To support the tissue needs of the Projects, over the next five years, the Tissue Procurement Core will obtain a greater number of samples to be distributed among Program Project investigators. Not only will more samples be acquired, but each sample will be more intricately characterized by the clinical/symptomologic/familial traits of the donor. The Tissue Procurement Core will endeavor to increase the number of investigators performing studies on tissue from a solitary patient, so that the data collected will provide a complete profile of the patient, clinical and subclinical markers. The interactive Tissue Procurement data base has been established and data from the genetic and immunologic marker studies are being entered and cross analyzed. The team assigned to tissue procurement includes a procurement supervisor, a research studies coordinator, tissue procurement technician and data manager. The team has been working together for 9 months as of this writing and we are in an excellent position to provide more than adequate samples for the experiments proposed in this Program Project continuation application. The overall goal of the Tissue Procurement Core is to provide investigators with well-define samples, offer the ability to identify scientific and clinical trends using the interactive data base, and of course distribute serum, cells isolated from blood, mesenteric nodes, biopsies and surgical samples, and perform nucleic acid extractions as requested. The structure by which the Tissue Procurement Core provides this service is as follows: Tissue specimens are obtained for distribution to Program Project investigators for the purpose of research as described in their proposals. All tissue samples are matched with epidemiologic, and clinical characteristics, for easy correlation studies. Distribution of the samples is equal and adequate, based on need, ensuring that each investigator is provided with adequate samples to perform the experiments outlined in the proposal. Histopathological evaluation of human and rodent colitis samples is performed. Encourage use of samples from one donor by several investigators. Clinical data and results from basic science studies are coordinated to allow stratification of populations by a variety of clinical, subclinical, genetic and epidemiologic parameters.