Administrative Core

PROJECT SUMMARY – Administrative Core The Administrative Core (Admin Core) has established an organizational structure that serves the mission of the UC Davis Environmental Health Sciences Core Center (EHSC), which is to advance interdisciplinary understanding of environmentally induced disease and disability and to develop interventions that reduce hazardous exposures or lessen their effects on health. The Admin Core supports all Cores of the EHSC, the Advisory groups, and the Working Groups; provides resources for all EHSC members to capitalize on emerging opportunities; and enables Center Leaders to effectively guide the EHSC towards greater impact through its research, community engagement, and translational efforts. Over the last 5 years, the Admin Core provided administrative support to successfully integrate previously disparate clusters of investigators working on exposure science, toxicology, disease mechanisms, epidemiology and environmental justice into a cohesive group pursuing new collaborations and generating cutting-edge science. The Admin Core was instrumental in robust disaster research response to wildfires and COVID; recruitment of 28 new Center members, through coordination and campus-wide publicizing of award programs; and integration of community stakeholders in the Center’s annual retreats and discussions of research priorities. In the next funding period, the Admin Core will provide services in four areas: 1) Management of fiscal operations, documentation and evaluation of activities, compliance, and progress, and scientific leadership for decision-making and priority- setting to govern the overall direction of the Center, new research initiatives, and translational projects. 2) Career development, including monthly Specific Aims Reviews for environmental health–related grant applications, an EHS Scholar award, a course in program management and leadership, and mentoring for pilot award recipients who are Early Stage Investigators or established investigators new to EHS. 3) Coordination of research infrastructure and translation by promoting/supporting interdisciplinary collaborations, Working Groups, and research activities, and by working with the Community Engagement Core to build community relationships and translate EHS research into policy. 4) Communications both internally to all Center members and leaders, to enhance integration and participation, and externally, to amplify visibility of the EHSC, including to UC Davis administrators, advisory bodies, funding agencies, other Core Centers, government and policymakers, stakeholders, and the broader public. The Admin Core will continue to grow the EHSC’s capacity to address pressing environmental health issues; accelerate translation of results into policies and practices that improve public health; and work toward long-term sustainability.