted by UCLA faculty and staff (conducting studies involving human subjects within the course and scope of their duties) as well as UCLA students (conducting studies involving human subjects within the course of their studies). The function of the IRBs is to ensure adherence to all federal, state, local, and institutional regulations concerning the protection of human subjects in research. UCLA IRB review is required for both funded and non-funded human subjects research. University policy requires all non-UCLA investigators wishing to access any UCLA facilities, patients, or personnel (faculty, staff or students) for human subjects research to submit an Application for Administrative Review to the UCLA OHRPP for confirmation that the research does not require UCLA IRB review or Certification of Exemption from UCLA IRB review.

The five UCLA IRBs are supplemented by multiple arrangements for accepting the reviews of external IRBs. The UCLA Office of the Human Research Protection Program (OHRPP) provides support to the UCLA IRBs and for arrangements with external IRBs.

Last updated July 1, 2018

UCLA Technology Development Group (TDG)

UCLA Technology Development Group serves as a campus-wide gateway to Innovation, Research and Entrepreneurship. Our mission is to: promote UCLA innovation, research, teaching and entrepreneurship to benefit society, create economic value to support UCLA’s scholarly and educational missions and the State of California and lead UCLA’s research community to bring innovation to market. The scope of activities include: commercially evaluating new technologies, determining patentability and commercial value, prosecuting patents, marketing and licensing inventions, facilitating UCLA faculty startups, engaging industry to facilitate research collaboration, negotiating license agreements and Material Transfer Agreements as well as receiving and distributing royalties and other income to the inventors, UCLA Campus and its departments.

Last updated July 1, 2018

UCLA hospitals and health system

CareConnect (EHR system)

CareConnect is UCLA's electronic health record (EHR) program. The system integrates functions of approximately 65 software applications into a single system accessible across the health system and is available around-the-clock to clinical faculty and staff members. Services include scheduling, registration, referrals, and authorizations for UCLA managed care members at all clinics, clinical applications - pharmacy, Computerized Provider Order Entry (CPOE), documentation, radiology, rounding lists - at all hospitals, Computerized Provider Order Entry (CPOE) and documentation at a group of clinics and procedure areas in our hospitals (Wave 0), and CareConnect Lite as a replacement for cView at all clinics (except those in Wave 0).

An estimated 18,000 faculty and staff members use CareConnect, including physicians, pharmacists, nurses, advanced-practice nurses, other clinicians, trainees, students, and staff members working with scheduling, registration, billing, patient placement (ADT), and hospital information management (HIM). The CareConnect program is led by a team with expertise in EHR implementation and deep institutional knowledge of our health system. The CareConnect program is overseen by an Executive Oversight Board composed of leaders from UCLA Health System and David Geffen School of Medicine, which developed 11 principles to guide development and implementation of CareConnect.

Last updated July 1, 2018

Digital Technology (DGIT)

UCLA Digital Technology
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DGIT is an information and digital technology organization serving the UCLA Health schools of Dentistry, Medicine, Nursing, and Public Health. It works hand-in-hand with the hospital's information technology team, Information Services & Solutions (ISS), to ensure delivery of high-quality services throughout UCLA Health Sciences. DGIT provides a dynamic portfolio of services and capabilities that support education, research, analytics, web development, and administrative functions for faculty, students, and staff. The technology solutions we deliver fulfill DGIT’s standards for security, reliability, scalability, accessibility, and innovation, and are intended to accelerate the university’s academic and research endeavors. The services DGIT provides span a number of categories including enterprise data, research computing, software development, information security, and educational technology among others.

Last updated January 31, 2019

Harbor-UCLA Medical Center

Harbor-UCLA Medical Center is a Level 1 Trauma Center with an NIH-funded General Clincal Research Center. The 72-acre facility is composed of the 8-story, 553-bed hospital, and a 52,000 square foot Primary Care and Diagnostic Center in addition to a complex of buildings, wooden barracks, and trailers. The on-campus the Lundquist Institute for Biomedical Innovation at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, with an annual budget of over 50 million dollars, provides extensive laboratory and administrative facilities for faculty investigators. Other buildings on the campus include the St. John's Cardiovasular Research Center, the Walter P. Martin Research Building, the Professional Office Building, the Imaging Center, and the A.F. Parlow Library of the Health Sciences. The total building space is approximately 1,000,000 square feet.

All of the approximately 300 full-time faculty as well as some of the more than 450 part-time and voluntary professional staff hold faculty appointments at the UCLA School of Medicine. They devote their time to the clinical care of patients, research, and teaching at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center. The nearly 450 residents and fellows training at Harbor also contribute to these endeavors. The hospital sponsors 34 Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education accredited residency and fellowship programs as well as other graduate medical training programs. The hospital also serves as a major training site for medical students from the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and the Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science.

The emergency room has been enlarged and a number of special care units have been constructed from what were formerly ward rooms. In 1994, the 50,000 square foot Edward J. Foley Primary Care and Diagnostic Center was opened. Over the years the hospital and medical programs of the facility have grown and improved steadily.

Last updated July 1, 2018

Information Services & Solutions (ISS) 

Information Services & Solutions (ISS) develops and maintains the central technology infrastructure and provides services and applications to over 20,000 people comprising UCLA Health, Practice Group and School of Medicine. We are committed to delivering progressive technology solutions that effectively support the patient care, research, and teaching missions of the Health Sciences and offer an increasingly integrated set of computing and communication services. We serve more than a fixed collection of hospitals, clinics, classrooms, labs, and offices, and strive to bring UCLA expertise to the community by participating in health exchanges and investing in technologies that shorten distances between people such as real-time access to information, telemedicine services, and web based access to resources.

Last updated July 1, 2018

Pediatric Neuromuscular Clinic (a UCLA Hospital Clinic)

The Pediatric Neuromuscular Disease Clinic meets twice a month and the majority of patients seen are B/DMD. Additional patients with SMA, myotonic dystrophy, congenital muscular dystrophy are seen on select clinic days. The clinic can accommodates patients for multidisciplinary visits. Most B/DMD patients are seen two times per year for routine care and more frequently when needed. Physicians available in the multidisciplinary clinic include medical specialists (neurology, genetics, cardiology) - board certified pediatricians, neurologists, neurology fellows, and pediatric and adult neurology residents. The clinic is able to serve both adult and pediatric patients and Dr. Perry Shieh is fully credentialed to provide specialist services to both children and adults. Older patients who need fewer of the child related services (i.e. Child-life specialist) are seen in multidisciplinary clinic or on another day depending on insurance coverage and needs. Drs. Stan Nelson and Nancy Halnon are both board certified pediatricians who can evaluate for disease or treatment related complications and manage steroid dependent patients in conjunction with primary care physicians.

Last updated July 1, 2018

Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital

The Stewart and Lynda Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital at UCLA is among the leading centers in the world for comprehensive patient care, research and education in the fields of mental health, developmental disabilities and neurology. It is the major psychiatry teaching facility of the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, one of the nation’s top-ranked medical centers. The hospital is an independently accredited and licensed hospital located on the fourth floor of the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, with its own entrance and address. The hospital was named in honor of Stewart and Lynda Resnick, whose generous donation through the Resnick Family Foundation supported the construction of the neuropsychiatric hospital. The hospital’s vision is to serve the healthcare needs of the community, its patients and their families through excellence in research, education and the delivery of neuropsychiatric and behavioral health services. By the numbers, Resnick: ranked No. 7 in the nation in psychiatry by U.S. News & World Report; has 74 inpatient beds, is 75,020 square feet, and has an average length of stay of 12.83 days. Patients of all ages with psychiatric illnesses and developmental disabilities receive innovative treatment and compassionate care. Team members include specialists in psychiatry, neurology, medicine and pediatrics, as well as nursing, psychology, occupational therapy, recreational therapy, speech pathology, social work and special education. Treatment is tailored to by age group: the child and adolescent care program, the adult inpatient care program and the geriatric program.

Last updated July 1, 2018

Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center (RRUMC)

Founded in 1955, UCLA Medical Center became Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center in 2008, reopening in a new 10-story structure (eight above ground) that takes hospital design to a new level. The latest medical advances are provided in a welcoming environment that is filled with light and open spaces to enhance a sense of wellness and promote healing. Situated on four acres on the UCLA campus in West Los Angeles, the hospital encompasses Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, Stewart and Lynda Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital at UCLA and UCLA Mattel Children's Hospital. This was one of the first total replacement hospital projects to be built in accordance with the latest California seismic safety requirements. Every floor of Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center is dedicated to a particular specialty and equipped with all of the necessary support equipment and supplies. Every floor has its own satellite pharmacy, dialysis storage, respiratory therapy workrooms, and resident doctor sleep rooms. In addition, each patient room has the capacity to convert into an intensive care unit (ICU) to allow for the continuous care of a critically ill patient in one room.

As the primary teaching hospital for the David Geffen School of Medicine, the 520-bed, 1,050,000 square foot medical center provides patient care in nearly all medical specialties. According to US News & World Report, UCLA Health hospitals are rated Best in the West for 27 consecutive years, number one in Los Angeles, and as one of the top seven hospitals in the United States. Furthermore, the medical center has Magnet Status for Nursing Excellence, is a national leader in organ transplantation, has 25 operating rooms, and receives over 50,000 emergency patients annually.

Key hospital features include: surgical suites with full audiovisual integration systems and leading-edge medical equipment; a GONDA Observation Unit run by a hospitalist team--a special short-stay unit for patients requiring observation for a specific symptom; The BirthPlace, Westwood allows mothers to give birth and recover in-a comfortable, home-like setting that easily and quickly transforms into an efficient operating room for the delivery; a Level 1 trauma center with multiple trauma rooms and a dedicated-CT scanner enables doctors to more immediately diagnose patients upon their arrival; intensive care units employ a "line of sight" approach that ensures 360-degree access to critically ill patients; and room service food delivery allows patients to personalize their menu orders and arrange for their delivery at a convenient time.

Last updated July 1, 2018

UCLA Compliance Program

UCLA’s Compliance Program enhances the University’s duty to perform its public responsibilities in an ethics and compliance-based environment where legal, regulatory, Regental, UC policy and other compliance requirements are followed and in which the public trust is maintained. The goal of the compliance program is to provide guidance and address compliance concerns across campus. The Compliance Program has an Oversight Committee on Audit, IT Governance, Compliance, and Controls and is a standing committee composed of campus leadership responsible for providing policy direction and oversight regarding campus-wide accountability and compliance matters. The committee is supported by the UCLA Ethics and Compliance Officer with collaboration from various campus partners.

