The broad aim of the UCSF Multidisciplinary Clinical Research Center Program (UCSF MCRC) is to improve outcomes for persons with various forms of rheumatic diseases by discovery of the medical, demographic, and contextual factors affecting those outcomes. This overarching aim is pursued by a comprehensive program of clinical research in the rheumatic diseases, including but not limited to that within the MCRC; by serving as a catalyst for such clinical research throughout UCSF; and by systematic training of clinical investigators in the rheumatic diseases.

The MCRC consists of an Administrative Unit, Methodology Core, four five-year projects, and a three-year Development and Feasibility (D&F) Study. The participants in the MCRC span three UCSF schools (Medicine, Nursing, and Dentistry) and UC, Davis and include representatives of nine discrete academic units, including the UCSF Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI). The Center.s Director and Associate Director are Drs. Edward Yelin and Lindsey Criswell, respectively. The Director and Project Director of the Core Unit are Dr. Patricia Katz and Ms. Laura Trupin, respectively. The activities of the MCRC are guided on a day-to-day basis by an Executive Committee. Strategic oversight of the Center is provided by Internal (UCSF) and External Advisory Committees.

The research in the MCRC is based on analysis of primary data on persons with two specific diseases, Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) and Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA), and on analysis of secondary data on persons with a broader array of musculoskeletal conditions. The specific five-year projects are: .The Interplay of Sociodemographic and Genetic Factors in SLE Health Disparities. (Dr. Lindsey Criswell, P.I.); .Body Composition and Disability in RA and SLE. (Dr. Patricia Katz, P.I.); .SLE and Employment: The Impact of Individual and Contextual Factors. (Dr. Edward Yelin, P.I.); and, .Do Mid-Life Musculoskeletal Conditions Lead to Disability in the Elderly?. (Dr. Kenneth Covinsky, P.I.). The D&F study is: .Diffusion Tensor Imaging Correlates with Neuropsychiatric Symptoms in Patients with SLE and APLA. (Dr. Laura Julian, P.I.).

Progress since 5/1/2006 funding:
Since the UCSF MCRC began funding, 24 papers from the MCRC faculty have been published or are in press and five more have been submitted for publication. In addition, 32 abstracts have been presented at professional meetings, including the National Meeting of the American College of Rheumatology, ACMG Clinical Genetics Meeting, International Congress on SLE, Pediatric Academic Society, and Health Care Quality and Outcomes Conference.

MCRC Faculty Kenneth Covinsky, MD, MPH Lindsey A. Criswell, MD, MPH Stuart A. Gansky, DrPH Laura Julian, PhD Patricia P. Katz, PhD David Wofsy, MD Jinoos Yazdany , MD, MPH Edward H. Yelin, PhD

MCRC Projects Core Unit Project 1 Project 2 Project 3 Project 4 D & F Project