Administrative Core

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CP1. "Administrative Core" Principal Investigator/Program Director (Last, first, middle): Schneewind, Olaf PI, Olaf Schneewind, University of Chicago The organizational plan of the Midwestem RCE is designed to achieve multiple scientific objectives by marshalling the resources of its diverse Region V participants. These participants include universities, a national laboratory, corporations, hospitals, and Regional or National Biocontainment Laboratories. The Midwestem RCE Administrative Core (AC) is designed to: maintain scientifically objective and bias-free direction and coordination of the projects; enable RCE management to identify opportunities and to attract intellectual or infrastructural resources (whether within the Midwestem RCE or elsewhere); recruit qualified women and minorities into biodefense research; create an open and flexible environment to respond quickly to new developments within Region V, other regions, and elsewhere; monitor progress of all Midwestern RCE activities toward their goals; provide quick review of proposals in order to attract highquality submissions; and remain responsive to the needs of all its constituencies, ranging from basic research, to medical research, to corporations, to first responders. The organization of the AC links pharmaceutical and biotech companies with federal, state, and local agencies, as well as other investigators, to foster translational research and promote maximal use of the core facilities. In the case of a biodefense emergency, the Midwestem RCE will rapidly realign its activities and resources to assist local or national response efforts. In so doing, it will maintain fluent communications with its participants and their respective communities. The Midwestem RCE has already defined (and published on its website) mechanisms for monitoring and self-evaluation of its research activities, as well as identifying and responding to new opportunities. The committee-based management scheme of the Midwestern RCE, and its web- based collaboration tools, will ensure information flow from top to bottom and viceversa. The Administrative Core is designed to assure the financial and administrative integrity of the Midwestem RCE. The AC has been operational since August 2002, when the University of Chicago emerged as the PI institution of the Midwestem RCE. The proposed structure of the AC is shown in the Organization Chart (Figure 1 below). The AC is responsible for the general administration and coordination of research activities across the departments, programs, and schools of the participating universities of federallydesignated Region V. The core is accountable for planning and priority setting for all researchers in the center; it works towards this goal by conducting ongoing assessments to identify needs and opportunities and seeking routine advice from oversight committees inside and outside the center. The AC creates an integrated work environment that functionally links basic and clinical researchers from different disciplines to each other and to key resources and new technologies. Through support of its research programs, the core will expand the capacity of scientists to work together in newly developing areas of biodefense research. The goal for the AC is to sustain a research framework to stimulate and support scientific discovery and its clinical application to the prevention and treatment of infectious diseases. The specific aims are to: provide leadership in setting research goals for the center; develop and implement strategies for achieving the center's research, education, human resource/diversity, and emergency response goals; ¿ foster the universities' commitment to biodefense research and emergency response; ¿ capitalize on the interdisciplinary strength of the center investigators to expand the research portfolio; ¿ sustain a basic and clinical research infrastructure for enhanced collaboration, advanced technology support, emergency response, and access to key resources; and ¿ ensure that the research infrastructure is robust and responsive to the expanding and everchanging needs of center investigators. The Administrative Core supports the members of the Midwestem RCE by providing a centralized governing organization to ensure the intelligent use of resources to meet the center's goals for research, service and education. In this way, the AC is responsible for an organizational plan that helps realize the multiple scientific goals of the Midwestem RCE. This organizational plan will facilitate the Midwestem RCE to overcome typical obstacles associated with modern scientific research, including distance between collaborators, scarcity of available facilities and institutional delays. From the beginning, the overarching vision of the consortium has been to weave together the superb existing resources of Region V, building momentum to accommodate and utilize the support of a Regional Center of Excellence in the Autumn of 2003. For the last year, the backbone of the consortium has been its rapid and fluent communication with scientists and institutions in Region V and beyond. Over the next years, the consortium intends to bring this proficiency in administration to its associations with the NIH/NIAID and the general public as the federally-sponsored Midwestem RCE. The Biological Sciences Division (BSD) at the University of Chicago has provided substantial support for the Administrative Core and will continue to provide ongoing support for the AC. In particular, the BSD will provide ongoing support for half-time salary support for the Grant Administrator and office student support, supplies and services, research development/program activities, staff development, and telephone and network costs. In addition, the BSD will provide dedicated space for the AC and state-of-the-art teleconferencing/video conferencing capabilities. The fiscal 2004 BSD contribution to the AC will be approximately $400,000 The staff of the Administrative Core (and the responsibilities of the AC) have steadily grown, along with the consortium itself. The current and proposed AC is comprised of eight staff members (four of whom are full-time), each charged with distinct duties integral to the successful administration of the Midwestem RCE. The specific duties assigned to each AC staff member represents a prioritization of the center's many and diverse activities. Each AC member is committed to supporting the Midwestem RCE's full transition from a spirited consortium to a federally-funded center. All Midwestem RCE participants are eligible to use the resources of the AC. If future demand for services exceeds available staff time, the Director will establish priorities based on the needs of the center.