Last updated July 1, 2018

UCLA Dental Clinics

The UCLA Dental Clinics in Westwood and the UCLA Venice Dental Center are the patient care branches of the UCLA School of Dentistry. Since UCLA is an educational institution, a number of the procedures and policies differ from a private practice. While patient care is always the foremost concern, the clinics are equally responsible for the education and training of our students and residents. Before becoming a patient at a clinic, a patient will first be screened by a faculty member to determine if the treatment needs are a good fit for the teaching environment. A full series of X-rays or basic X-rays will be taken as needed, determined by the screening faculty. Once the screening process is complete and the patient is accepted as a potential teaching case in a student clinic, he/she will be scheduled for a comprehensive oral examination to assess the general state of their oral health and create a full-mouth treatment plan.

Last updated July 1, 2018

UCLA Health System

UCLA Health is a self-supporting non-profit organization, owned and operated by the Regents of the University of California, to support the clinical activities of the professional schools of dentistry, medicine, nursing and public health. UCLA Health is comprised of: the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center (520 beds); the Mattel Children’s Hospital (131 beds); the Stewart and Lynda Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital at UCLA (74 beds); the UCLA Medical Center, Santa Monica (281 beds); UCLA Health Clinics; UCLA Faculty Group; and the David Geffen School of Medicine. Additionally, the Westwood campus includes the Jules Stein Eye Institute and Doris Stein Eye Research Center, the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior Neuropsychiatric Institute, and the UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, one of over 70 NCI-designated comprehensive cancer centers. Outpatient facilities include a six-story, 380,000-square-foot ambulatory care center housing the Family Health Center for primary care of routine illnesses; the Children's Health Center; Internal Medicine clinics; a Surgery Center; and a 104,000 square foot building housing the outpatient, training and research programs of the Stewart and Lynda Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital and the Jane and Terry Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior. This building also houses the UCLA Medical Center rehabilitation program.   

UCLA Health boasts 3,200 total faculty, of which 3,050 are clinical faculty and 150 are basic science faculty. UCLA Health also boasts 1,300 residents and fellows as well as 3,800 registered nurses, part of a net total of 32,000 employees. More than 300 UCLA physicians are listed among the best doctors in America, with many ranked as Super Doctors. Altogether, UCLA Health hospitals and clinics have over 2.8 million annual outpatient visits, with nearly 670,000 unique patients per year, and UCLA Health sustains 36,000 hospital stays and 73,000 Emergency Department visits per year.   

A unique feature of UCLA is the presence of the Center for the Health Sciences (CHS) complex (one of the largest health-science centers in the country) that includes a hospital, School of Medicine, School of Dentistry, School of Nursing, School of Public Health, and California NanoSystems Institute on the same campus as the Division of Life Sciences and 7 other professional schools. This centralized complex ensures that all UCLA investigators have offices and/or a lab well within a close walking distance. 

For more than 60 years, UCLA Health has provided the best in health care and the latest in medical technology to the people of Los Angeles and throughout the world. A self-supporting non-profit organization, owned and operated by the Regents of the University of California, UCLA Health’s mission is to deliver leading-edge patient care, research, and education, and its vision is to heal humankind, one patient at a time, by improving health, alleviating suffering and delivering acts of kindness. As an academic medical center, UCLA Health is able to offer patients the latest technologies as well as access to potentially life-saving new therapies and leading-edge clinical trials. With a comprehensive array of research and clinical centers, addressing topics from stem cell biology, AIDS, gene therapy, neurosciences, women's health and geriatrics, UCLA continues to define what an academic medical center can be.  

Last updated March 18, 2022

UCLA Mattel Children's Hospital

UCLA Mattel Children's Hospital cares for the physical and emotional well-being of children, from newborns to young adults. With a dedicated entrance from Gayley Avenue, UCLA Mattel Children's Hospital is located on the third and fifth floors of Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center. UCLA's facilities are designed to serve the most critically ill children with sophisticated, compassionate care in an environment that is both welcoming and healing to children and their families. In 1998, Mattel Children's Foundation, a philanthropic arm of Mattel, Inc., pledged $25 million toward construction of the hospital. In 2017, Mattel, Inc. made a $50-million gift to The UCLA Foundation to benefit children’s health. With Mattel's support, UCLA Mattel Children's Hospital will expand pediatric services locally; broaden its global presence to enhance and improve the health of children worldwide; and promote the global sharing of UCLA Health’s best practices and research. In total Mattel has 131 inpatient beds, which includes 44 beds in the pediatric unit, 22 beds in the neonatal ICU, 18 beds in the pediatric ICU and 6 beds in the pediatric cardiac ICU. The Mattel Children’s Unit at UCLA Medical Center, Santa Monica includes a 25-bed Pediatric Unit—with four beds dedicated to acutely ill children—and a 16-bassinet high-tech, high-touch Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Each nursing unit has its own minor procedure room so young patients can undergo certain treatments away from their sleeping area to avoid associating pain or distress with their own room.

Last updated July 1, 2018

UCLA Medical Center, Santa Monica

UCLA Medical Center, Santa Monica serves as the cornerstone of UCLA Health's Santa Monica medical campus. The 265-bed, full-service medical center provides the complete continuum of healthcare services, from prenatal and neonatal care to geriatric medicine, in a technologically advanced and welcoming facility. It combines the expertise of an academic medical center with the accessibility of a community hospital to offer patients the best of both medical worlds. The medical center features several outstanding programs and services on or near its 4.5-acre medical campus. These include: the Nethercutt Emergency Center, which treats nearly 50,000 patients annually and serves as Santa Monica's only Emergency Department (ED) approved for pediatric care; The BirthPlace, one of Southern California’s most comprehensive maternity centers, where approximately 1,500 babies are delivered each year; a 25-bed Pediatrics Unit, which operates as a unit of UCLA Mattel Children's Hospital and serves as Santa Monica's only inpatient unit for pediatric care; the UCLA Rape Treatment Center and its Stuart House facility for sexually abused children serve as national models for the treatment of rape victims and their families; the UCLA Breast Center, Santa Monica, located within the UCLA medical building, provides personalized, multi-disciplinary breast care in a compassionate and supportive environment; UCLA Radiology which performs state-of-the-art imaging services in several locations throughout the Santa Monica campus; and the UCLA Spine Center in Santa Monica which provides comprehensive medical and surgical treatment for all spinal disorders and strives to be at the forefront of spinal research. The hospital also has an alliance with the Orthopaedic Institute for Children, formerly known as “Los Angeles Orthopaedic Hospital.

Founded in 1926 as Santa Monica’s first hospital by local physicians Drs. William S. Mortensen and August B. Hromadka, the medical center has grown and evolved over the years to better serve Santa Monica and surrounding communities. In 1942, the hospital became part of the Lutheran Hospital Society, where it remained until 1988, when it joined UniHealth America. In 1995, the hospital was acquired by the University of California and became an integral part of UCLA Health’s expanding network of medical services. It was rebuilt in phases following the 1994 Northridge earthquake and is now designed and constructed to the latest seismic standards. More than 25 percent of the medical campus is dedicated to green and open spaces, including a 40,000-square-foot garden facing 15th Street and the 18,000-square-foot Harman Garden Plaza. Both areas offer a tranquil setting where patients, visitors and staff members can enjoy fresh air, sunshine and sea breezes.

Last updated July 1, 2018

UCLA Medical Plaza

Located next to the Ronald Reagan UCLA medical center, the UCLA Medical Plaza offers an accessible, friendly environment for a broad range of outpatient services, including more than 80 specialty clinics. The plaza is composed of the following facilities:

  • 100 Medical Plaza, a 140,000 square foot facility, provides space for approximately 100 physicians who are currently members or are eligible to become members of the clinical faculty of the School of Medicine. The building is owned and operated by a private firm under a long-term ground lease from the Regents of the University of California. It is the first facility of its kind to be privately developed, financed and operated on a UC campus.
  • 200 Medical Plaza, a six-story, 380,000-square-foot outpatient care center, house virtually all of UCLA Medical Center’s outpatient services. It offers a complete range of services, from a Family Health Center offering primary care for routine illnesses, to clinics providing state-of-the-art outpatient treatments for complex cancers. The facilities in the Surgery Center enable patients to go home the same day following many types of surgical procedures.
  • 300 Medical Plaza, a 104,000-square-foot building on the southern end of the plaza, houses outpatient and training programs of the Stewart and Lynda Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital at UCLA and the Jane and Terry Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, as well as the medical center’s rehabilitation program.

Last updated May 24, 2019

VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System (VAGLAHS)

The VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System (VAGLAHS) is one of the largest health care facilities within the Department of Veterans Affairs. It is one component of the VA Desert Pacific Healthcare Network (VISN22) offering services to Veterans residing in Southern California and Southern Nevada. VAGLAHS consists of two ambulatory care centers, a tertiary care facility and 8 community based outpatient clinics. VAGLAHS serves Veterans residing throughout five counties: Los Angeles, Ventura, Kern, Santa Barbara, and San Luis Obispo. There are 1.4 million Veterans in the VAGLAHS service area. VAGLAHS is affiliated with both UCLA School of Medicine and USC School of Medicine, as well as more than 45 colleges, universities and vocational schools in 17 different medical, nursing, paramedical and administrative programs. The VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System is accredited by The Joint Commission. The VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System directs the Department of Veterans Affairs’ largest educational enterprise. VAGLAHS serves as a major training site for medical residencies sponsored by the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine and USC School of Medicine, as well as more than 45 colleges, universities and vocational schools in 17 different medical, nursing, paramedical and administrative programs. Over 500 University residents, interns, and students are trained at the VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System each year. The institution sponsors 16 medical residencies and numerous associated health residencies and internships in dentistry, podiatry, optometry, pharmacy, clinical psychology, social work and dietetics.

Last updated July 1, 2018

UCLA schools, departments, institutes, divisions, networks and centers

Advanced Heart Failure Program

The UCLA Advanced Heart Failure Program is an integrated service dedicated to providing attending-level phone consultation 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. They have over the last 2 years been re-organized in the integrated Advanced Heart Failure Program with the Ahmanson-UCLA Cardiomyopathy Center, Mechanical Circulatory Support Center and Heart Transplant Center. The referring physician will speak to the attending cardiologist on-call within five minutes to facilitate the prompt and appropriate evaluation and care of the patient. The Advanced Heart Failure Program provides direct access to the team responsible for the management of all aspects of advanced heart failure, including inpatient and outpatient NYHA Class III and IV patients with heart failure. The team also accepts referrals of patients for heart transplantion and mechanical circulatory support (VAD) implantation.

