The Center for Addiction and Disease Risk Exacerbation (CADRE) Administrative Core will provide the scientific leadership and administrative support to ensure the success of all components of this COBRE proposal. We will leverage the full enterprise of Brown University, affiliated academic hospitals, respective research centers, and the broader community in Providence, Rhode Island and beyond. The five specific aims are Specific Aim 1 ? To establish a team and organizational structure to provide leadership and administrative support for scientific excellence and facilitating the goals of the CADRE.
Specific Aim 2 ? To provide state-of- the-art mentoring support and initiatives for the COBRE project leaders and pilot grant recipients with the goal of facilitating their success in achieving independent level grant funding.
Specific Aim 3 - To develop, administer and continuously evaluate a pilot grants program.
Specific Aim 4 ? Increase the diversity of the biomedical workforce and research that addresses the health disparities found in the disproportionate prevalence of SUD, and the resultant increased morbidity and mortality among racial and ethnic minorities.
Specific Aim 5 ? To conduct ongoing evaluation of the overall CADRE effort, the committees, the cores and the research projects so that CADRE is continuously evolving and improving. We will have the support of a fully engaged eight-member Internal Advisory Committee, four of whom are current COBRE PI's, an External Advisory Committee that will have disciplinary depth and breadth, and the support of 12 senior faculty members at Brown and its affiliated hospitals who will be CADRE affiliated scientists. We have a number of innovative elements to our proposal. Our choice of Principal Investigator and Deputy Director were intentional, as both have complementary, yet different experience in research, training, and mentoring. Dr. Monti is a clinical psychologist who has been at Brown for decades, directs the Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies (CAAS) at Brown, and is PI of a current P01. Dr. Ahluwalia is new to Brown, is a physician scientist, and was PI of a NIMHD P60 Center of Excellence in Minority Health. Monti has served on the National Advisory Council for NIAAA, and Ahluwalia has for NIMHD. Finally, Brown University's commitment to supporting CADRE's goal of diversifying the biomedical workforce and addressing health disparities, will be supported by (1) a $100,000 a year pilot grants program that focuses on addressing the higher burden of illness related to substance use and chronic disease among racial and ethnic minorities, and (2) a Brown-funded postdoctoral position given to someone from a group underrepresented in biomedical sciences. With this significant NIH and institutional investment, we will be able to significantly extend our current work so that it is interdisciplinary, has a significant biological component, and will propel the careers of talented project leaders to independence, and begin the careers of a new cohort of junior faculty through the pilot projects program.
