Our scientific goal to integrate proteomics and genomics biology of inflammation with care of the injured patient can only be realized through the integration and simultaneous accomplishment of multiple tasks. These tasks include:

1. enrollment of sufficient numbers of patients with stringent entry criteria
2. conducting large-scale cellular and protein assessments necessary to delineate the human immuno-inflammatory phenotype
3. determination of the gene expression profiles using state-of-the-art platforms
4. design and implementation of complex web-enabled databases of clinical, physiological, outcomes, proteomic, and genomic expression and genotype data
5. analysis of these complex data using multiple independent methodologies

To fill the gaps in trauma research, the large-scale collaborative program has been organized into several components, each distinctly different, yet highly interrelated to provide a networked approach of interactions. There are several clinical studies in which trauma and burn patients, and LPS-challenged and normal volunteers, as well as other appropriate models, are studied to generate data and samples for physiological, proteomic, and genomic analyses.

Multiple institutions collaborate as analytical sites for performance of high-throughout genomics and proteomics analyses on the samples. Clinical, demographic, outcomes, cellular, and gene expression data from the patients and samples are highly integrated into useful information for analysis and informatics. There is also an administration infrastructure in place that provides the foundation to support the administration, project management, and finances of the research program.

The public part of this web site, which you are now viewing, contains a wealth of summary information of interest both to the general public and scientists. In addition, there are two password-protected and encrypted sites intended primarily for researchers interested in access to the detailed experimental data and protocols.  The Participating Investigators' (PI) site is available to the researchers who are directly involved in this grant-funded program, carrying out experiments and clinical studies. The PI site includes in-process data that has not yet been annotated and validated.  In addition, members of the public, usually scientists and researchers in allied fields, can register as Consortium Members to gain access to detailed data and protocols that have been validated and certified for release. A substantial amount of information, such as detailed protocols, is available simply by following the online Consortium registration process.  For access to detailed experimental data, including human clinical data requiring specific IRB approval, please contact the Overall Principal Investigator, Dr. Ronald Tompkins, or the Program Manager, Grace McDonald-Smith.