About the General Clinical Research Center (GCRC)
The General Clinical Research Center (GCRC) at University Park is housed in the Elmore Clinical Research Wing of the Noll Physiological Research Center. The three-story, 14,000 square foot GCRC facility, which opened its doors in the fall of 1998, provides personnel support and facilities for research with human subjects. While the GCRC is based in the College of Health and Human Development and receives significant support from the College, the GCRC aims to be a resource for all investigators doing research in human disease and wellness at the University Park campus.
Resources currently available include:
- Clinical Services (project consultation, physical exams, stress tests, medication administration, all nursing procedures including blood drawing)
- Nutrition Services (food preparation, counseling, diet analysis.)
- Off-site Services
- Ancillary Tests
- Informatics Services
- Biostatistics Services
- Immunomodulation Core Laboratory Services (primarily cytokine and hormone assays)
- DXA equipment
GCRC resources are accessed by applying to the GCRC Advisory Committee (GAC). This is a peer-review process and projects accepted with a high enough priority score are then supported with the resources allocated to the project being mostly FREE to the investigator. All modifications to a protocol must also be approved by the GAC.
The GCRC supports investigators funded by NIH and other federal, state and local agencies as well as by pharmaceutical or other biomedical industries. The terms of the GCRC grant require that we recover all costs of industry-initiated research, but this is NOT the case for investigator-initiated industry-supported research. In addition the GCRC has resources to support pilot studies that will likely result in applications for NIH and other federal, state and even investigator-initiated industry-supported research.
It is best to contact the GCRC staff if you are planning to apply for external funding for research to be conducted in the GCRC. We will help you make sure that your grant application properly dovetails with GCRC resources.
Special grants for medical students and new investigators are available only through an NIH funded GCRC. These grants offer unique opportunities for young investigators.
For purposes of continued support of the Center, we request that you document the use of any of the GCRC contributions in all publications. Manuscripts for publication should include a statement similar to the following: "The services provided by the General Clinical Research Center of The Pennsylvania State University are appreciated. The study was supported by NIH Grant M01 RR 10732." Please send us copies of all published manuscripts, articles, or abstracts based on research supported by the GCRC.