Population-Facing Research

Overview of Services

The Population Facing Research Shared Resource (PFR-SR) aims to provide state-of-the-art technology services and consultation for population-facing researchers research. Population facing research is becoming more complex; increasingly studies incorporate device technology, high resolution genetic admixture analysis, and evaluate, in real-time, the interaction between trial subjects and the built environment. In response, the PFR-SR provides services that 1) require high-level expertise and 2) cannot be accomplished by single investigators alone in a cost-effective manner. Examples of projects we assist with include: real-time evaluation of pollution exposures in individuals commuting in Los Angeles traffic; high-resolution genetic admixture studies with precise identification of Indigenous and African tribal ancestry; device technology to measure the impact of a behavioral intervention on movement – sitting, standing, walking, running.

Multi-scale integration of mechanistically linked multi-disciplinary data is a complex undertaking. Multi-scale studies require 1) unique computational and biostatistical expertise, 2) rigorous validation of each biomarker, analyte navigation, and risk measures, and 3) a wide range of multi-disciplinary skills at each level of scale (geospatial modeling and epidemiology, clinical medicine, microenvironment/tissue engineering, cell biology, genetics/genomics, pharmacogenetics). To address these challenges, the PFR-SR offers consultation, grant preparation, multi-scale modeling, and data storage services in support of projects and investigators undertaking translational and multi-scale research.

Specific service areas include:
• Artificial Intelligence Analysis and Integration of multi-modality data sets.
• Geospatial Analysis. Measure the built-environment (roads, traffic, crime, walkability, pollution, greenspace, grocery stores) and how people within our Catchment Area interact with the built-environment.
• Cloud-Based Curation. Curation of large, annotated tissue sets and imaging. Searchable curation,
conferencing capacity for 200 investigators, slide imaging from whole side to oil immersion.
• Wearable Devices. Consultation for devices that measure sitting/standing, exercise intensity, and movement
in individuals undergoing exercise and other behavioral interventions.
• Ancestry Analysis. Detailed genetic ancestry analysis focusing on underrepresented populations- African
(e.g. Yoruba, Dinka, Indigenous (e.g., Mayan, Cherokee), East/West Asia (e.g., Lanzohu Han, Natufian).
• Consultation, Assay Design, Training. We provide consultation for new and established investigators to
identify and integrate cutting-edge technology/tools in population-facing studies and grant applications.

Contacts