Clinical Translational Research Core
About the Clinical Translational Research Core
The Clinical Translational Research Core (CTRC) provides expertise, facilities, staff, and logistical support to facilitate human subjects research in type 1 (T1D) and type 2 diabetes (T2D) and related metabolic disorders across the lifespan. Services are aimed at applying basic research findings to the design and implementation of human studies, to advance discoveries into clinical practice, and to bring novel advancements into broader clinical implementation to improve population health.
Core Leadership & Scientific Oversight
Lori Laffel, MD, MPH, Co-Director, is a pediatric endocrinologist, clinical investigator, and behavioral researcher. Her research focuses on preventing acute and chronic complications of diabetes and preserving the health and quality of life of children, adolescents, and young adults with diabetes. Her clinical studies have provided key insights into improved treatment strategies across the lifespan, including the implementation and feasibility of sustained use of continuous glucose monitoring and automated insulin delivery systems in very young pediatric patients to older adults aged 65+ years with type 1 and type 2 diabetes.
Jason Gaglia, MD, MMSc, Co-Director, is an adult endocrinologist with expertise in the underlying autoimmunity that leads to type 1 diabetes. His clinical research spans immune interventions to prevent or delay type 1 diabetes progression, as well as β-cell preservation and/or replacement therapies following the onset of symptomatic disease.
Alessandro Doria, MD, PhD, MPH, Biorepository Director, will join the CTRC in spring 2027 to lead the Biorepository. He is an epidemiologist and clinical researcher focused on the cardiovascular and kidney complications of diabetes. As a chair of the PERL Consortium and principal investigator of the multicenter SUGARNSALT clinical trial of sotagliflozin to prevent kidney failure in T1D, he is an expert in biobanking specimens and using those samples for biomarker studies.
Services
Consultations are provided by the Core Directors and staff to help investigators choose the most appropriate metabolic studies to address innovative research questions in human subjects. Core personnel assist investigators in selecting appropriate metabolic variables, biomarkers, recruitment strategies, and outcome measures, and offer guidance for methodology adaptation to human studies.
The CTRC provides consultations on data management and advice on database construction, quality checks, and maintenance, as well as on statistical analyses and interpretation of findings. The CTRC can also provide independent clinical safety monitoring, external to the requesting clinical study, as part of a data and safety monitoring plan.
CTRC staff are available to perform phlebotomy, IV placement with IV maintenance and blood draws, injections, infusions, sample processing, coordination services, and medical monitoring for studies.
Measures of insulin action and systemic glucose homeostasis: Oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT), Mixed meal tolerance test (MMTT), stepped euglycemic hyperinsulinemic clamp studies including use of tracer techniques, hyperglycemic clamp, frequently sampled intravenous glucose tolerance test, and stepped hyperinsulinemic hypoglycemic clamp for the study of hypoglycemia and counter-regulation.
Measures of body composition: Anthropometrics, Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA), and bioelectrical impedance analysis.
Measures of energy balance and expenditure, exercise capacity, and brown fat: Indirect calorimetry, muscle strength and endurance testing, VO2-peak during graded exercise capacity, training, and cooling vests.
Biopsies: Standardized operating procedures and training for muscle, fat, and skin biopsies.
Measures of renal function: Iohexol plasma disappearance for glomerular filtration rate (iGFR) and measurement of para-aminohippurate (PAH) clearance for renal plasma flow.
Neuropathy testing: Specialty equipment available for neuropathy testing.
Measures of eye health and complications: refraction and visual acuity, dilated fundus examinations, color fundus photography, fluorescein angiography, optical coherence tomography (OCT), OCT angiography, adaptive optics scanning laser ophthalmoscopy, and electroretinography.
Browsable catalog of existing biospecimens and associated clinical data. The CTRC created a browsable catalog of 37 completed or ongoing biospecimen collections at Joslin with associated clinical data, through which DRC investigators can search for existing bio-specimens and/or linked clinical and molecular data that can be used through collaborations with the investigators who established the collections. Available biospecimens include plasma, serum, urine, and/or tissue samples from >10,000 participants from studies such as the Medalist Study, Joslin Kidney Study, Preventing Early Renal Loss (PERL) Study, and Surgery or Lifestyle with Intensive Medical Management of T2D (SLIMM-T2D) study.
Curated DNA collection. DNA samples from different groups of well-characterized individuals are available for studies involving human genetics. The Core repository houses the collection of ~7,100 DNA samples developed through the Molecular Phenotyping and Genotyping Core. Samples, some of which are linked to plasma and serum samples, are organized in several panels and sub-panels (Table 1).
Table 1. DNA Panels Available from the CTRC
| DNA Panel | # DNA Samples |
|---|---|
| T1D, unrelated individuals | 1808 |
|
Heart and Kidney Study |
206 |
|
PERL Clinical Trial |
530 |
|
Fenofibrate Pilot Study |
34 |
|
Joslin Medalist Study |
1038 |
| T2D, unrelated individuals | 3597 |
|
CAD Study |
1500 |
|
Joslin Heart Study |
299 |
|
Declining Renal Function Study |
1438 |
|
Miscellaneous |
360 |
| Families | 1227 (98 families) |
|
Autosomal Dominant T2D |
701 (45 families) |
|
MODY |
526 (53 families) |
| Non-Diabetic Subjects | 455 |
Induced pluripotent cells. Protocols are available for skin-punch biopsy or phlebotomy to procure cells for induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) generation with consultation on experimental design and preparation of appropriate IRB documents along with assistance in patient accrual and consent, and help obtaining detailed medical records that are de-identified or coded prior to release to scientific collaborators who use the derived cell lines. The Core's browsable catalog can be used to locate >130 iPSC lines from individuals with diabetes (including T1D, T2D, and MODY), insulin resistance, related syndromes, and from control subjects, with accompanying phenotypic data.
Facilities
The Clinical Translational Research Core is located on the first floor of the Stoneman building at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), 300 Brookline Avenue, Boston. This facility, which opened in February 2026, includes three (3) adult and pediatric exam and treatment rooms; a purpose-built room for exercise testing and biopsies that can also be used for exams and treatment; a sample processing facility; a dirty utilities and disposal area; a diabetes technology download station; office space; an exercise research laboratory with dedicated areas for training, strength testing, and aerobic exercise testing; and a nutrition area.
Dedicated space is available for individual meetings with patients to discuss procedures and obtain informed consent, screen potential participants for research protocols, and conduct study visits. CLIA-certified clinical laboratory testing with rapid turnaround to facilitate immediate availability of lab results during study visits, as well as investigational pharmacy support, is provided by BIDMC.
Contact Us
For questions about services, training, or collaboration opportunities, please contact the CTRC team.
- Email Charlene Coneys, RN, CTRC Nurse Manager
- Email Christine Mendonca, BS, Senior Research Assistant and Biorepository Specialist
- Email Jason Gaglia, MD, MMSc, Co-Director
- Email Lori Laffel, MD, MPH, Co-Director
- Email Alessandro Doria, MD, PhD, MPH, Biorepository Director
Remember to Cite the DRC
If any of your research has been supported in full or in part by our Core, please acknowledge our NIH/NIDDK grant as follows: "Supported by the Clinical Translational Research Core of NIH P30 DK036836.
