Administrative Core The Administrative Core is the central organizational entity of our proposed Center for Environmental and Health Effects of PFAS. The goals of the Administrative Core are to ensure integration and efficient administrative and fiscal management of the Center to stimulate discovery-based knowledge and facilitate research translation that leads to improved protection of environmental and human health. The leadership team is purposefully comprised of individuals with domain-specific expertise that reflects the biomedical and environmental science and engineering foci of the Center as well as significant administrative experience and strong connections to government stakeholders to ensure effective and efficient management and research translation. An internal advisory committee (IAC) will be formed with a designated representative from each of the Research Projects, Cores, and the community of Center trainees. This committee will be the voice of the Center and work with the Administrative Core to facilitate and implement initiatives and develop content (e.g., community partner meetings, annual Retreat, transdisciplinary seminars) that will ensure and strengthen communication and integration within and outside of the Center. In addition to providing planning and administrative support on a day-to-day basis, a dedicated Center Program Manager will solicit information from all members and coordinate the development and dispersal of current and dynamic content for public- facing communication mechanisms such as the Center's web site and social media feeds. Research Translation will be a priority of the Center. The collective strength of existing partnerships with government stakeholders among the Center's members will be leveraged, shared, and expanded according to clear timelines and development of Individualized Research Translation Plans by all Center members during the first year of funding and in coordination with the Center's Research Translation Coordinator. Plans will be revisited bi-annually and will evolve as the Center and research programs progress. The Administrative Core will work closely with the Community Engagement Core (CEC) and facilitate Center member involvement in a range of activities including bimonthly community meetings throughout the impacted regions of priority for this Center, the Center's annual Retreat, reviewing CEC mini grants, and cultivating research collaborations with community partners and Fellows. Finally, the Administrative Core will work with the Research Experience and Training Coordination Core to ensure integration of Center trainees with Research Projects and Cores, development of nanocourses, scheduling of seminars embedded in transdisciplinary seminar series, and involvement of trainees in IAC meetings and the annual Retreat. The Administrative Core will provide the infrastructure and support to facilitate and continually evaluate and implement integration-cultivating measures and collaboration to reach the goals of the Center.
Administrative Core Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are environmental contaminants of emerging concern because they are detected ubiquitously in our environment, yet there is little known about their toxicity, bioaccumulation, or effective remediation strategies. The Administrative Core of this proposed Center will be responsible for ensuring coordination and efficient administrative and fiscal management of the Center to stimulate discovery- based knowledge, and to facilitate research translation and help to inform preventive actions by community and government stakeholders to protect human health.
