WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - The General Clinical Research Center (GCRC) at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, where thousands of area residents have participated in clinical trials or population studies since 1993, has been awarded $14.7 million to continue for another five years.

The new funds represent a dramatic increase over the previous five-year grant, which totaled $9.9 million, according to Diane Q. Mann, GCRC administrative director.

"Our research is general - we conduct studies to benefit the tiniest premature babies to the most senior members of our community," Mann said. "Our studies cover the whole research spectrum from soy and vitamin therapy to sophisticated cancer drug treatments targeted to kill leukemia cells. We've conducted a NASA nutrition study to prevent kidney stones in space, and we've tested inhaled insulin as a painless way to treat diabetes."

The grant, from the National Institutes of Health's National Center for Research Resources, pays for specialized facilities and staff and supports as many as 90 studies at any given time. The GCRC is one of 79 centers nationwide, mostly housed in academic medical centers.

"The funds will allow the Medical Center to continue and strengthen its tradition of providing a premier resource for clinical research, giving patients access to the latest advances in medicine," Mann said. The funds also will permit expansion of the program to:

• Create a molecular genetics core laboratory headed by Donald W. Bowden Ph.D., professor of biochemistry and internal medicine (endocrinology/metabolism).
• Add an associate program director for geriatric research, Jeff Williamson, M.D., who will join current associate program directors Richard Weinberg, M.D., for nutrition, and John R. Crouse, M.D., for core laboratories. Geriatrics studies will be carried out in the Geriatric Research Center, a GCRC satellite in the J. Paul Sticht Center on Aging and Rehabilitation.
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