The CAMAC has a commitment to create a substantive, multidisciplinary environment that supports fundamental and clinical research. It encompasses the departments of Medicine, Dentristy, Nursing, Optometry, Public Health, and Engineering. It is distinguished as one of the Federation of Clinical Immunology Societies’ (FOCIS) Centers of Excellence in addition to being the top-ranked, peer-reviewed recipient of the Autoimmunity Center of Excellence distinction.
The CAMAC hosts the only rheumatology unit in the nation to have both a Multidisciplinary Clinical Research Center (MCRC) and Rheumatic Disease Core Center (RDCC) funded by the NIH. The more than 150 Center members have extramural funding exceeding $60 million annually.
Recent awards in the Center include:
A National Consortium to Explore the Genotypic Basis for ESRD in LupusEnd stage renal disease (ESRD), one of the most serious and costly complications of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), occurs in a sub-set of patients with SLE-related renal involvement. Factors predisposing to ESRD presumably include both genetics and environmental factors, and there is unequivocal evidence that ESRD disproportionately affects lupus persons of African American descent. The impact on health disparities and health care costs is enormous, with Lupus-ESRD health care costs in the United States approaching $500M annually. Drawing on established networks and clinical research infrastructure, this study is uniquely positioned to capitalize on a multidisciplinary team to leverage existing resources to address important questions about the underlying genetic influences on susceptibility to end stage renal disease (ESRD) in lupus. The consortium, based at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, will undertake a genome-wide association study (GWAS) to identify the genetic risk factors for ESRD in European American (EA) and African Americans (AA) with lupus nephritis (LN/ESRD). This understanding may lead to strategies for ESRD intervention, may reduce ethnic disparities in health outcome, and may enable substantial cost savings in the health care industry.
FOCIS Center of ExcellenceThe AMC has been honored to be distinguished as a Federation of Clinical Immunology Societies Center of Excellence
Injury Control Research CenterThis center works to increase the injury control capacity of UAB and collaborating entities through programs of research, practice, training, and service.
Multidisciplinary Clinical Research CenterA program designed to foster and promote research related to the causes, diagnosis, treatment, and improved care of patients suffering from arthritis and musculoskeletal diseases.
Rheumatic Diseases Core CenterThis center promotes the use of state-of-the-art methodologies to address questions in arthritis and musculoskeletal disease research.