Welcome to the CFAR Clinical Investigation Core


Core Directors

W. Chris Mathews, MD

Richard Haubrich, MD

Mission Statement:

The mission of the Clinical Investigation Core is to provide the expertise and resources necessary for basic, clinical, health services and epidemiologic researchers to efficiently and safely conduct clinical research to increase our understanding and treatment of HIV disease.

Clinical Investigation Core Overview:

The Clinical Investigation Core was established to provide the expertise and services of the UCSD HIV Clinical Research Program to the community of HIV researchers conducting studies requiring interface with HIV infected patients. Recent advances in the understanding of and care for HIV disease have increased the importance of basic researchers understanding the clinical and therapeutic history of the patients providing study specimens. Observations made in the basic science laboratory may merit validation and hypotheses may warrant testing with well characterized clinical specimens from HIV-infected patients. Diagnostic assays, which are often developed from laboratory strains of organisms, require evaluation with clinical isolates. Some translational research questions can be adequately addressed through analysis of stored specimens, but many require the prospective collection of fresh blood in select populations and specialized processing, which is optimally coordinated and conducted by an experienced set of investigators and staff. Access to databases with longitudinal data on HIV infected patients in care are needed to address epidemiologic and outcomes issues. The clinical core was established to meet these needs.

Core Objectives:

The objectives of the Clinical Investigation Core are to provide services and expertise to conduct clinical investigation and to provide access to longitudinal data bases for epidemiologic and outcomes research.