Last updated July 1, 2019

Bioinformatics Interdepartmental Program (IDP)

UCLA has a strong record of bioinformatics research and graduate training. In 1999 the faculty established a graduate core curriculum in bioinformatics, which has been offered continuously since that time, and recently has been greatly expanded, demonstrating the faculty’s commitment to collaborative teaching and to long-term development of an integrated bioinformatics program. These initiatives have been recognized by a large number of awards of multi-investigator Project and Training grants in bioinformatics from NIH, NSF, DOE and other funding sources. The Bioinformatics IDP provides an academic home for bioinformatics at UCLA that brings together the many different disciplines that this field requires. Examples of current bioinformatics research conducted by the core faculty include: The analysis of gene and protein sequences to reveal protein evolution and alternative splicing; the development of computational approaches to study and predict protein structure to further our understanding of function; the analysis of mass spectrometry data to, for example, understand the connection between phosphorylation and cancer; the development of computational methods to utilize expression data to reverse engineer gene networks in order to more completely model cellular biology; the study of population genetics and its connection to human disease.

Last updated July 1, 2019

Biosciences PhD programs at UCLA

Graduate Programs in Bioscience is a consortium of 10 home areas and their affiliated Ph.D. programs, organized to provide the best possible research training and professional development for graduate students pursuing Ph.D.s in the life and biomedical sciences. UCLA has a long tradition of excellence and leadership in the biomedical and life sciences and in developing innovative and effective graduate training programs. In 1993, UCLA developed the ACCESS program, one of the nation’s first unified admissions and first year training programs for graduate students entering bioscience Ph.D. programs. ACCESS was a model for umbrella programs that followed at other institutions. Graduate Programs in Bioscience expands and refines the ACCESS model. Initiated in 2013 following extensive strategic planning, the programs build on the strengths of ACCESS by providing an organized network of programs that offers students breadth and flexibility to best pursue their interests across the wide range of bioscience Ph.D. programs. At the same time, programs introduce the benefits of individually tailored education in smaller training communities, defined by research themes, not traditional departments. Graduate Programs in Bioscience are invigorated and enthusiastic in our continued commitment to a program that empowers our students to excel.

Programs in the Biosciences include:

  • Biochemistry, Biophysics & Structural Biology
  • Bioinformatics
  • Cell & Developmental Biology
  • Gene Regulations, Epigenomics & Transcriptomics
  • Genetics & Genomics
  • Immunity, Microbes & Molecular Pathogenesis
  • Molecular, Cellular & Integrative Physiology
  • Molecular Pharmacology
  • Neuroscience
  • Physics & Biology in Medicine

Last updated July 1, 2019

California Center for Population Research (CCPR)

The California Center for Population Research (CCPR) was established in 1998 and has since, been a leading research center for research and training in demography. CCPR is comprised of over 90 active faculty researchers from an array of academic disciplines, such as epidemiology, public policy, economics, sociology, and public welfare. CCPR researchers span several schools, including the College of Letters and Sciences, the Division of Social Sciences, the School of Public Health, the School of Medicine, and the School of Public Affairs, as well as academic departments within UCLA.

Last updated July 1, 2019

California NanoSystems Institute (CNSI)

The California NanoSystems Institute (CNSI) is a hub of interdisciplinary research, translation, and education where scientists from diverse fields find common purpose in addressing grand challenges of the 21st century. With locations at the University of California’s Los Angeles and Santa Barbara campuses, the CNSI leverages public and private investment to drive collaborative nanoscience research across disciplines, translates discoveries into knowledge-driven commercial enterprises, and educates the next generation of scientists and engineers. Through an integrated framework of core platforms, the CNSI at UCLA provides leading-edge R&D infrastructure and professional services to provide a competitive edge for UC-affiliated researchers and startups in the discovery, development, and application of transformative technologies. Facilities include the following technology centers: Advanced Light Microscopy and Spectroscopy (ALMS) Lab, Electron Imaging Center for Nanomachines (EICN), Integrated Nanomaterials Laboratory (INML), Integrated Systems Nanofabrication Cleanroom (ISNC), Molecular Screening Shared Resource (MSSR), Nano and Pico Characterization Laboratory (NPC), and CNSI Laboratory Management System.

Last updated July 1, 2019

Center on Biodemography and Population Health (CBPH)

The USC/UCLA Center on Biodemography and Population Health (CBPH) is a multisite center located at the Andrus Gerontology Center of the University of Southern California and the Program in Geriatric Medicine in the School of Medicine of the University of California at Los Angeles. It is one of 14 centers in the Demography and Economics of Aging Centers Program sponsored by the National Institute on Aging (NIA). The primary purpose of the CBPH is to provide a synergistic research environment for the integration and translation of research findings from a variety of disciplines to understand population health. The Center takes a multidisciplinary approach by linking demographers, biologists, economists, psychologists, epidemiologists, health policy specialists, medical researchers and clinical geriatricians. This integration of biological, epidemiologic and medical risk information which characterizes Center research is fundamental to understanding and projecting demographic trends and differences in population health.

Last updated July 1, 2019

Center for Cancer Prevention and Control Research

The Center for Cancer Prevention and Control Research is a joint program of the School of Public Health and the Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center at UCLA. Since its inception in 1976, the Center has been nationally and internationally recognized for its pioneering work in cancer prevention and control research. NCI-designated Cancer Centers are a major source of discovery of the nature of cancer and of the development of more effective approaches to cancer prevention, diagnosis and therapy. They also deliver medical advances to patients and their families, educate health-care professionals and the public and reach out to underserved populations. They are characterized by: strong organizational capabilities; institutional commitment; trans-disciplinary, cancer-focused science; experienced scientific and administrative leadership and state-of-the-art cancer research and patient care facilities.

The Center conducts rigorous peer-reviewed research in three major areas: The Healthy and At-Risk Populations Program, The Patients and Survivors Program, and The Molecular Epidemiology Program.

Last updated July 1, 2019

Center for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (CDMD) at UCLA

Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy is one of the most common and devastating genetic diseases of childhood, affecting approximately 1 in 5000 boys. Progressive muscle degeneration leads to loss of ambulation by age 12, loss of upper arm use in the teen years, and heart and respiratory failure leading to death in the 20's. The Center for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy at UCLA leads the nation in translational science focused on Duchenne and is the first comprehensive Duchenne clinic in the western United states. A leading group of UCLA scientists, clinicians and researchers is poised to achieve significant advances in research, clinical care and treatments for Duchenne that are improving, and will potentially extend, the lives of those afflicted. Established in 2006, the CDMD at UCLA was built as a result of collaborations among UCLA scientists, clinicians and researchers. Its efforts span from education and outreach to cutting- edge research, drug discovery, clinical trials and care. Funding for the CDMD's remarkable achievements to date has come from a combination of research grants and private philanthropy. The goals of the CDMD are to identify additional disease modifying drug targets; perform intelligent drug design; improve access and care in the clinical setting; and increase clinical trial participation.

Last updated July 1, 2019

Center for Healthier Children, Families & Communities

The Center for Healthier Children, Families & Communities is a multidisciplinary, community-focused research, policy, and training center at UCLA. Established in 1996, the Center is a joint effort of the David Geffen School of Medicine Department of Pediatrics and the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health. The Center also includes faculty from the UCLA Luskin School of Public Policy & Social Research, School of Law, and the College of Letters and Sciences. Integrating expertise across disciplines ensures that the solutions we develop are theoretically sound and highly practical. We also partner with leading organizations across the country to create and spread forward-thinking ideas and strategies.

Many of the diseases that threaten the health of the entire population begin in childhood. By understanding how health develops across the span of an individual’s life, the Center’s projects point toward inventive solutions to urgent health problems. The Center’s unique method unites pediatricians, public health experts, psychologists, economists, lawyers, and policy experts with local families, communities, and businesses to develop novel and responsive programs to improve children’s health; increase the efficiency, effectiveness, and distribution of health and social services; assist communities in transforming into healthier environments; and turn data into information that can be used to make decisions and implement action.

Last updated July 1, 2019

The BRITE Center (or Centers at UCLA Focused on Health Disparities and the Underserved)

The BRITE Center’s mission is to support the innovative use of research, science and policy development to help eliminate disparities in physical and mental health for communities that are traditionally underserved by academic research. The acronym BRITE comes from the center’s tagline: to Bridge Research, Education, Innovation, Training and Education on minority health disparities.

As part of an academic-community partnership, researchers and academic institutions can play a powerful role by bringing better science into the study of how issues such as discrimination, chronic stress, and social exclusion harm individual health. By drawing from diverse fields such as clinical psychology, law, public policy, medicine, neuroscience, psychobiology, and sociology, and from the experiences of community residents and organizations, the center applies a unique framework designed to study both the external influences that contribute to disparities, and the science behind internal, physical effects on brain function and the body. This two-part strategy allows the center to address the social, environmental and behavioral factors that influence health and well-being in order to help shape programs and policies that have an opportunity to change our health care system. Since its founding, the center has worked to improve the health of racial, ethnic and sexual minorities; advance health disparities science and research; and increase the capacity of racial/ethnic and immigrant communities to conduct research.

Through its fellows and research staff, the center has also increased the number of minority students trained in addressing health disparities and committed to conducting research with this focus.

In addition, by investing in the creation of data cohorts, the BRITE Center provides an ongoing opportunity for other researchers in the field to work with understudied racial/ethnic groups such as Asians, Pacific Islanders, Native Hawaiians, Latinos, Americans Indians, African Americans, and gay, lesbian and bisexual populations. The BRITE Center was created with funding from the National Institute for Minority Health and Health Disparities at the National Institutes of Health, and was previously known as the UCLA Center for Research, Education, Training and Strategic Communication on Minority Health Disparities (CRETSCMHD).

Last updated July 1, 2019

CDU/UCLA Disparities Center (formerly CDU/UCLA Project EXPORT)

The Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science (CDU) and Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) are jointly submitting this application in response to RFA-MD-11-002 Exploratory Centers of Excellence (P20). In its ninth year of funding, the CDU/UCLA Disparities Research and Training Center (Disparities Center or Center), formerly known as the CDU/UCLA Excellence in Partnerships for Community Outreach, Research on Health Disparities and Training or Project EXPORT, has provided focused mentoring for 20 junior faculty and produced over 325 NCMHD/NIMHD cited publications. The Center has worked previously to address issues related to diabetes, depression, and HIV risk among men. The Center now seeks to continue this exciting and extremely successful partnership by addressing: (1) the need for substantive research training and healthcare leadership development of CDU faculty engaged in improving health and decreasing health and healthcare disparities in a safety-net population, and (2) the management of key focused areas of research including, but not limited to an excess prevalence of HIV/AIDS and its sequelae among women, and psychological and behavioral disorders, and risk behavior and recidivism in minority youth who have been incarcerated through the juvenile justice system.

