About Us

About HCRF

The Human Clinical Research Facility (HCRF) is a 23,000 square foot biomedical research facility that was developed to provide a centralized research facility for clinical researchers to conduct human clinical research trials at Texas A&M University.

The HCRF houses six Principal Investigators (PI’s) from the Department of Health & Kinesiology in the College of Education and Human Development (CEHD) and one PI from the Department of Aerospace Engineering. Primary research areas include: the Center for Translational Research in Aging and Longevity (CTRAL) under the direction of Nicolaas E Deutz, MD, PhD and Marielle P Engelen, PhD which is dedicated to the study of translational research on nutrition, exercise, and metabolism in relation to aging and the common diseases of our aging population; the Exercise and Sport Nutrition Laboratory (ESNL) under the direction of Richard B. Kreider, PhD which is dedicated to study the role of exercise and nutrition on health, disease, rehabilitation and performance; the Aging and Translational Research in Medicine Lab (ATM) under the direction of Dr. Melinda Sheffield Moore; the Neuromuscular Coordination Dynamics Lab (MCDL) under the direction of Deanna Kennedy, PhD, and the Human Centrifuge Lab (under construction) in collaboration with NASA that will be directed by Dr. Ana Diaz Artiles and will serve as the only facility of it’s kind in the United States to conduct related antigravity and cardiovascular research.

The HCRF contains facilities to conduct training and rehabilitation research; a large conference / lecture area; offices for faculty, staff, and research assistants; 12 beds for overnight research studies; a metabolic kitchen for feeding studies; a pharmacy compounding room for preparing sterile intravenous solutions; 4 procedure and research examination rooms; DEXA and resting energy expenditure rooms; large physiological testing area; a secured data archive system; nursing station, blood/tissue processing and testing laboratory; biobank with 7 monitored and controlled -80°C freezers with a capacity for 200.000 samples; a comprehensive wet lab facility that can accommodate 4 LC-MS/MS, 2 GC-MS/MS systems, cell culture, routine clinical chemistry applications, ELISA’s etc.

Take a video tour of the HCRF

How to Conduct Research in the HCRF

Principal Investigators within the Texas A&M University system and external research sponsors can access the HCRF by: 1.) being assigned research space in the HCRF by the Dean of the CEHD at the request of their department head; 2.) collaborating directly with resident PI’s on sponsored research; 3.) working with the HCRF Directors to coordinate data collection on their independent IRB approved protocols on a fee for service basis; and/or, 4.) reserving study and/or exam room space and access to training/rehabilitation facilities on a fee for service basis for independent research using their staff for data collection on IRB approved protocols (with training by HCRF as needed). Click the links for a description of research capabilities and currently approved services and rates, click FY20 Fee for Service Rates. Contact the HCRF directors to discuss other research capabilities and services if not not listed.

For more information about the HCRF, see our Annual Report, Collaborator and Sponsor Overview, and brochure below:

2019 HCRF Annual Report

2019 Collaborator and Sponsor Overview

HCRF Brochure