The Administrative - Biostatistics/Data Management Core A of this Botanical Dietary Supplement Research Center (BDSRC) has a two tier plan. The Administrative Tier I Plan Component is divided into three broad categories: scientific, academic, and organizational. The components of the administrative core will provide the day-to-day management of the BDSRC and will facilitate interactions within and between the participating research groups at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and the external participating institutions. The organizational support provided by the Administrative Tier I Plan Component of this Core will operate through three ?Work Groups? and will manage all administrative issues of the BDSRC, including scientific affairs, contractual agreements, allocation of funds/fiscal issues, personnel related issues, and fostering of new research. Overall the Work Groups in the Administrative Tier I Plan Component will be regulated by an Internal Steering Committee (ISC) composed of Research Project and Core Leaders to assess research progress and determine whether research goals are being met. The Administrative Tier I Plan Component of Core A will also be responsible for the creation and management of an External Advisory Committee (EAC) designed to provide oversight and assist the PD/PIs in making scientific and administrative decisions. In parallel, the Biostatistics/Data Management Tier II Plan Component is organized into one Work Group: Biostatistics and Data Management Work Group, which provide statistical support for all BDSRC Research Projects and Cores. While all of the BDSRC investigators are well versed in the statistical approaches that are applicable to their specific hypotheses and projects, Core A will provide statistical expertise, state-of-the-art analysis, and storage for all data sets, allowing integration of each Project's data with the data derived from the other Projects. The Tier II Plan Component has access to a data warehouse system that has recently been developed within Mount Sinai's Scientific Computing facility. This system will be available to each Research Project and Core for data integration/storage and data query through web interface. The integration of cross-project data for statistical analysis will not only be aided by the data management system described, but also through statistical testing of hypotheses, which will be an integral part of the development of each BDSRC Project from the time of its inception.