The Specific Aims of the CDU/UCLA Disparities Center are to: 1) To facilitate the integration and centralization of minority health and health disparities research and training across CDU and UCLA (Administrative Core); 2) To promote methodologically rigorous research aimed at: a) promoting quality care, and effective health advocacy and health policy, and b) improving health outcomes and reducing health disparities for Los Angeles County African Americans and Latinos (Research Core and Research Subprojects); 3) To build research capacity at CDU, and strengthen existing research training for CDU and UCLA students, residents, fellows and junior faculty committed to minority health and health disparities research (Education and Research Training Core);and 4) To build novel partnerships with underserved predominantly Latino and African American Los Angeles communities and strengthen community capacity to partner in innovative research aimed at improving minority health and reducing health disparities (Community Outreach and Engagement Core).

Last updated July 1, 2018

Center for Health Advancement

The UCLA Center for Health Advancement provides enhanced analysis and evidence based information to help policy makers decide which policies and programs can best improve health and reduce health disparities. The center analyzes a wide range of timely health improvement opportunities, identifying those supported by strong evidence. It presents and disseminates the results of these analyses in plain language to those who make and influence public and private sector policies and programs. The center also provides training and technical assistance to facilitate implementation of recommended approaches.

The center analyzes a wide range of timely health improvement opportunities, identifying those supported by strong evidence. It presents and disseminates the results of these analyses in plain language to those who make and influence public and private sector policies and programs. The center also provides training and technical assistance to facilitate implementation of recommended approaches.

The center brings together faculty from multiple Departments of the Fielding School of Public Health and other UCLA Schools with a wide range of subject matter and methodological expertise, including expertise in non-health sectors, such as education, transportation, housing, environmental protection, community planning, agriculture, public welfare, and economics. It has strong collaborations with governmental public health agencies, foundations, academic institutions and other not-for-profit organizations. Within the health sector, its work is focused on how alternative investments to wasteful expenditures in health care can yield greater returns. The Center has core expertise in health impact assessment, health forecasting, and modeling inter-sectoral planning and analysis.

Last updated July 1, 2018

Center for Vulnerable Populations

The Center for Vulnerable Populations Research (CVPR) at the UCLA School of Nursing builds on a long history of clinical practice and faculty research involving vulnerable populations (VPs). The CVPR was established as a Nursing Center of Excellence in 1999 through funding from the National Institute of Nursing Research, The CVPR was founded with the mission " to build and advance nursing and health science that enhances the strengths of communities to reduce/eliminate health disparities experienced by vulnerable populations. The CVPR has led pioneering efforts to train and support investigators in establishing partnerships with communities through mutual definition of needs and identification of strengths and resources. This approach, also known as community-based participatory research, is recognized as one of the most effective strategies for combatting health disparities and promoting bi-directional learning between academics, community collaborators and research participants.

For over a decade, CVPR members sponsored educational programs such as the Summer Institute on participatory research, workshops and colloquium. Training in community engaged research and health disparities is currently available through the school’s NINR Ruth Kirschstein T32 Pre and Postdoctoral Vulnerable Populations Training Program under the direction of Dr. Felicia Hodge; the National Clinician Scholars Program at UCLA; and the Community Engagement and Research Program of the UCLA Clinical and Translational Science Institute. Consultation on planning, implementing and evaluating community-based participatory research is currently considered on an individual basis by faculty in the School of Nursing. The CVPR is part of the University of California, Los Angeles, School of Nursing and was originally funded by the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR), National Institutes of Health (NIH), P30 NR005041. .

Last updated July 1, 2018

L.A. Stroke Prevention /Intervention Research Program in Health Disparities (L.A. SPRIP)

The Los Angeles Stroke Prevention/Intervention Research Program in Health Disparities (SPIRP) is a multi-disciplinary, collaborative research center funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) from 2012-17 (U54NS081764). The center, one of four national centers funded through NIH, build on established partnerships of UCLA with healthcare systems including Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center, Harbor UCLA Medical Center, Olive View-UCLA Medical Center and the University of Southern California. Partnerships include many local community organizations, senior centers, non-profit stroke advocacy and resource organizations, and local government agencies who have joined together with the goal of preventing stroke and maximizing health after stroke across our many diverse communities in Los Angeles.

The center aims to learn effective ways to reduce the higher rates of stroke and of death from stroke among Latino, African Americans and Asian-American communities in Los Angeles, to keep successful interventions in place in communities, and to share what the center learns with other communities across the US. Community outreach and education is a cornerstone of the center. Faculty and staff collaborate with community organizations to provide education on stroke and to learn from residents and community organizations in order to develop new ways to prevent stroke and improve stroke care in culturally diverse communities.

Last updated July 1, 2018

Los Angeles Community Academic Partnership for Research in Aging (L.A. CAPRA)

The Los Angeles Community Academic Partnership for Research in Aging (L.A. CAPRA) is a collaboration between the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), Charles Drew University, City of Los Angeles Department of Aging (DOA), and Partners in Care Foundation. L.A. CAPRA was created in 2010 with a grant from the National Institute on Aging (NIA).

L.A. CAPRA's unique academic–community partnership is rooted in deep mutual respect and a shared vision for implementing and testing practical evidence-based interventions to empower older adults to stay as active and healthy as possible. With its interdisciplinary scientific team and vast network of community partners, L.A. CAPRA provides critical infrastructure to facilitate and implement community-partnered research across the (arguably) largest and most ethnically diverse urban center in the United States. With partner Multipurpose Senior Centers in every single council district (15) across Los Angeles – we have potential to reach 669,747 seniors aged sixty years and older with our innovative programs.

Last updated July 1, 2018

Maximizing Access to Research Careers (MARC) Branch

Maximizing Access to Research Careers (MARC) U-STAR awards provide support for undergraduate students who are underrepresented in the biomedical sciences to improve their preparation for high-caliber graduate training at the Ph.D. level. Institutions with significant enrollments of college students from underrepresented groups may be eligible to apply.

Awards are made to colleges and universities that offer the baccalaureate degree. Only one grant per eligible institution is awarded. MARC institutions select the trainees to be supported. Trainees must be honors students majoring in the biomedical sciences who have expressed interest in pursuing postgraduate education leading to the Ph.D., M.D.-Ph.D. or other combined professional degree-Ph.D. in these fields upon completing their baccalaureate degree. The period of appointment to the MARC U-STAR program is a consecutive 24-month period at the final 2 years of undergraduate training, typically called the junior and senior years. To enhance the MARC trainee pool, MARC institutions should provide various training opportunities (academic and skills development) to motivate and interest pre-trainees to build the entire science student capacity.

Each institution is encouraged to design a program that emphasizes its environment, mission and strengths, and to set measurable goals and specific objectives against which the program will use for self-assessment and evaluation for continual institutional improvement and continued funding. Although variation among programs is expected, all programs must provide trainees with a summer research experience at a research-intensive institution outside the home institution with which the MARC U-STAR program has established either formal or informal linkages. In addition, during the academic year the home institution may either offer research training opportunities such as appropriate infrastructure, research active faculty, etc., that will allow or provide research training courses in the classroom setting (for more details see "Moving Research Into the Classroom"). In addition to annual student stipends, funds may be requested for tuition, fees, health insurance and research supplies for MARC trainees, limited travel for MARC trainees and faculty, and program evaluation. Certain other training-related costs, such as support for pre-MARC student development activities, may be requested.

Last updated July 1, 2018

Resource Center for Minority Aging Research's Center for Health Improvement of Minority Elderly (RCMAR-CHIME)

The UCLA RCMAR Center for Health Improvement of Minority Elderly (CHIME) is a research and mentoring program that ultimately contributes to the reduction in health disparities for African American and Latino Elders by training and mentorship of minority junior-level faculty who advance their careers by conducting research on minority elders.

Last updated July 1, 2018

UCLA Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Equity

The UCLA Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Equity (formerly named Center to Eliminate Health Disparities) focuses on eliminating disparities in incidence, prevalence, mortality and burden of disease experienced by disadvantaged and underserved populations. The Center concentrates on “keeping the public healthy” by targeting health promotion, disease prevention, and access to quality and timely care for all in need.

The Center is a collaborative “center without walls” whose members include academic, government, foundation and private/non-profit investigators. Targeting the underserved, the Center promotes population-based intervention approaches to health promotion and disease prevention and control. In addition, it explores barriers preventing more effective collaboration with local health departments and other key partners engaged in the practice of public health.

Officially launched in October of 2004, the Center aims to advance the understanding of health disparities across the lifespan and foster multidisciplinary research to improve the health of underserved communities. With a primary focus on Los Angeles County, and a secondary focus on surrounding counties, the Center facilitates community and academic partnerships in research, trains new investigators in health disparities research, and assists community partners in implementing effective health disparity reduction programs.

Last updated July 1, 2018

UCLA-CDU Cancer Center Partnership to Eliminate Cancer Health Disparities

The Charles R. Drew University (CDU) and the UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center has forged a strong and sustainable partnership to Eliminate Cancer Health Disparities in minority and underserved populations. Our partnership began in 2003 with support from the National Cancer Institute to initiate U56 collaboration, followed by a U54 award in 2009 to establish a long lasting comprehensive partnership. In addition, institutional investment from UCLA-JCCC and CDU has made it possible for a sustainable partnership to accomplish significant goals related to reducing cancer health disparities. Hence, in our renewal application, we propose to continue the momentum and do more to address cancer health disparities in our communities in Los Angeles County, and in particular South Los Angeles. The overarching goals of the CDU-UCLA Cancer Partnership Program are to significantly increase the number of scientists in cancer research and to enhance the cancer research and infrastructure capacity at Charles Drew University of Medicine and Science that will continue to address significant disparities in cancer among minority populations. Supported and implemented by an Administrative Core, Planning and Evaluation Core, and Research Projects, Research Education Core, Outreach Core, and Shared Resources Core.

