Facilities


UF Health Shands Hospital

  • There is a 16-bed inpatient Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition service at Shands Hospital devoted to patients with digestive and liver diseases. Consultation services are provided at Shands Hospital and the Veterans Affairs Medical Center. The state-of-the-art computerized video endoscopy suites at Shands Hospital and the Gainesville VA Medical Center provide full service diagnostic and therapeutic endoscopy and performed over 8,000 endoscopic procedures in 1999-2000. Shands Hospital at the University of Florida is one of the country’s top 10 most active liver transplant programs, performing over 100 liver transplants per year.
  • The unique gastrointestinal diagnostic laboratory offers testing that is often not found at other medical centers. Studies include pancreatic secretory tests, 14C and 13C xylose breath tests for detecting bacterial overgrowth, Helicobacter pylori breath test, serum trypsin levels, esophageal and anorectal manometry, 24-hour pH studies and evaluation of small bowel motility. These capabilities attract patients to the medical center from all over the United States.

Laboratory

  • A 1,350-sq. ft. three room well-equipped laboratory in the University of Florida with adjacent sterilizing facilities and walk-in 4C cold-room is available. The laboratory is equipped to handle both serum and tissue collection with tissue culture facilities, two ultra-low freezers (-70 C), and three liquid nitrogen storage systems. Adequate power, gas, vacuum, and safety equipment are available to carry out procedures and personnel described in this proposal.

Clinical

  • The Liver Clinics at the University of Florida is following > 1,000 patients with chronic liver disease and evaluate approximately 2,000 new patients each year. There are 7 hepatologists, three research coordinators, two NP and two PA’s to support the clinical program. There is adequate clinic space to evaluate patients in all hepatology and liver transplant clinics.

Computer

  • There are 7 Dell-PC computers with graphic and data processing analysis, Internet access, and graphics support for presentations and manuscript preparations. One computer is connected to the ELISA machine. Two other computers are connected to the university’s mainframe system. The trainee will have a personal desktop computer with printer and Internet access. The trainee will also have access to the OTTR Patient Tracking Database System for Liver Transplant Patients.

Office

  • The trainee has a 100 square feet of office with an additional 400 square feet for support personnel (two secretaries and one data entry person).

The UF Clinical Research Center (UF CRC)

  • The UF CRC at the University of Florida occupies over 9,700 sq. ft. on the third floor of Shands Hospital and provides outpatient clinic space, a procedure rooms for conscious sedation, computer workstations, the Data Service Laboratory (computer and informatics), and expanded core laboratory space.
  • Support opportunities in the UF CRC include: The UF CRC Core Laboratory serves as a facility to process and store biologic specimens and perform additional tests on those specimens, including a tissue and DNA bank, mass spectrometry, HPLC, GC, and other basic analytical equipment. Samples processed and stored in the Core Laboratory are secured and coded to protect subject confidentiality according to the respective study protocols.
  • The Data Services Laboratory (DSL) on the UF CRC is comprised of the Informatics Core and it’s affiliated computer facilities. The DSL is responsible for planning, implementing, and managing all bio-statistical and informatics research activities of the UF CRC. The mission is to ensure the statistical quality and data integrity of all UF CRC protocols and to provide complete computing support for all UF CRC investigators and staff.