Sex-Based Precision Medicine Research Core

The overarching goal of the Sex-Based Precision Medicine Research Core (SPMRC) is to promote and support biological sex-based precision medicine (SPM) research at the Tulane Center of Biomedical Research Excellence in Sex-Based Precision Medicine (COBRE in SPM) and assist Research Project Leaders (RPLs) and Pilot Project Leaders (PPLs) in obtaining independent research funding. The study of biological sex differences is a discipline in itself, with its own concepts and methods that apply across cells and tissues as well as clinical and population health. This critical aspect of SPM requires the use and knowledge of quantitative methods including biostatistics, epidemiology, and bioinformatics to design and analyze studies to assess the interactions of biological sex with environmental factors affecting health. With David Crosslin, PhD, Associate Professor in the Division of Biomedical Informatics and Genomics in the John W. Deming Department of Medicine, Tulane University School of Medicine as Director of the SPMRC, the SPMRC will support and foster these activities through the following aims: Aim 1: Discovery: To provide SPM RPLs, PPLs, Tulane University investigators, and collaborators with the methodological resources to conduct SPM basic and clinical science studies. Aim 2: Implementation: To provide RPLs, PPLs, Tulane University investigators, and collaborators with the methodological resources to conduct state-of-the-art SPM implementation trials and studies. Aim 3: Dissemination: To engage the scientific community in the ongoing adoption, use, and improvement of the SPMRC. The aims proposed will place the SPMRC at the forefront of SPM. The SPMRC will complement but not duplicate existing resources at Tulane, including the Louisiana Clinical and Translational Science (LA CaTS) Center Statistical Core, and the Tulane Center for Bioinformatics & Genomics. In addition to tracking consultations for evaluation of impact, researchers utilizing SPMRC resources will be asked to cite a DOI and grant number, which will track usage within publications. We will report on all publications, presentations, grants, and patents successfully submitted and accepted that receive support from the SPMRC.