The CSD is an inter-departmental program involving the 22 basic and clinical GUMC departments. Investigators in the Center also interact with investigators in the 13 other GU Centers and Institutes, including the Institute for Reproductive Health, the Center for Hypertension and the Renal Disease Research, the Institute for Cognitive and Computational Sciences, the Health Policy Institute, the International Center for Interdisciplinary Studies of Immunology and the Lombardi Cancer Center.

The CSD focuses on five major areas of research, including: Cell biology and oncology, endocrinology, obesity and diabetes, immunology and infection, neuroscience and cognition and vascular biology and hypertension (see Organizational Chart below).