Administrative Core

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PROJECT ABSTRACT The Administrative Core of the Rural Drug Addiction Research Center (RDAR) at the University of Nebraska will coordinate the activities of a broad range of investigators and facilities, resulting in a better understanding of the critical, emerging public health challenges posed by drug use in rural settings. The goal of the Administrative Core is to lead, implement, and support RDAR’s evolution toward a sustainable, nationally recognized Center dedicated to understanding the challenges and harms of rural drug addiction and developing appropriate interventions. Toward this end, the Administrative Core will provide the skills, programmatic leadership, and infrastructure necessary to ensure the Center functions efficiently, accomplishes its overall goals, and responsively engages emerging research opportunities (Aim 1). It will also implement a comprehensive faculty development plan to accelerate the transition of early career researchers to independent investigator status and recruit and develop others to fill their places (Aim 2). The Administrative Core will support Center-affiliated research projects conducting novel and collaborative investigations related to the Center’s programmatic focus through access to the Longitudinal Networks Core (LNC) and implementation of a pilot grant program to develop innovative research using LNC and other resources (Aim 3). In this process, it will lay the groundwork for the submission of large, multi-investigator proposals to NIH on behalf of Center members. Center-sponsored projects will address the problems of rural illicit drug use from a wide range of disciplinary perspectives, including neuroscience, cognition and decision-making, simulation and epidemiology, and clinical research. The Administrative Core will actively facilitate four strategies for synergy across RDAR projects, including: 1) coordinating interdisciplinary activities such as a mandatory monthly seminar, an annual translation symposium, and collaborative grant development workshops; 2) providing a common research space for Center members and their teams; 3) facilitating the use of a coordinated data collection strategy; and 4) maintaining a regular schedule of Center meetings in which collaboration planning will be a regular agenda item. Through these coordinating functions, RDAR will enable a critical mass of investigators, postdoctoral fellows, graduate students, and personnel to study rural drug addiction at the University of Nebraska. The Center’s Leadership Team will receive ongoing guidance from an External Advisory Committee and an Internal Mentoring and Advisory Committee, committees that will help guide Center strategy toward effectiveness and sustainability. RDAR will also establish an experienced translation and dissemination team to maximize the broader impact of Center-sponsored projects (Aim 4). Finally, RDAR will implement a robust and multilayered evaluation plan by a federally certified evaluator. This overall structure is designed to maximize productivity of Center members and the impact of RDAR’s scientific advances on this critical health issue.