The CPC Biomedical Services Team

The Biomedical Services core is headed by director John Thorp, an obstetrician/gynecologist and CPC Fellow with extensive experience in integrating biomarkers in population research. He will link CPC fellows with experts in the field of biomedical measurement.  Center staff can provide consultative assistance on biomarker logistics.

John M. Thorp, Jr., MD, has been PI of several projects that integrate biomarkers that measure nutritional components, infection, stress hormones, and placental pathologies. He has extensive experience in clinic-based research that involves collection of biological specimens and integrating them with social and behavioral factors. He has served as PI or co-investigator on several projects at CPC that collect biomarkers including the National Children's Study, and is the PI of the Maternal and Fetal Medicine Network grant through the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. He has served as a consultant for several projects that included biological specimen collection in U.S. and international settings. He is well versed in implementation and ethical issues associated with collection of biomarker and behavioral data.

Jim Terry, Programmer/Analyst, has developed inventory systems for tracking biomarkers from collection through laboratory assay and long-term storage, and can provide insight into what is needed to develop and maintain such systems.  He also can provide bar coded labels for specimen tubes and offer advice about the information to include in the bar code to make it most useful to the project.  The Center has several bar code readers to assist with inventory control, and Jim can provide guidance on their use.

Nancy Dole, PhD, deputy director of CPC's Research Services, has extensive experience with research projects that have collected biological specimens along with social and behavioral data, and she has academic training in biological sciences, health administration, and epidemiology. Her work in epidemiology has focused on psychosocial risk factors for preterm birth, on the Pregnancy, Infection, and Nutrition (PIN) Study, which collected biomarkers to assess stress hormones, health behaviors, nutritional factors, placental characteristics, genetic factors, and infection. She is also co-PI of the CPC contracts for the National Children's Study, which is planning to collect many biomarkers. She is well versed in implementation issues associated with gathering biological and behavioral data, having worked on studies collecting specimens in international and US settings. She can provide assistance on logistics of incorporating biomarkers into population research.