About

A. HARVARD DIGESTIVE DISEASES CENTER (HDDC): AN OVERVIEW
The scientific focus of the Harvard Digestive Disease Center is the epithelium of the gastrointestinal tract and its interactions with the microbial flora in the lumen, and with immunocompetent and supporting cell types in the mucosa. We have coined the term “Integrated Epithelial and Mucosal Biology” to describe this research focus.
The Center aims to facilitate multidisciplinary research in the field by fostering close scientific and intellectual relationships among independent investigators in Harvard-affiliated hospitals, the Harvard Medical School and adjacent research institutions in the Longwood Medical Area. The research of HDDC members explores many aspects of mucosal biology that includes epithelial barriers and their connective tissue interactions, pathogenic and commensal microbial flora, and the complex cell populations responsible for innate and acquired immune protection.  The HDDC provides an important meeting point and technical resource for researchers in the Harvard Medical Area who are studying Integrated Epithelial and Mucosal Biology in this broad context.

1. Directors.
Drs. Lencer and Blumberg  are Directors of the Center.
The Executive Committee consists of Seth Alpers (BIDMC), Dan Goodenough (HMS), Susan Hagen (BIDMC), David Cohen (BWH), Tomas Kirchhausen (HMS), Hanno Steen (CH), Marian Neutra (CH), and Michael Starnbach (HMS).

2. Membership and Research Base.
The HDDC now includes 60 full members, each with an NIH-funded research program. In addition, there are 35 Associate Members that hold mentored research grants including HDDC pilot-feasibility grants or non-NIH funded translational research. The funding base of the Center has grown to $32 million annually, with over $20 million in Digestive Disease related research, the highest level in the history of the Center

3. Scientific Cores.
Three scientific cores enhance the research of HDDC members by providing services, materials, equipment, and expertise.  The Imaging Core provides resources in immunofluorecence, electron microscopy, confocal, and deconvolution microscopy of living and fixed cells and tissues, and offers expertise in imaging polarized cells in monolayer culture. The Epithelial Cell Biology Core provides cell culture and gene transfection services unique to polarized epithelial cell monolayers, and assistance in all aspects of epithelial cell biology including electrophysiology, microflorimetry, and molecular approaches to signal transduction and membrane dynamics. A new Proteomics Core provides service in protein identification, quantitation and characterization by 2D PAGE, affinity tags, and mass spectrometry. A biostatistics resource is available to support translational and basic science.

4. Enrichment Program.
The HDDC enrichment program includes an annual regional conference "Frontiers in Mucosal Immunology", as well as two scientific symposia each year and sponsored seminars for visiting scientists.  The minisabbatical program supports travel of HDDC members to other institutions to learn new techniques.

5. Pilot-feasibility Grant Program.
The HDDC pilot-feasibility grant program awards $150,000 each year to novel projects by investigators transitioning to independence. This program is highly subscribed and funded to the maximum level allowed by the NIH; of 49 awardees in the past 10 years, almost all continue in digestive diseases-related research.
An innovative seed grant program is designed to foster new collaborative mutlidisiplinary projects among established HDDC investigators by making $50,000 awards each year to qualified projects. This program is novel to the NIH Center programs and initiated by the HDDC in the most recent grant renewal cycle.

B.  Brief History of the HDDC

The Harvard Digestive Diseases Center was founded in 1984 by a group of 14 investigators, all members of the Harvard Medical School (HMS) faculty, with research laboratories located in the Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH), the Beth Israel Hospital (BI), and the Harvard Medical School Quadrangle.  Through the Center mechanism, their broad-ranging research related to digestive diseases was united by a common theme: Correlation of structure and function in the GI tract. The HDDC, and interest in digestive diseases-related research on the Harvard Medical School Campus, grew steadily under the excellent leadership of founding Director Dr. William Silen (BI) and subsequently under the leadership of Dr. James Madara (1994-1997) and, more recently, Dr. Marian Neutra (1997-2005). In 2005, consonant with a modification of scientific focus, the Center was refunded for a five-year cycle under the leadership of Drs. Wayne Lencer and Richard Blumberg as co-Directors and dual administrative oversight from the CH and BWH. The Center Directors are assisted by an Executive Steering Committee, which represents all of the HDDC-affiliated institutions.

C.  Environment
The Harvard Medical Area, encompassing several blocks surrounding Longwood Avenue in Boston, is one of the most densely concentrated biomedical research communities in the world. This area includes Harvard Medical School (HMS) and over 10 Harvard-affiliated hospitals and research institutes.  A majority of the 2,500 full-time Harvard Medical School Faculty members and their trainees work in these neighboring buildings.  It has been estimated that over 6,000 M.D.s, Ph.D.s, and M.D./Ph/D.s, including postgraduate trainees, work within the Longwood Medical Area.  Over 80% of the HMS faculty is located in Harvard-affiliated hospitals and institutes.  In this large and complex environment, the HDDC plays the important role of providing lines of communication, shared resources, and common events that draw together investigators in GI related research who might not otherwise cross paths.