EXCEED THE SPACE PROVIDED. This grant proposal from the School of Medicine of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill requests the funds necessary for continued support of its General Clinical Research Center, one of only a handful of such centers that has been continuously funded by the NIH since the very inception of the GCRC Program in 1960. The Mission Statement of the UNCGCRC is as follows: "To promote patient-oriented research by providing training, specialized expertise, and highest quality patient care in a professional and user friendly environment." In this application, we summarize a few highlights of the research that has been conducted on this GCRC since the last renewal was submitted in 1997, and we describe the research activities that are proposed for the upcoming five-year cycle. In addition, we describe the unprecedented expansion of biomedical research that is currently underway on the UNC campus, and we emphasize the central role that is being played by the GCRC in many of these exciting new research activities. We also describe the critical importance of the UNCGCRC not just to the School of Medicine, but to a regional research community that encompasses all five schools on the Health Affairs campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and such neighboring institutions as NIEHS, EPA,and Duke University. Finally, it is our firm belief that the greatest single contribution this center will make over the next five years is in the identification and training of the next generation of patient- oriented investigators. Therefore, we place special emphasis in this application on the vital role of the GCRC in the education and training of young people. Through its close linkage to UNC'sK30 Program, the GCRC has played an important role in the career development of many of the junior faculty members who now hold over 25 CAP or K23 awards that have been funded by the NIHover the past 5 years. In addition, we take particular pride in introducing our most recent training endeavor, the GCRC Medical Student Fellowship Program.