Metabolic and Analytic Core

PROJECT SUMMARY / ABSTRACT – Metabolic & Analytic Core Diabetes (DM) is a global epidemic and the state of Hawaiʻi is especially afflicted as the ethnicities that compose its population are particularly susceptible. Native Hawaiians, Pacific Islanders, and Asians who constitute a majority of the population in Hawaiʻi are twice as likely to develop DM as Whites. Recognizing the lack of dedicated infrastructure to study the mechanisms of DM in humans as well as in cellular and animal models, the Phase 1 of the COBRE has established a Diabetes Research Center (DRC) at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (UHM) John A. Burns School of Medicine (JABSOM). The COBRE-Diabetes has developed a Resource Core that supports the career development of young investigators and promotes DM-related research. In the five years of the Phase 1 COBRE we have established a dedicated Center and mentored 7 multidisciplinary RPLs from the JABSOM, Cancer Center, and College of Engineering. The Phase 1 Core has promoted the growth of DM research in Hawaiʻi by successfully graduating 7 RPLs and supporting 7 Pilot Project Leaders. We are now developing a critical mass of investigators required to lead our school through the COBRE Phase 2, as a Center for biomedical sciences with a Pacific focus through enhanced educational and training activities. In this Phase 2 application, we propose to sustain and improve the Core by expanding the services it provides, acquire new equipment, improve sustainability via the cost center, and continue DM-related research and development to support both human and animal studies. The Core will directly support the evolving needs of our new COBRE RPLs and Pilot Projects Leaders. Project 1 consists of developing novel non-invasive skin microfluidic devices to monitor DM complications related biomarkers. Project 2 will investigate the genetic underpinnings of cerebrovascular disease in Native Hawaiians. Project 3 will study the molecular mechanisms of DM-mediated cardiac autonomic dysfunction in a rodent model. The goals of the Metabolic and Analytic Core (MAC) of this Phase 2 COBRE will be achieved through the following specific aims: 1) Enhance the MAC by expanding services for the growing number of investigators interested in DM and 2) Provide genomic services and access to in silico analysis of variation associated with DM. The MAC will continue to support the goal of our COBRE grant, to create a sustainable resource for the local scientific community conducting meritorious research in DM and its’ complications at UHM and in Hawaiʻi. renal DM