In Vivo Studies Core

Contact

Chung Owyang, M.D.
Director
734-936-4785

John Wiley , M.D.
Co-Director
734-936-8080

Services

1. The first major function of the In Vivo Studies Core will be the provision of all Center investigators with various state-of-the-art in vivo techniques and tests appropriate for human investigation

2. In addition to PET, other complimentary brain imaging techniques are available through the In Vivo Studies Core to investigate gut-brain interactions. These include Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) and Cortical Evoked Potentials (CEP).

3. Another technique developed by the In Vivo Studies Core is electrogastrography (EGG), which provides a powerful tool to investigate gastric electrical pacemaker activity and its role in the regulation of gastrointestinal motility. EGG has become a reliable tool for investigating gastric dysrhythmias, which are common among patients with diabetic gastroparesis, nausea and vomiting associated with pregnancy and motion sickness

4. The Core will also perform gastrointestinal motility studies using miniature strain-gauge pressure transducers.

5. The In Vivo Studies Core will also provide all Center investigators with expertise in the creation, validation and use of acute and chronic animal models appropriate for in vivo investigation. A major focus of this portion of the In Vivo Studies Core will be the provision of models appropriate for the examination of gastric and pancreatic secretion as well as for the study of gastrointestinal myoelectric and motor activities.

6. Coordination of human tissue collection for in vitro studies such as microarray gene profiling.

7. A clinical research studies program has been added to provide Center investigators advice and support on study design as well as statistical and data analysis. 
  The support elements of the Clinical Research Program include the following:

• Clinical study design
• Subject specification and sampling techniques
• Measurements and instruments
• Sample size estimation and power analysis
• Data management and statistical analysis
• Ethical considerations