Administrative Core

The purpose of the Administrative Core (Leader: Fridriksson) is to maintain oversight of each of the four projects and two scientific cores. As during the current phase of C-STAR, core and project leaders will be in charge of everyday operations with the Administrative Core ensuring that planned activities are initiated in an expeditious manner and carried out as described in the research plan. In addition, the Administrative Core will continue to manage the overall budget of the project, including financial oversight of each research site, and conducting thorough audits of all past and planned expenditures. With the aid of the Data Coordination Unit (DCU) at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC), the Administrative Core coordinates data collection across each clinical site – University of South Carolina (UofSC), MUSC, Johns Hopkins University (JHU), and University of California Irvine (UCI). During the current phase of C-STAR, the DCU has provided data management for all data collection on the project and will continue to do so if the current proposal is funded. The DCU has been instrumental for the success of the current trial and will aid in collection, coordination, storage, analyses, and dissemination of all behavioral data. The Administrative Core will continue to be responsible for coordinating communication across research cores and projects. This includes scheduling meetings at appropriate intervals to discuss progress, coordinate similar activities across different sites, and if needed, solve problems. These meetings focus on resolving discrepancies in data entry and to modify data collection efforts to best fit the long-term goals of the project. The Administrative Core supervises coordination of all meetings, including setting meeting agendas and recording meeting minutes. To coordinate meetings across sites, we will continue to rely on conference services provided by GoToMeeting™ (www.gotomeeting.com).