PILOT AND FEASIBILITY STUDIES

The Iowa Diabetes-Endocrinology Research CEnter (DERC) is designed to foster a multidisciplinary approach to the study of hormone action at the cellular and molecular level. Investigations primarily relate to the effects of insulin and insulin-like growth factors, gene regulation, and steroid hormone action, however, also included are studies of the action of catecholamines, prolactin and gonadotrophin releasing hormone. The center has 5 major goals: (1) to promote multidisciplinary approaches to the study of mechanisms of hormone action through collaborative studies; (2) to develop molecular biology approaches to hormone action; (3) to test new hypotheses related to mechanisms of hormone action through the Pilot and Feasibility Programs; (4) to centralize facilities that were being duplicated in several different laboratories; (5) to provide, as core resources, facilities and expertise that are not available at the University but would be advantageous to multiple DERC investigators. To achieve these goals, the Center has developed several resource cores: An Administration Core; Computer Core; Cell Biology Core (Media Production and Monoclonal Antibody Production); Membrane Biology Core (Central Facility for Peptide Iodination, Membrane Preparation and Analysis, and Receptor Localization); Molecular Biology Core (Recombinant DNA and DNA Synthesis); an Enrichment Program of seminar speakers and workshops and a Pilot and Feasibility Study Program to support pilot studies related to the center theme.