The Administrative Core is the nucleus of the IDDRC, providing scientific, administrative, and fiscal leadership, and high quality, cost-effective core services, in a strongly collaborative spirit. The core serves as the liaison between the IDDRC and the UW-Madison, the NIH, and national and international organizations. The core functions to create a highly visible and comprehensive center that systematically integrates all aspects of research, training, and clinical services in the field of IDD at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Messing and the previous Director, Marsha Mailick, have raised considerable private funds for improvement of IDDRC physical facilities, purchase of scientific equipment for IDDRC cores, program development, and recruitment and retention of investigators.
Specific Aim 1 is to develop new and coordinate existing scientific resources to strategically support the research of IDDRC investigators. IDDRC core resources and services have been designed to complement UW-Madison resources to enhance scientific work involving all phases of the translational research cycle, from basic discovery to clinical application. The Administrative Core's leadership team (Executive Committee) gathers information about research needs from surveys of investigators as well as from each core's user advisory board, internal and external advisory groups, consultants, and visiting scientists. To obtain additional resources, the Administrative Core works closely with UW-Madison administration, academic deans, department chairs, center directors, and directors of other relevant research units.
Specific Aim 2 is to promote interdisciplinary and collaborative research in high priority areas of IDD. This includes provision of start-up funds to attract faculty to the Waisman Center, allocating support for special interest groups that involve IDDRC faculty from multiple disciplines who share a common area of focus (e.g., fragile X, epigenetics), provision of seed money for groups of investigators who seek to develop multi-component grant applications for interdisciplinary IDD research, funding for speakers in the Seminar Series, and creation of an environment of mutual respect for diverse disciplinary approaches to studying IDD conditions. Ultimately, the Administrative Core of the Waisman Center seeks to create a nexus where multiple angles of vision are focused on a shared commitment to understanding the causes and consequences of, and discovering cures or treatments for IDD conditions.
Specific Aim 3 is to further connect research and clinical activities and strengthen community partnerships. The Administrative Core facilitates interactions between research and clinical activities within the Center, works to ensure access to individuals with IDD throughout the UW health care system and in community settings such as the public schools, and nurtures and maintains the relationships with key campus partners such as the CTSA, and with the Marshfield Clinic Research Foundation. The core maintains close connections with parent and patient groups as well as agencies and organizations active in the field of IDD.
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