The five priorities for the partnership are: increase the number and quality of cancer research projects at CDU by supporting full and pilot projects and increase the number of cancer researchers at CDU; enhance research capability of the CDU's Integrated Clinical and Biomarker/ Biorepository Tissue and Data Resources focused on cancer health disparities research, education and outreach among underrepresented populations; create institutional capacity at CDU for performing cancer-related clinical trials by leveraging the community and existing clinical research facilities and resources; expose undergraduate and medical students, fellows, and faculty to cancer research and encourage them to pursue or advance their careers in this area, and implement a formalized mentorship program whereby junior research investigators are counseled and mentored during their career development; and bring culturally and linguistically appropriate cancer research information to the community and increase community capacity to develop and implement culturally appropriate health prevention strategies through community-partnered participatory research.

Last updated July 1, 2018

UCLA Center for Prevention Research

The UCLA Center for Prevention Research conducts prevention research that address the needs of children, adolescents, young adults and their families. The Center is a partnership of the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, the UCLA Department of Pediatrics and a wide range of community partners. The Center is innovative in its approach to community service, partnering with ethnically and economically diverse communities in Los Angeles County to identify opportunities for the Center to provide technical support to community groups for program implementation and assessment. In addition, the Center has partnerships with the L.A. Unified School District, L.A. County Department of Health Services, and other local groups.

Last updated July 1, 2018

UCLA-USC Center for Population Health and Health Disparities (CPHHD)

The UCLA-USC Center for Population Health and Health Disparities is a multidisciplinary center funded by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute that will focus on reducing cardiovascular disease risk among Latinos in East Los Angeles, California. East L.A. is an urban community with high rates of obesity-related chronic diseases including heart disease, diabetes, hypertension and stroke. East L.A. is over 96% Latino; 85% of whom have Mexican ancestry and the rest come mainly from Central America.

Our primary objective is to reduce cardiovascular disease risk in this under-served area. To accomplish this objective, we have three integrated, complementary projects, two cores, and a Training and Career Development Program. We will use a community-based participatory approach to implement family and neighborhood environment interventions, along with the collection of physiological data that will examine risk in individuals and across generations. The intervention components include several dimensions that affect health outcomes - personal & family factors, systems factors, and environmental factors.

Last updated July 1, 2018

Children's Discovery and Innovation Institute (CDI)

The UCLA Children’s Discovery and Innovation Institute (CDI) was founded in 2012 to inspire scientific discovery and design new avenues for innovation, to cultivate collaborative teams and research support systems, and to ensure its pediatric physician scientists can improve the lives of children today and in the future. To connect all research and training activities related to improving children's health and health care, spanning from discoveries in basic science, through translation to clinical care, and moving towards implementation in community practice through collaborations and networks established locally, nationally and globally. Among some significant figures, the CDI has: 76 internally funded grants for a total $6.9 million and includes co-partnered grants with UCLA CTSI, generated $9 million in new externally-funded grants, a total $36 million in awards and roughly 200 external grant proposals submittted annually, 105 active faculty researchers, 42 research coordinators, 14 central grant administrative staff, annual symposiums and a seminar series.

Last updated July 1, 2018

The Collaboratory

The Collaboratory, a central component of the Institute for Quantitative & Computational Biosciences (QCB), provides the experimental and empirical research environment where bioscientists and computational scientists work together to design and conduct experiments to improve our understanding of biological systems. As large-scale data analysis is often limited to most bioscience laboratories, the Collaboratory’s main mission is to facilitate genomic data analysis by bringing together UCLA bioscience faculty with a select group of QCB post-doctoral fellows dedicated to the Collaboratory. Individual post-doctoral fellows are assigned to work on specific bioscience research projects to develop and implement tailored methodologies for genomic analysis. In addition, the fellows are responsible for organizing intensive tutorials to train UCLA students and postdocs in the latest next-generation sequence analysis techniques. The Collaboratory has also set up and maintains a next-generation sequence data analysis server.

Last updated July 1, 2018

Crump Institute for Molecular Imaging at UCLA

The Crump Institute for Molecular Imaging brings together faculty, students, and staff with a variety of backgrounds - physics, mathematics, engineering, biology, chemistry, and medicine - to pursue innovative technologies and science to accelerate our understanding of biology and medicine. Innovative technology programs, linked by systems biology, microfluidics, nanotechnology, and molecular imaging, provide the tools to conduct integrated science in a unique, interdisciplinary setting.

With an initial focus on cancer and immunity, our goal is to develop new technologies to observe, measure, and understand biology in cells, tissues, and living organisms. Through molecular imaging - taking pictures of the living chemistry of cells and tissues of the body, we can watch biology in action in living organisms. The Crump Institute's ultimate objective is to provide medicine with new science and technologies to judge the state of health, and identify the early transitions to disease for the development and use of new therapies as part of the new era in molecular medicine.

Last updated July 1, 2018

Center of Cancer Prevention and Control Research

The Center for Cancer Prevention and Control Research is a joint program of the School of Public Health and the Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center at UCLA. Since its inception in 1976, the Center has been nationally and internationally recognized for its pioneering work in cancer prevention and control research. NCI-designated Cancer Centers are a major source of discovery of the nature of cancer and of the development of more effective approaches to cancer prevention, diagnosis and therapy. They also deliver medical advances to patients and their families, educate health-care professionals and the public and reach out to underserved populations. They are characterized by: strong organizational capabilities; institutional commitment; trans-disciplinary, cancer-focused science; experienced scientific and administrative leadership and state-of-the-art cancer research and patient care facilities. The Center conducts rigorous peer-reviewed research in three major areas: the Healthy and At-Risk Populations Program focuses on the prevention and early detection aspects of the cancer control continuum; the Patients and Survivors Program has as its major goal the reduction in avoidable morbidity and mortality among patients with cancer, long-term survivors of cancer; the Molecular Epidemiology Program focuses on: (1) Primary prevention: examining environmental exposure (smoking, diet, infection, air pollution, etc.) and genetic susceptibility and cancer risk, as well as exploring gene-environmental interactions in cancer risk; (2) Secondary prevention: evaluating biological markers (somatic mutations and hyper-methylations of tumor suppressor genes and oncogenes, gene copy numbers, etc.) for early detection, as well as intermediate markers as surrogate end-points for chemoprevention; and (3) Tertiary prevention: assessing blood and tissue-based biological markers (tumor markers, SNPs, etc.) for cancer prognosis and survival prediction.

Last updated July 1, 2018

Division of Laboratory Animal Medicine (DLAM)

The Division of Laboratory Animal Medicine (DLAM) comprises 166,741 sq. ft. of animal facilities. The department is staffed by four full-time veterinarians, eleven veterinary technicians and research associates, 92 animal technicians (including their supervisors) and 19 support staff (clinical and diagnostic labs; administrative personnel and training personnel). All veterinary and technical staff are located on site and available at all times. Animal technicians and veterinary technicians monitor animal health daily including weekends and holidays. Veterinarians examine animals that are reported as sick or injured and conduct routine facility rounds at least weekly. If animals exhibit any indications of illness, injury or distress, veterinary staff confers with research personnel to recommend and agree on appropriate treatment or euthanasia.

Animals are housed in UCLA IACUC-approved animal facilities under temperature and ventilation controlled conditions. Facility staff ensure animals receive fresh food, water and clean bedding on a regular basis (weekly, bi-weekly or more often). Animal care staff carry out routine husbandry procedures including changing cages, feeding and watering. Animals are checked daily by animal care staff to assess their health condition. Animal care and veterinary attention is available 24/7, 365 days a year on an on-duty or on-call basis.

Three dedicated facilities are available for the breeding and maintenance of mice. Dedicated technical personnel with expertise in breeding colony management are available to provide breeding services and consultation.

Last updated September 23, 2020

Division of Life Sciences

Life Sciences has nine academic departments: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology; Integrative Biology and Physiology; Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics; Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology; Psychology; Society and Genetics; Department of Life Sciences; Computational & Systems Biology IDP; and Neuroscience IDP. The faculty are nationally and internationally recognized for their contributions to science and education. Their research is broadening the understanding of how living systems work– to improve mental health, physical health, the health of our planet; and to find biological solutions to meet our growing demands for food and fuel. The students are among the best in the country, and the division is committed to the best education and training possible, to prepare students for their future careers.

Last updated July 1, 2018

Graduate School of Education & Information Studies (GSE&IS)

The UCLA Graduate School of Education & Information Studies does fundamental work on what matters most in education and information studies in the 21st Century: the discovery and application of usable knowledge at the crossroads of policy and practice.

The program is home to sixteen nationally renowned research centers, three groundbreaking partnership schools, and some of the world’s premiere education and information experts. This is where the most pressing issues in education and information are transformed by UCLA and strategic partners into opportunity and real-world solutions.

Last updated July 1, 2018

Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science

UCLA Samueli is a tightly knit community of 180 full time faculty members, 3,500 undergraduate and 3,000 graduate students, and 40,000 active alumni. Known as the Birthplace of the Internet, UCLA Samueli is also where countless other fields took some of their first steps – from artificial intelligence to reverse osmosis, from mobile communications to human prosthetics. Counted among its luminaries are 38 current members of the National Academy of Engineering, three Turing award winners, one national Medal of Science recipient and one Nobel Prize laureate. Samueli leads multinational aerospace companies, builds skyscrapers and founded $18 billion tech ventures. Samueli row in the Olympics, build robots that compete in international soccer matches and win Academy Awards.

Samueli is consistently ranked in the Top 10 among U.S. public engineering schools. It’s online master’s program ranks in the Top 3. What sets UCLA Samueli apart from other engineering schools is its sense of community – fostered on campus and carried on through alumni relationships over the ensuing decades.

Last updated July 1, 2018

Informatics Center for Neurogenetics and Neurogenomics (ICNN)

he ICNN provides advanced analysis and informatics support to a highly interactive user group consisting of neuroscientists at UCLA, who are conducting basic, clinical, and translational research. These investigators have access to excellent facilities for genetics and genomics experimentation; the lack of corresponding resources in analysis and informatics constitutes a bottleneck in their research. ICNN faculty experts in statistical genetics, gene expression analysis, and bioinformatics will oversee the activities of highly-trained staff members who will accomplish three goals: providing expert consultation and analyses for neurogenetics and neurogenomics projects; developing and maintaining a shared computing resource that will include a computational cluster for computation-intensive analyses, web-servers and state of the art software tools for a wide range of applications (including user-friendly versions of public databases, as well as workstations on which ICNN users will be trained to employ these tools; providing hands-on training in analysis and informatics to the users. ICNN is developing a whole-genome data analysis pipeline, aimed at filtering and prioritizing genetic variation identified in whole-genome sequencing studies for further study.

