The Administrative Core provides the infrastructure required to manage and oversee the actions of the Center for research on Obesity and Oxalate Kidney Stones (COOKS). It is housed in academic offices of the Department of Urology at UAB. The Center Director is Dean Assimos, MD, the Chair of the Department, who has specialized in treating kidney stone patients throughout his career and in conducting research on stone removal, the pathophysiology of stone formation and prevention of this disease. He will be assisted by two Associate Directors, Ross Holmes, PhD, who specializes in oxalate-related research, and Naim Maalouf, MD, who specializes in translational kidney stone research. The Director and Associate Directors will have monthly conference calls, or more frequently if needed, to review the functioning and administration of the Center.
Three specific aims were developed for the Administrative Core: 1. To provide direction, administrative support and organizational structure to facilitate the function of the Center. This will involve ensuring appropriate generation and storage of documents and managing all aspects of the 2 projected symposia. 2. To maintain and expand a website that provides an up-to-date description of COOKS activities including its Educational Enrichment Program, and a portal for communication of results and access to data for the investigators. 3. To develop an educational enrichment program, which provides administrative and educational platforms to enhance expertise on this subject, attract others into this field of research, and promote intra/extra institutional collaborations. The efficient operation of the Administrative Core will be a key element in ensuring the success of the Center and ultimately the development of a successful Multi-Institutional R01 or Program Project Grant Application.
The activities of COOKS (Center for research on Obesity and Oxalate Kidney Stones) will be managed by the Administrative Core Directory and Center Director, Dean Assimos, M.D. including making sure that things are orchestrated smoothly and correctly. This Core will also maintain the COOKS website so that important information is communicated to scientists within and outside the Center as well as the public. The Administrative Core will be responsible for planning educational events including yearly seminars that bring experts together in an effort to determine why obesity is associated with developing kidney stones.
