The overall goal of the International Center for Gonococcal Vaccine Discovery, Formulation and Implementation (ICGV) is to employ our established pipeline for vaccine antigen discovery to optimize the antigenic properties of our selected outer membrane protein antigens as possible vaccine components. Furthermore, our Center will utilize antigen diversity, global strain heterogeneity, and public acceptance information to generate improved computer models that allow us to predict the success of any Ngo vaccine deployed. The infrastructure and collaborations to enable success for projects and cores described in this Center are already in place. The goal of the Administrative Core is to ensure that the ICGV is productive in its goals towards rational engineering of our selected Ngo outer membrane protein antigens and deploying predictive modeling approaches to integrate sequence and strain diversity with public opinion on STI vaccines. The Administrative Core consists of the project and core leadership and a Core Administrator, and this group will be supplemented by a panel of renowned vaccine experts as an external Scientific Advisory Board.
The specific aims of the Administrative Core are as follows:
Aim 1. Provide coordination, supervision and management that streamlines oversight of Center activities, while incentivizing synergistic and creative approaches to achieving project milestones and objectives.
Aim 2. Coordinate regulatory responsibilities of the Center, including human subjects, animal subjects, training, compliance and NIH-related activities including production of progress reports.
Aim 3. Foster collaboration with other cores, including planning and supporting multi-Center meetings.
Aim 4. Function as an interface between projects, cores, the Scientific Advisory Board, CRC executive committee and NIH/NIAID staff.
Aim 5. Establish realistic timelines and monitor progress towards these goals. When necessary, alternative strategies will be implemented to reach the project milestones.
Aim 6. Provide financial oversight of all projects and cores.
Aim 7. Provide an environment conducive to collaboration among the Core and Project investigators, ensuring investigators receive appropriate recognition for their contributions to this complex team-based project.
Aim 8. Implement the Development and Research Program (DRP) to permit a competitive application process that will identify promising young investigators and fund their Ngo-based vaccine development projects that will ultimately feed into our pipeline and modeling. Innovative aspects of the Administrative Core include: the highly experienced PI and the well-established collaborations of PI with the project/core leads; the established pipeline for vaccine antigen discovery; the integration and deployment of an external Scientific Advisory Board; and the supplemental funding for the Development and Research Program committed by the Office of Research and Innovation at Virginia Commonwealth University.
