Administration Core

ABSTRACT – ADMINISTRATIVE CORE The epidemic of youth vaping is threatening the health and well-being of adolescents. The proposed project (“A Multidisciplinary Assessment of Risks of Vaping in Early Life” - Project MARVEL) takes an integrated multidisciplinary approach to assess the impact of youth vaping on health in collaboration with the system that is most directly impacted by adolescent vaping and is well-positioned to intervene to reduce the potential negative health impact - schools. To achieve this overarching goal, Project MARVEL brings together expertise in adolescent development, addiction, tobacco regulatory science, longitudinal research methods, brain development, respiratory health, biomarkers, multi-omics, biostatistics, community engagement, and health communication. Project MARVEL includes four innovative and integrative projects that will determine the impact of vaping on dependence and well-being (Project 1), brain health and cognitive and psychosocial development (Project 2), and respiratory health (Project 3), and leverage this health information, along with the extant literature to develop health communication messages focused on how vaping affects adolescents’ health and lives now (Project 4). These projects are supported by four cores that provide critical services including: (1) administrative support; (2) biostatistical expertise; (3) facilitation with conducting research with adolescents, including recruitment and retention; and (4) biomarkers of exposure/effect, and measurement of product constituents, generated aerosols. Conducting the type of translational and participatory adolescent research proposed in Project MARVEL is challenging. It requires oversight of large and complex projects and cores, coordination between researchers; facilitation of scientific integration across different disciplines; and the experience required to overcome many practical challenges to the successful implementation of scientific protocols. The Administrative Core was designed to address each of these challenges through three specific aims: 1) Manage operations including administrative, financial, and regulatory functions; 2) Facilitate scientific discussion, and integration; 3) Coordinate dissemination of scientific findings. To address these aims, the Administrative Core will oversee regular meetings, organize travel and reimbursements; provide budgetary oversight for all projects and cores; and oversee human subjects’ protections, registration of clinical trials, and the generation of reports. The Administrative Core will also organize regular discussion of topics related to youth vaping through a monthly scientific seminar and an annual scientific retreat/external advisory board meeting, support the development of scientific presentations, manuscripts, and submissions to the federal docket, and implement policies for data sharing across the three research projects, as well as external to the Program Project. Lastly, the Administrative Core will engage experts to serve on an External Advisory Board to review the immediate and long-term goals of MARVEL, to monitor progress towards these goals, and to provide input on study design study design, interpretation of results, and translational efforts.