Our Research Facilities
Welch Center – Main Office
2024 E. Monument Street
Baltimore, MD 21205
The Welch Center’s main office is located on the East Baltimore campus of Johns Hopkins University. This space houses the offices of core faculty and staff, conference rooms, and carrels for most of our trainees. This space is conveniently located near the School of Medicine and the Bloomberg School of Public Health. We also maintain two satellite facilities for patient-oriented epidemiologic and clinical research - ProHealth and the George W. Comstock Center.
Pro-Health Clinical Research Unit
1849 Gwynn Oaks Avenue, Suite 1
Baltimore, MD 21207
The Pro-Health Clinical Research Unit is our site for community-based research, often prevention-oriented clinical trials. Convenient to study participants, the facility houses numerous examination rooms, a blood-drawing station, freezers for specimen storage, a metabolic kitchen, conference rooms, and staff offices. It is an excellent resource for faculty and trainees interested in community-based research studies. This facility has been the site for several landmark studies, including Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH), a feeding study; PREMIER, the Diabetes and Prevention Project (DPP), LookAHEAD, all trials of lifestyle modification, often including weight loss; the African-American Study of Hypertension and Kidney Disease (AASK); the Chronic Renal Insufficiency Cohort Study (CRIC); and STURDY, a dose-finding trial of vitamin D supplements to prevent falls in older persons.
George W. Comstock Center for Public Health Research and Prevention
1110 Dual Highway
Hagerstown, MD
The George W. Comstock Center for Public Health Research and Prevention provides a base of operations for faculty and students interested in community-based research, particularly large cohort studies. It houses research staff on the prevention of disease, particularly heart disease, cancer, and stroke, and also serves as a resource for the Washington County Health Department in the areas of public health surveillance and assessment. The Comstock Center is involved in several multi-site epidemiologic studies, including Atherosclerosis Research in the Community (ARIC). This landmark study, which initially focused on prevention of heart disease, stroke, and its risk factors, has expanded its scope and now conducts research on other chronic conditions, including cognitive decline and dementia. It is noteworthy that ARIC investigators and trainees have published over 1,000 papers.