Last updated July 1, 2018

Institute for Digital Research and Education (IDRE)

The Institute for Digital Research and Education (IDRE) is a cooperative of faculty and technologists working to advance the existing body of computing knowledge and expertise at UCLA. The IDRE mission is to support, advance and guide a campus-wide program to position UCLA as a world leader in research and education in computational thinking, using high performance computation, data visualization and data analysis of large data sets and databases. IDRE supports research and innovative scholarship that takes advantage of new technologies and encourages collaboration between faculty from different departments and disciplines at UCLA, the opening of new research questions, and the enrichment of the learning environment. The goal of this campus-wide collective is to make UCLA a world leader in high-performance computing and visualization research and education.

IDRE programs are focused on the challenges and opportunities associated with five areas critical to advancing innovative research and scholarship: Computation and Storage, GPU/Many Core, Pipeline to Leadership Class Facilities; Statistical Computing/Data Informatics; and GIS, Visualization and Modeling. Through the IDRE Research Technology Group (RTG), IDRE provides services and support aligned with the five program areas. IDRE’s unique computational capability includes High Performance Computing resources and expertise, Grid and Cloud Access Services, Cluster Services, the Grid Portal, and UCLA’s data center system.

Last updated July 1, 2018

Jonathan and Karin Fielding School of Public Health

For more than 55 years, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health has played an instrumental role in advancing the field of public health in the areas of research, training and service. Our world class faculty in collaboration with students have made research discoveries that have improved the health of communities large and small around the world; our talented students come from all over the globe to receive training and mentoring from our faculty, then take their knowledge to become leaders in communities as far as the Congo and as near as East LA; through our field study programs, faculty and students bring information and education to underserved communities, that have changed behaviors and saved lives. Quick Facts include: 595 (384 masters and 211 doctoral) students from 31 nations, 250 faculty (61 full-time), a total budget of $68 million, and 10,893 alumni. Departments include: Biostatistics, Community Health Sciences, Environmental Health Sciences, Epidemiology, and Health Policy and Management.

Last updated July 1, 2018

Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center (JCCC)

With a membership of more than 500 physicians and scientists, UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center (JCCC) is one of the largest comprehensive cancer centers in the nation. JCCC handles more than 20,000 patient visits per year and conduct hundreds of clinical trials, providing the latest in experimental cancer treatments. JCCC has established an international reputation for providing the best in experimental and traditional cancer treatments and expertly guiding the next generation of medical researchers. JCCC currently operates eight research programs organized to foster excellence in interdisciplinary and collaborative research across academic units. Those programs are: cancer and stem cell biology, cancer molecular imaging, cancer nanotechnology, gene regulation, healthy and at-risk populations, patients and survivors, signal transduction and therapeutics and tumor immunology. Each program provides a platform for colleagues with similar scientific interests, allowing them to exchange information and ideas, facilitate and promote their research interactions and provide access to shared resources.

Last updated July 1, 2018

Jules Stein Eye Institute

Established in 1966, the UCLA Stein Eye Institute vision-science campus is the fulfillment of an ambitious plan by ophthalmologist, businessman, and philanthropist Jules Stein, MD, and Bradley R. Straatsma, MD, JD, founding director of the Stein Eye Institute and founding chairman of the UCLA Department of Ophthalmology, who created a bold plan for preventing blindness through comprehensive programs for patient care, vision-science research, education and training of the next generation of physicians, and eye health outreach both local and global. Under the leadership of Bartly J. Mondino, MD, director and chairman since 1994, a broad agenda of program building and expansion has been implemented: the first Stein Eye Center opened in Santa Monica in 2012; the UCLA Department of Ophthalmology created the nation’s preeminent organization for ophthalmic care and vision research by forging a historic affiliation with the Doheny Eye Institute in 2013; and the Edie & Lew Wasserman Building, a landmark research and patient-care facility with a state-of-the-art outpatient surgical center, opened in 2014. Combined, UCLA Stein Eye Institute, Stein Eye Center, Doheny Eye Center UCLA, and UCLA-affilliated hospitals provide patients across the Southland with access to the finest vision care.

Last updated July 1, 2018

Specialty Training and Advanced Research (STAR) Program

The Specialty Training and Advanced Research (STAR) Program at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA is a unique curriculum designed for optimal training of physician-scientists. Started in 1993, this program offers the opportunity to combine clinical fellowship or residency training with formal, advanced research training leading to a graduate degree, coordinated with clinical training. Fellows/residents admitted to the STAR Program complete clinical training toward board certification in internal medicine, its subspecialties (including cardiology, digestive diseases, hematology/oncology, dermatology, endocrinology, pulmonary and critical care, rheumatology, infectious diseases, nephrology, and clinical immunology and allergy) or in other departments, including neurology, pathology, pediatrics, psychiatry or one of the surgical disciplines (including Surgery, Obstetrics/Gynecology, or Ophthalmology). In general, the STAR Program begins with approximately 12-24 months of clinical training, followed by research training in one of four research career tracks: basic Science, clinical research, health services/outcomes, clinical research, and postdoctoral research training. Additional specialty clinical training may be integrated into the research years. The research portion is usually 2-4 years. STAR Awardees receive salary support and benefits from their clinical department commensurate with clinical training (PGY) level, as well as graduate school tuition throughout the clinical and graduate research years.

STAR graduates' successes include: 80% of graduates have continued in research positions either within academia (72%) or industry (8%), 49% have obtained an NIH K or other type of career development award, 19% have received an NIH R01 or equivalent grant, several graduates hold leadership positions, including Department Chair/Vice Chair, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Research, Division Chief, Executive Medical Director, Vice President for a health benefits company, Chief Medical Officer for a pharmaceutical firm, and Chief Scientific Officer of a university-affiliated research institute, and more than 130 have graduated in the first 20 years and received an NIH R01 or equivalent grant.

Last updated July 1, 2018

UCLA Anderson School of Management

UCLA Anderson offers both degree and non-degree programs to meet the diverse educational needs and professional goals of students. UCLA Anderson's rigorous programs offer exceptional academic preparation, a cooperative and congenial student culture, and access to a thriving business community, as well as support services for scholastic and career advancement. Specialized centers support faculty research and sponsor courses, extracurricular activities and conferences. They also provide varied opportunities for continuing education and interaction between scholars, students and industry leaders. Anderson has a global network of more than 39,000 alumni, 720 students and 150 faculty members.

Last updated July 1, 2018

UCLA Business of Science Center

The Business of Science Center (BSC) is a multi-disciplinary group of students and professionals committed to developing university discoveries into problem-solving commercial products. Whether you are a student looking for an introduction to business, a faculty inventor searching for an industry partner, or an industry professional looking for “the next big thing,” you will find it with the BSC. BSC encourages innovation and entrepreneurship at UCLA in order to bring academic discoveries to the public domain. BSC supports faculty inventors in all stages of commercialization. Through their programs and courses, they give students hands-on experience in market and intellectual property research, business plan development, effective communication strategies for securing funding from venture capital, and more. Industry professionals act as mentors to both faculty and students in growing discoveries into products that can improve the lives of many.

Last updated July 1, 2018

UCLA Center for Health Advancement

The UCLA Center for Health Advancement (The Center) provides enhanced analysis and evidence based information to help policy makers decide which policies and programs can best improve health and reduce health disparities. The Center analyzes a wide range of timely health improvement opportunities, identifying those supported by strong evidence. It presents and disseminates the results of these analyses in plain language to those who make and influence public and private sector policies and programs. The Center also provides training and technical assistance to facilitate implementation of recommended approaches. The Center brings together faculty from multiple Departments of the Fielding School of Public Health and other UCLA Schools with a wide range of subject matter and methodological expertise, including expertise in non-health sectors, such as education, transportation, housing, environmental protection, community planning, agriculture, public welfare, and economics. It has strong collaborations with governmental public health agencies, foundations, academic institutions and other not-for-profit organizations. Within the health sector, its work is focused on how alternative investments to wasteful expenditures in health care can yield greater returns.The Center has core expertise in health impact assessment, health forecasting, and modeling inter-sectoral planning and analysis. Its research collaborations enable an enhanced, broadened understanding of how to improve the public's health and health equity effectively and efficiently. Topics for analysis are selected based on an understanding that the major determinants of our collective health and health disparities are the social, economic and physical environments.

Last updated July 1, 2018

UCLA Center for Health Policy Research (CHPR)

The UCLA Center for Health Policy Research (CHPR) is one of the nation's leading health policy research centers and the premier source of health policy information for California. The Center is the home of the California Health Interview Survey (CHIS) and is affiliated with the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health. The Center conducts research on a variety of national, state and local health policy issues, including health insurance, health care reform, health economics, health disparities and chronic disease. The Center is a collaboration of dozens of leading health and health policy researchers from UCLA and beyond. Under the guidance of Gerald Kominski, PhD, as well as an executive leadership committee, the Center is able to draw on diverse backgrounds in public health, medicine, law, economics and social science to advance our understanding of health and health policy. CHPR conducts research on a variety of national, state and local health policy issues, including: economics of health care, health insurance coverage, access to, and quality of, care, prevention of chronic illness, racial and social disparities in health care access and health status, children’s health, women’s health, senior health, American Indian/Alaska Native health, enhancing the health of communities, survey methodology, survey statistics, and small area estimation. CHPR also provides topic-specific exercise through the following programs: the California Health Interview Survey (CHIS), Health DATA, Health Economics & Evaluation Research (HEER) Program, and the Health Insurance Program.

Last updated July 1, 2018

UCLA Center for Health Services and Society

The Center strengthens resiliency and mental health in partnership with communities. The Center houses UCLA clinical faculty that includes adult psychiatrists and psychologists, child and geriatric psychiatry specialists, and staff, including doctoral level social scientists, master's level statisticians, and research and administrative staff. Our mission is to strengthen resiliency and improve the mental health of local and national diverse populations through rigorous research, effective programs, and partnering with consumers, children and their families, community-based and policy agencies.

Our values include: Community—collaborating with diverse partnerships to create an environment that promotes healthy development and well-being across the lifespan, Compassion—promoting respect, understanding and dignity towards persons and their families living in under-resourced communities, Creativity—using media, technology, and the arts to address stigma and engage populations, Communication—leveraging advances in mobile health technologies to improve access, engagement, and empowerment in mental health care, Commitment—dedicating effort and resources to engaging communities in all phases of research, from design to dissemination and Knowledge—employing rigorous partnered-research to promote a culture of health equity through two-way knowledge exchange and policy reform.

