The Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR) will serve as the Administration and Management Core. This core will be based in the Office of Research Support (ORS) and will be responsible for promoting interactions among field sites, participating institutions and National NTDs programme and the granting agency in accordance with set milestones to reach the overall goal of the Noguchi Institute Initiative for NTDs Elimination (NIINE). This will include effective communication between members of the overall NIINE Consortium and supervision of all projects? activities to ensure accountable management and coordination of their entire range. The identified Administrative Core team has experience in successfully conducting field-based research and in swift mitigation of any identified challenges which can occur during the conduct of research. The overall Administrative Core Leader will work with the Administrative Core Coordinator and Administrative Core Managers in each of the field sites in Ghana and also the groups at Yale University and University of Massachusetts. This Core will be responsible for the uniform dissemination of a standard set of operating and time management procedures across all field sites, employing procedures that have been developed, tested and strengthened in Ghana during ongoing research activities.
The NIINE has been established to conduct research to identify critical factors that together would enhance the efficacy of mass drug administration (MDA) for STH control/elimination. Through the development of a skilled Administration Core that facilitates communication and supervises the management of all activities, the overall strategic objective of the NIINE can be attained. This objective is to make valuable contributions to GNTDP?s interventions and provide evidence-based guidance to ensure these interventions continue to make a substantial impact on the elimination of the hookworm reservoir, and reach beyond the scope of the four projects. Achieving hookworm elimination will require coordinated efforts at the district, local, national and regional levels. We aim to develop core administrative networks that establish training and collaboration platforms to strengthen local and national capacity to move towards the goal of hookworm elimination. The Administrative Core will strengthen existing capacities for research management at the various Ghanaian institutions participating in NIINE through the development of standardized protocols for all aspects of program administration (communication, training, reporting etc). In addition, the Administration Core will develop standard operating procedures to implement the strategic initiatives for the management of the program and integrate activities across field sites/research institutions. The Administration Core will also establish the use of information and communication technology (ICT) to ease communications between the field sites and the institutions. The Administrative Core director will also facilitate communication between the Project PIs and also the lead personnel at the field sites.
