Translational Research for Metabolism and Diabetes

The Core has four dedicated staff members who create recruitment plans and identify prospective research subjects who meet enrollment criteria. Our partnership with the AdventHealth Marketing Department provides additional participant recruiting support.

The clinic is staffed by full-time clinical research study coordinators, regulatory personnel, phlebotomists, medical records and medical assistants to facilitate patient flow. The Core contains bariatric stand-on scales, digital stadiometers and a cardiograph for routine ECGs.

The Clinical Research Unit (CRU) is a 10-bed inpatient test unit with bathrooms, showers and flex rooms that can be used for overnight stays or research procedures. Additionally, the CRU contains procedure rooms for biopsies, endocrine and isotopic turnover studies and pharmacokinetics/pharmacodynamics. The CRU is staffed with ACLS-certified registered nurses and LPNs 24 hours a day, seven days a week. CRU Core nurses coordinate protocol activities with all other cores, respectively.

Staffed by a master's-prepared biomedical engineer and a master's-level research associate, the four MEI-designed room calorimeters perform assessments of 24-hour energy expenditure under free-living conditions while controlling environmental factors and keeping a record of participant activity. Two large chambers are outfitted with a computer station, bed, curtained restroom and wash station for participant comfort. The chambers have intercom, blood ports and pass-throughs for sample collection and meal delivery. Two flex chambers allow for assessments of resting metabolic rates, pharmacodynamic and exercise testing under exacting environmental controls, participant comfort and high-fidelity gas analyzers.

Resting metabolic rate (RMR) and respiratory quotient (RQ) are also assessed during resting and exercise conditions using metabolic cart methodologies. Equipment is maintained in a resting configuration with a hood and mixing chamber for signal stability.

Activity monitoring is performed using validated accelerometry-based wearable technologies, which allow for free-living assessments of energy expenditure. Each procedure is governed by a standard operating procedure with ongoing quality metrics.

The Core is staffed with full-time research faculty, exercise physiologists and postdoctoral fellows with expertise in muscle function and research training methods. The training facility is equipped with treadmills, upright bicycles, recumbent bicycles, rowing equipment, free weights and resistance equipment, as well as ergometers and ECG systems for VO2 max testing. Muscle function is assessed using a BIODEX Quick Set System 3 Dynamometer to assess dynamic muscle strength across various major muscle groups. The exercise training facility is fully equipped with men's and women's showers, lockers and changing rooms. This facility can monitor participants' blood pressure, blood glucose and urine ketones as well as heart rate (via heart rate monitor wristwatches and chest straps) and ratings of perceived exertion (RPE) at specific time intervals.

A PhD physicist/biomedical engineer and an MRI/radiology technologist staff the Imaging Core. The magnet is a 3T Philips Achieva with multinuclear (31P and 13C) capabilities and is dedicated to research activities. In addition to traditional MR imaging, this magnet noninvasively monitors chemical and metabolic processes within human tissue via MR spectroscopy. This combination of higher magnetic field strength and multinuclear spectroscopy allows for increased spatial, spectral and temporal resolution and complements the molecular phenotyping in the Laboratory. Body composition studies are performed on a GE Lunar iDXA with enCORE software.

The Laboratory collects, processes, stores and ships specimens for the TRI-MD. Robotic accessioning technologies and a LIMS sample tracking system enable the Biorepository to accommodate high- and low-throughput sample processing for the Institute and long-term storage of research samples.

The wet Laboratory enables advanced cellular, molecular, microscopy, and functional assessments, including high-resolution metabolism and circulating metabolites measurements from clinical samples.

The TRI-MD's Metabolic Kitchen is a state-of-the-art facility supervised by a master's-prepared registered dietitian. Daily operations are coordinated by a dedicated team of nutrition professionals actively involved in designing and implementing research proposals, protocols and procedures at the TRI-MD. This team works with the Clinical Research Unit and Calorimetry Cores to provide precise dietary interventions for research studies with nutritional factors under investigation. The Metabolic Kitchen serves as a centralized location for preparing and storing research-specific meal components, with a wide variety of commercial-grade stainless steel cooking equipment and walk-in cooler and freezer space.

The AdventHealth Translational Research Institute is staffed with a master's-prepared Informatics Solutions Lead for collecting, quality assessment, storing and analyzing study data. A biostatistical core and full-time bioinformatician support it in evaluating large and complex clinical data streams.