Last updated July 1, 2018

UCLA Clinical Genomics Center

Utilizing our expertise in Pediatrics, Human Genetics, and Pathology, the UCLA Clinical Genomics Center provides a comprehensive analysis and diagnostic interpretation of a patient's entire protein-encoding genome by searching through 37 million base pairs in 20,000 genes to potentially locate the single DNA change responsible for the patient's disorder. Rather than analyzing genes one-by-one, this universal diagnostic service simultaneously investigates all possible causative genes in a time- and cost-effective manner and includes certified genetic counselors for pre- and post-test counseling as well as consultation from specialist physicians. This service utilizes next generation sequencing technology, state-of-the-art computational and bioinformatic resources, and integrated laboratory information systems to deliver a precise genetic diagnosis for the benefit of patients and physicians. Services include: clinical exome sequencing, integrated bioinformatics and data storage, expert interpretation by our Genomic Data Board, and fast report turnaround time.

Last updated July 1, 2018

UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine

The David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA (DGSOM) is one of the top ranked medical schools in the United States. Since opening in 1951, DGSOM has grown into an internationally recognized leader in research, medical education, patient care, and public service. DGSOM has had over 5,500 research proposals funded and engages the efforts of more than 2,500 full-time faculty in its 18 departments, many of whom have been recognized with national and international awards and honor. The medical school was ranked 4th in the United States in research funding from the NIH in FY2020. DGSOM receives more than $677M annually in research funding; from a 2020 report, the School of Medicine alone accounted for approximately $590M of the campus’ overall NIH research funding, contributing to a total of more than $1 billion annually in research awards at UCLA. The School of Medicine’s education and training currently encompasses more than 1,000 residents and fellows, over 750 medical students, over 450 postdoctoral fellows, and nearly 500 graduate students working toward PhD degrees in health-related sciences, with access to 438 active training and career development awards. There are now nearly 200 endowed chairs. The school focuses on six overarching goals: ensuring that academic medicine continues to thrive at UCLA, fostering interdisciplinary efforts, increasing the financial transparency of the school, transforming the culture of the school to ensure all individuals are welcome and valued, enhancing mentorship and leadership training programs, and elevating the school’s internal and external communications. UCLA’s medical school ranks No. 13 in primary care and continues to be highly ranked in U.S. News & World Report's 2023 Best Medical Schools. 

Last updated April 6, 2022

UCLA Department of Human Genetics

The UCLA Department of Human Genetics is the youngest basic science department in the Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. When the Department was launched just prior to the sequencing of the human genome, it was clear that the practice of genetics research would be forever changed by the infusion of massive amounts of new data. Organizing and making sense of this genomic data is one of the greatest scientific challenges ever faced by mankind. The knowledge generated will ultimately transform medicine through patient-specific treatments and prevention strategies. The Department is dedicated to turning the mountains of raw genetic data into a detailed understanding of the molecular pathogenesis of human disease. The key to such understanding is the realization that genes not only code for specific proteins, but they also control the temporal development and maturation of every living organism through a complex web of interactions. The department serves as a focal point for genetics research on the UCLA campus, with state of the art facilities for gene expression, sequencing, genotyping, and bioinformatics. In addition to its research mission, the Department offers many exciting training opportunities for graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and medical residents.

Last updated July 1, 2018

UCLA Department of Medicine

For more than 60 years, the Department of Medicine at UCLA has engaged in world-class medical research, teaching, and patient care. Across 14 sub-specialties, our physicians are world-renowned experts in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of complex and routine illnesses. UCLA investigators are situated within the following divisions and centers: Cardiology, CARE Center, Center for East-West Medicine Clinical Immunology and Allergy, Clinical Nutrition, Dermatology, Digestive Diseases / Gastroenterology, Endocrinology, General Internal Medicine, Geriatric Medicine, Hematology Oncology, Infectious Diseases, Nano Medicine, Nephrology, Pulmonology / Pulmonary and Rheumatology.

Last updated July 1, 2018

UCLA Department of Medicine Statistics Core (DOMStat)

The primary objective of DOMStat is to provide state-of-the-art study design and statistical analysis collaboration to investigators in the Department of Medicine. DOMStat offers faculty and staff level statistical collaboration for grant proposals, data analysis, manuscript preparation, and other research activities requiring statistical input. Investigators are encouraged to schedule an initial meeting early in their research to allow DOMStats to best assist with the study design, statistical analysis plans, data collection plans, database design, and interpretation of research results.

Last updated July 1, 2018

UCLA Department of Neurology

The Department of Neurology at UCLA was founded by Augustus S. Rose, MD, in the 1950s in the UCLA School of Medicine. The department grew from a few faculty members in that era to more than 100 in present times. The department is also the home to 125 trainees and is associated with seven affiliated hospitals. The faculty of the Department of Neurology are distinguished scientists and clinicians who have been ranked #1 or #2 in NIH funding since 2002. New and renovated laboratory space typifies the efficient, effective and handsome surroundings in which the department is situated. The Department of Neurology is divided into disease-specific and method-specific programs including all of the major categories of neurological diseases and methods that include neurogenetics and neuroimaging as well as health services research. 

The Neurology Residency Training Program in the Department of Neurology at UCLA began in the 1960s, at a time when the department moved to the Reed Neurological Research Center. The Department of Neurology is also the founding division of the Neuropsychiatric Institute, recently renamed the Jane and Terry Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior. Many faculty also belong to the UCLA Brain Research Institute. The department and its faculty, trainees and staff are part of a larger UCLA neuroscience community. On the UCLA campus, more than 250 faculty are neuroscientists—making this discipline the largest single entity on the entire campus. This has resulted in a tremendous building program with many laboratory buildings committed to neurogenetics, cellular and systems neuroscience.

Last updated October 16, 2020

UCLA Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine

As an investigative discipline, pathology researchers identify the origins of disease and contribute to strategies for its treatment. As a medical discipline, pathologists engage in patient care as consultants and innovators for biochemical, molecular, and cell biology tests that guide diagnostic and treatment choices. Through these roles, the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at UCLA assists doctors and patients in making optimal decisions based on the latest diagnostic studies, using state-of-the-art instrumentation. Each month, approximately 50,000 clinical tests, and 1,500 biopsy and cytology cases, are analyzed to guide the care of patients in UCLA Health System, and through our referral network regionally and nationally.

Last updated July 1, 2018

UCLA Division of General Internal Medicine and Health Services Research

The Division of General Internal Medicine and Health Services Research at UCLA has well over 200 faculty members associated with the Division, including large numbers of ambulatory and hospitalist clinician-educators. The Division includes three economists, a social psychologist, multiple faculty with MDs as well as PhDs. UCLA General Internists provide long-term, comprehensive care and manage both common and complex diseases. Our faculty serves as primary care providers, providing care in neighborhood offices in the North Valley, Santa Monica, the South Bay, and Westwood, as well as the Veterans Affairs Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System.

Last updated July 1, 2018

UCLA Early Academic Outreach Program (EAOP)

The Early Academic Outreach Program (EAOP) is an academic preparation program established in 1976 by the University of California to expand postsecondary education opportunities for California's educationally disadvantaged students. UCLA EAOP works with students to help them become competitively eligible applicants for college admission, going beyond minimum eligibility. EAOP works collaboratively with families, educators, schools, communities, and various campus departments to provide pre-college students with challenging academic enrichment activities to promote and cultivate a college-going culture. EAOP is one of the state's most successful pre-collegiate student academic development programs. UCLA EAOP works with over 15,000 students in middle school and high school each year. This includes working with over 80 schools in 10 school districts. Since 1991, approximately 60% of EAOP seniors meet UC eligibility each year, 82% attend a postsecondary institution upon high school graduation, and 62% attend a 4-year institution, with 25% attending a UC school.

Last updated July 1, 2018

UCLA Healthcare Institute

The UCLA Health Care Institute, housed in the Price Center, builds leadership and management capacity in organizations serving early childhood needs. The institute uses an innovative management based approach to prevent disease, promote health and empower underserved families and children in the United States. HCI has a portfolio of low literacy health education topics that are culturally sensitive and includes: sick day management & injury prevention, oral health promotion, diabetes and obesity prevention, and mental health and wellness. HCI provides a structured set of tools and processes for strategic implementation of health promotion, and incorporates various learning formats: in-person education sessions, reading materials and toolkits, webinars and parent trainings. Organization teams also participate as if they were parents in a mock parent-training session that allows teams to experience firsthand what parents would experience during a parent training session. Since 2001, the HCI has trained over 120,000 families in 10 languages and in 50 states. Its training methodology is used by over 300 Head Start grantees and has consistently delivered measurable outcomes in improving knowledge, changing behavior, and reducing unnecessary utilization of health care services. As a result, HCI can: increase school attendance, increase parent’s work attendance, increase staff, parent, and community engagement, improve the health literacy of staff and families, and strengthen community partnerships.

Last updated July 1, 2018

UCLA Institute for Technology Advancement

The Institute of Technology Advancement (ITA) is an off-campus technology development center established by the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science to accelerate the transition of high-impact innovative research from UCLA to technology development and commercialization. Start-up funding for the institute was donated by the Henry and Susan Samueli and the Easton Foundation. ITA provides operational flexibility for university researchers, industry, government, and investment partners alike. The flexible organizational structure of ITA complements existing capabilities of the university and industry, allowing the center to movie quickly to promote the transition of discoveries to development and commercialization. ITA Supports Three Types of Research Activities: transitional research, developmental research, and near-term R&D support to industry. ITA, as an organization and through its business-savvy Technology Strategists, is a conduit to local, state, government agencies, industry, and venture capital investors. Each Technology Strategist has a specialized domain of expertise and relationships with various funding resources.

Last updated July 1, 2018

UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs

Founded in 1994, UCLA Luskin incorporates the best practices in scholarship, research, and teaching in the fields of social work, urban and regional planning, and policymaking. The unique intersection of these disciplines within one school allows for academic cross-collaboration and a graduate education that values diverse perspectives at the macro- and micro- organizational levels. Graduates of the master’s and doctoral programs are well prepared to take leadership roles and effect change as practitioners, researchers, and policymakers in the public, private, and non-governmental sectors.

