The success of our proposed Conte Feasibility Center for Neuroscience Research depends upon an effective structure for subject assessment and for obtaining MR scans. For our Center, a combined Administration and Assessment Core is proposed. As the Center matures, we anticipate that a separation of these functions into separate Cores will probably be needed. However, at this early stage of development, we felt the combination of these functions would be optimally efficient and economical. The central goals of this Core will include the integration and regular monitoring of each project, the maintenance of clinical resources to ensure subject availability, the implementation and quality monitoring of all clinical assessment procedures, and the standardization, collection and archiving of all magnetic resonance (MR) images. In addition, this Core will also be responsible for integrating the Center projects, protocols, and other activities across the three participating institutions, as well as recruiting and ensuring input from an External Advisory Board. Thus, the specific aims of this Core are as follows:
Aim 1. To establish and maintain optimal integration of scientific content and experimental protocols for all individual projects, and to encourage the collaborative assessment and interpretation of results;
Aim 2. To oversee and manage Center funding, optimizing the utilization of staff, clinical resources and facilities by multiple projects;
Aim 3. To create and maintain successful and efficient mechanisms for the recruitment, screening, and assessment of human subjects;
Aim 4. To implement standardized protocols for the collection and secure archiving of all structural magnetic resonance (MR) scans, functional MR scans, and diffusion tensor images, as well as ensuring that all of these image datasets are co-registered within a common coordinate system;
Aim 5. To create and maintain a central database where clinical and neuroimaging data required for combined analysis are stored;
Aim 6. To solicit and distribute the input from the External Advisory Board to all Center participants;
Aim 7. To encourage community outreach and the recruitment of new Center investigators.
