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The NIH-funded Digestive Disease Center at Stanford University
The Digestive Disease Center at Stanford University has two areas of focus. The first deals with host-pathogen interactions in the GI tract and liver. Pathogens include hepatitis A-D, H. pylori, rotavirus, salmonella, E. coli, cholera and E. histolytica. Additional emphasis is placed on the comensal microbiome in regulating host immunity and metabolism. The second area addresses cell and molecular biology of digestive epithelia including malignant transformation, differentiation, development and stem cells, cell polarity and the role of immune and inflammatory mechanisms in GI diseases, transplantation and GI infections and the GI/neurobiology interface. This focus targets basic discovery as well as esophageal, pancreatic and colorectal cancer; liver diseases; pancreatitis, Barrett's esophagus, inflammatory bowel disease, other autoimmune diseases and transplant rejection.
The Center consists of 45 established investigators from clinical and basic departments and an additional 30 associate members, most with a primary focus on clinical research. The center includes 6 cores. The Administrative Core offers a Pilot Program providing one year of funding to junior investigators; the Named Investigator Program providing 1 year support to promising junior faculty; the Enrichment Program consisting of regular seminars, visiting lectures, and an annual symposium; and a Clinical Component consisting of enabling technologies (a massive HIPPA compliant clinical data warehouse (STRIDE) and a tissue microarray facility) and facilitated biostatistical, regulatory and data management support. The FACS/Immunoassay Core supports studies of single cells in unprecedented detail. The Cell Imaging Core offers state-of-the-art imaging tools including confocal and routine animal histology. The Biomic Analysis Core offers metabolomic analysis of tissues and fluids in disease states and the Chemical Genomics Core offers targeted screens based on extensive small molecule or RNAi libraries. Finally, the Molecular Imaging and Animal Endoscopy Core offers state-of-the-art in vivo assessment of the gastrointestinal tract and related organs using molecular probes and multimodality imaging techniques.
The DDC brings together accomplished investigators, creates a highly interactive environment, and makes available state-of-the-art technologies to address key basic and translational questions in digestive diseases.