Faculty of the Luskin School of Public Affairs are actively engaged in research that address pressing national and regional issues including immigration, drug policy, prison reform, health care financing, transportation and the environment, national security, economic development, and an aging U.S. and world population. The School is named after Meyer and Renee Luskin—UCLA alumni, Angelenos, and philanthropists—who generously gave a $100 million gift to UCLA, half of which funded endowments in the School of Public Affairs. On March 18, 2011, the School was officially named the UCLA Meyer and Renee Luskin School of Public Affairs. As of fall 2016, the school had over 7,000 alumni. 567 students were enrolled as of fall 2015.

Last updated July 1, 2018

UCLA PRIME Program

The UCLA PRIME program is a five-year concurrent/dual degree program leading to an MD and a Masters in areas that complement the mission of the program. These might include MBA, MPH or MPP. Cohorts are composed of approximately 18 students. Students identify with one of two programs: PRIME-LA Westwood (14) or PRIME-LA CDU (4). A commitment to serve in, and experience working with, diverse medically disadvantaged populations is paramount. While programs coordinate with each other acceptance is to PRIME-LA. Applicants offered secondary applications identify their preferences as to which PRIME-LA program is of interest, PRIME-LA Westwood or PRIME-LA CDU.

Last updated July 1, 2018

UCLA NHLBI Proteomics Center

The NHLBI Proteomics Center at UCLA consists of an international effort led by Dr. Peipei Ping. The central scientific goal aims to provide fundamental information on the proteome biology of cardiovascular diseases, an essential component for the Human Proteome Project. This collaborative effort has been encouraged by the UCLA leadership to advance our scientific and education missions via international collaborations. Our Center thrives to support creative investigations in proteomics science and to provide a training environment for young investigators from UCLA and from the scientific community at large.

Last updated July 1, 2018

UCLA Orphan Disease Testing Center

The primary intent of the UCLA Orphan Disease Testing Center (ODTC) is to provide validated confirmation of variants identified in research laboratories which can then be reported directly to clinicians and patients who request such information for clinical decision-making. ODTC will confirm the variant in a blood or genomic DNA sample from the proband or other family members. If the variant status is unknown, a separate positive control sample is required. After a variant is confirmed, diagnostic, prenatal, and carrier testing will be available for other at-risk family members.

Last updated July 1, 2018

UCLA Pathology Research Portal

Two previous research laboratories, the Clinical and Translational Research Laboratory (CTRL) and the Clinical Immunology Research Laboratory (CIRL) have been restructured into the Pathology Research Portal (PRP). The PRP is a CAP accredited laboratory. This new addition to the Center for Pathology Research Services (CPRS) functions as the biospecimen liaison between researchers and clinical testing, and provides coordination for sample receiving, accessioning, processing, short term and long term storage, dispatching to multiple core facilities for testing, and result retrieving. PRP also provides shipping and temporary storage services, and can also provide customized services to meet various research needs.

Last updated July 1, 2018

UCLA School of Dentistry

The UCLA School of Dentistry was established in 1964 in response to the need for a public school of dentistry in the greater Los Angeles area. The mission of the UCLA School of Dentistry is to improve the oral and systemic health of the people of California, the nation, and the world through education, research, patient care, and public service. The highest achieving applicants, from a variety of backgrounds, are consistently admitted into UCLA Dentistry's academic programs to learn from their renowned faculty. Nearly 4,400 DDS degrees have been awarded. They receive approximately 1,900 applications every year for the 88 available slots for the incoming 4-year DDS program and more than 700 applications for the 20 available slots for the 2-year Professional Program for International Dentists program. The residency programs are among of the best and most competitive in the world. UCLA Dentistry offers 15 specialty and general dentistry programs and have more than 100 active residents at any given time.

Patients receive quality dental services, prescribed under comprehensive treatment plans and options of care. In the 2012-2013 fiscal year, nearly 142,000 patient visits were conducted by our dental students and faculty, throughout 30 different clinics. The research Centers of Excellence are focused on cancer, bone biology, bioengineering and biotechnology, molecular microbiology, neuromuscular problems and public health. In the 2012-2013 fiscal year, grants to faculty from the National Institutes for Health and other funding agencies reached $16 million. As part of the curriculum, students are required and given numerous opportunities to interact with the population at large in order to experience first-hand the oral health challenges and needs associated with groups in the community. In the 2012-2013 fiscal year, our dental students, residents and faculty administered free dental care and oral hygiene instructions to more than 2,000 community members at various health fairs and clinical care sites throughout the Southern California region.

Last updated July 1, 2018

UCLA School of Law

Founded in 1949, UCLA School of Law has garnered a reputation for artful teaching, influential scholarship and enduring innovation. As the first public law school in Southern California and the youngest top-ranked law school in the United States, UCLA Law has consistently pushed new boundaries in the study and practice of law. Over the decades, UCLA Law has developed a depth and breadth of academic offerings unsurpassed by any other law school in the nation. The Epstein Program in Public Interest Law and Policy is among the best anywhere. UCLA Law is one of four among the top 20 law schools with a specialization in Business Law and Policy–and the only one to offer a specialization in Critical Race Studies. UCLA Law’s faculty also has emerged as one of the most influential nationwide. Our professors are leading scholars in areas including bankruptcy, corporate law, constitutional law, critical race theory, entertainment law, environmental law, intellectual property and tax law.

Today, the UCLA Law alumni community is more than 15,000 strong and extends around the world. Alumni live and practice in virtually every state, the District of Columbia, multiple U.S. territories and more than 50 foreign nations. These graduates excel in their chosen fields, from private practice to business to government to public interest and beyond. UCLA Law has a long tradition of distinction on the bench, with more than 320 alumni who are serving, or have served, on courts throughout the country. Six UCLA Law alumni are now judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit–the largest number of graduates from any one law school who are serving on the court.

Last updated July 1, 2018

UCLA School of Nursing

The UCLA School of Nursing prepares nurses and scholars to lead and transform nursing care in a rapidly changing, diverse and complex healthcare environment through academic excellence, innovative research, superior clinical practice, strong community partnerships, and global initiatives. The UCLA School of Nursing is ranked as one of the top nursing schools in the country by US News and World Reports. Through its innovative curriculum, students learn relevant theory, acquire practice skills and are socialized into the profession of nursing. The School of Nursing provides rich opportunities for students to pursue collaborative and interdisciplinary education and independent study projects. Individual academic counseling a variety of one-on-one small group and interactive learning formats assist students to meet program and individual learning goals and to apply knowledge, skills and professional attitudes in their practice. As the most competitive degree program on the UCLA campus, the School of Nursing attracts the best and brightest students who will become leaders in transforming the profession of nursing.

The UCLA School of Nursing is approved by the Undergraduate and Graduate Councils of the Academic Senate of the University of California at Los Angeles. In addition, the pre-licensure (BS and MECN) and advanced practice master's programs are approved by the California Board of Registered Nursing. In 2011, the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE) accredited the existing bachelor's and master's degree programs for a term of 10 years, the highest that can be granted. The University of California, Los Angeles holds Western Association of Schools and Colleges accreditation. The school has 594 students including 238 undergraduate students, 356 graduate students, 47 tenured faculty, research faculty and instructors and 38 adjunct faculty and lecturers. It is a small school within a large research university, giving the dual advantage of personally knowing students while providing them with the best a research university has to offer.

Last updated July 1, 2018

UCLA School of Public Policy

The UCLA Department of Public Policy offers the Master of Public Policy (MPP). MPP students can pursue interdisciplinary Global Public Affairs and Leaders in Sustainability certificate programs. Joint degrees with Law, Management, Public Health, Medicine, and Social Welfare offer an even broader range of skill and expertise development. An undergraduate Minor in Public Affairs is also available. The school takes people who are passionate about making a difference in the world and give them the tools they need to do so. The master’s program combines the best of rigorous policy education with a flexibility and responsiveness that enables us to remain relevant in a rapidly changing world. A career in public service is no longer limited to working in government. By giving students a diversified tool kit of quantitative and analytical skills and the flexibility to design their own program of study— while drawing on all the resources of one of the world’s top research universities—the school produces graduates who are equipped to become real leaders in policy making, wherever that process takes place.

Last updated July 1, 2018

UCLA Stroke Center

Recognized as one of the world's leading centers for the management of cerebral vascular disease, the UCLA Stroke Center treats simple and complex vascular disorders by incorporating recent developments in emergency medicine, stroke neurology, microneurosurgery, interventional neuroradiology, stereotactic radiology, neurointensive care, neuroanesthesiology, and rehabilitation neurology. Care is coordinated from the moment of first contact, in the emergency department or outpatient clinics, through acute treatment and neurological rehabilitation. The UCLA Stroke Center provides comprehensive diagnostic and therapeutic care of patients with disorders of blood vessels of the brain and spinal cord, including: ischemic stroke, transient ischemic attack, carotid stenosis, cerebral hemorrhage, aneurysms/subarachnoid hemorrhage, vascular malformations of the brain, and spinal vascular malformations. The UCLA Stroke Center opened one of the nation's first dedicated inpatient stroke units which offers state-of-the-art management of patients with brain infarction, brain hemorrhage and other cerebral vascular diseases. Other on-site facilities include a neurological intensive care unit, neurosurgical operating rooms, neuro-endovascular therapy suites, a clinical cerebral blood flow laboratory, stereotactic radiology rooms and an outpatient clinic.

Last updated July 1, 2018

UC-Wide President's Fellowship Program

The University of California President’s Postdoctoral Fellowship Program was established in 1984 to encourage outstanding women and minority Ph.D. recipients to pursue academic careers at the University of California. The current program offers postdoctoral research fellowships, professional development and faculty mentoring to outstanding scholars in all fields whose research, teaching, and service will contribute to diversity and equal opportunity at UC. The goal of the program is to provide research opportunity and career development for scholars whose work will enhance the diversity of the academic community at the University of California. Approximately 75% of UC President's Postdoctoral Fellows have received tenure track faculty appointments. Since 2003, over 100 former fellows received faculty appointments at University of California campuses.

Last updated July 1, 2018

Undiagnosed Disease Network

The Undiagnosed Diseases Network (UDN) is an initiative to facilitate the diagnosis of conditions that have eluded diagnosis through the coordinated action of leading clinical and research centers. The UDN is a research study funded by the National Institutes of Health Common Fund. The UDN is made up of clinical and research centers across the United States working to improve diagnosis and care of patients with undiagnosed diseases. The UDN has two main goals: To provide answers for patients and families affected by mysterious conditions, and to learn more about rare and common diseases.

Last updated July 1, 2018