Research Core B, the Evaluation Core, would target the goals set by the Institute of Medicine: to "focus resources from a variety of disciplines on the important problems of urinary incontinence, autonomic dysfunction, and falls "where" specialized diagnostic/pathophysiologic units that encourage collaboration between clinical researchers and basic scientists are especially encouraged". The Evaluation Core would establish three such units -- a Urodynamic Diagnostic Center, an Autonomic Diagnostic Center, and a Gait Diagnostic Center. The key word in each is "center" since although extensive multidisciplinary investigations are ongoing in each area presently, these efforts are dispersed throughout the city. This often precludes meaningful interactions between investigative groups and results in multiple missed opportunities for training and research. Thus, the overall goal of the Evaluation Core is to centralize resources. This would reduce duplicated effort, standardize evaluations, increase the number and types of patients that can be evaluated (thereby increasing research productivity), foster further collaborations among multiple disciplines from basic science to epidemiology, permit leveraging of considerable resources to capitalize on currently missed research opportunities, and greatly enhance the training of future leaders in geriatrics. Moreover, it would stimulate interest in geriatric incontinence and falls, two areas that have long been neglected and in which research and clinical training is critically needed. Finally, centralization and the establishment of a chargeback mechanism will allow all of these goals to be accomplished in a cost-effective manner.
