The Management and Administrative Core will provide overall scientific leadership for the Rochester Roybal Center for Social Ties & Aging Research (STAR Center). It will provide overall administration and coordination of all STAR Center activities, and will orchestrate communication among STAR Center stakeholders (including STAR Center faculty, the Advisory Committee, the Roybal Coordinating Center, NIA program staff, and UR institutional leadership). The primary goal of the Management and Administrative Core is to provide a solid, highly connected infrastructure that affords optimal social connectedness intervention development across the NIH Stage Model, with a particular focus on family caregivers of a family member with Alzheimer?s? disease or related dementia (ADRD). With vision- and value-driven leadership, outstanding scientific and community expertise, Stage- model guided research planning, and seamless coordination of pilot study resources, the Core will serve as the vehicle through which the STAR Center can achieve its mission to impact social connectedness in innovative ways that ensure social vitality and healthy aging in those who provide care for a family member with ADRD. The Core will be responsible for: (1) setting policies and procedures for the STAR Center that support its strategic vision and mission to support social vitality and healthy aging in later life; (2) managing a quarterly- convened Advisory Committee that oversees and monitors Center activities, and conducts strategic planning sessions that inform Center decision-making and assists the Directors in setting policies and scientific direction; (3) establishing a monthly-convened Steering Committee to implement and monitor the Pilot Award Program, determining scientific priorities and resource allocation, as well as approval submissions to NIA; (4) establishing the Pilot Core and administering its centralized resources to support pilot studies, including the Scientific Outreach, Recruitment & Study Coordination, and Data Analyses sub-cores; (5) organizing and coordinating key Center committees, and coordinating travel to the annual NIA Roybal Center meeting; (6) transparent financial management; (7) ensuring regulatory compliance and annual reporting to NIA; (8) promoting internal and external research partnerships that result in new multidisciplinary collaborations that accelerate social connectedness intervention research through Stages 0-IV; (9) maintaining open lines of communication between Center members, other stakeholders, and Center leadership; (10) verse conduct of programmatic evaluation that results in effective decision-making and leads to continued improvement and high impact outcomes.
