Administrative Core

PROJECT SUMMARY – Administrative Core The New Mexico Integrative Science Program Incorporating Research in Environmental Sciences (NMINSPIRES) will be established as a transdisciplinary Environmental Health Sciences Core Center designed to develop and operationalize strategic infrastructure assets relevant to cutting-edge environmental health research and provide leadership for scientific and programmatic activities supporting ongoing, new, and evolving studies in this area. The theme of the Center is Metals, Mining, and Mixtures, which is grounded in a rural population in NM. The Administrative Core (AC) is an essential component of this Center providing communication, coordination, and oversight to ensure operational and scientific integration of all NMINSPIRES components. In addition, the AC facilitates integration of center goals with community needs and concerns through dynamic community outreach and engagement activities to enable effective translation of findings to and from the affected communities. The AC staff will closely monitor the effectiveness of NMINSPIRES programs and initiatives to ensure that the Center resources enhance member research productivity. Specific aims are: 1) Provide leadership for scientific and programmatic activities of NMINSPIRES and coordinate and integrate the components and activities of the Center, as well as facilitate communications and interactions across all Center components and with community stakeholders; 2) Organize and facilitate Center program activities, communications, and research discussions, including retreats, consultant interactions, seminars, Research Focus Group meetings, and media engagement and newsletters; 3) Provide financial oversight, facilitate resource support, and ensure regulatory compliance related to the Center’s research and community activities; maintain Center records and measures of success including use of NM-INSPIRES facilities, publications, pilot project awards, and new grant applications resulting from preliminary data garnered by NM-INSPIRES members; 4) Coordinate the Career Development Program (a) to promote collaboration among basic, clinical, and population scientists and support early stage investigators in developing professional skills and (b) to attract investigators and scientists in other fields through opportunities to focus on environmentally induced disease; and 5) Evaluate the productivity, effectiveness, and appropriateness of NM-INSPIRES activities and evaluate the Center’s membership, scientific opportunities, and areas for collaboration among members and citizen scientists; and coordinate NM-INSPIRES infrastructure assessments as intellectual needs change to accommodate new opportunities for collaboration. The expected outcome is a set of seamless interactions among the AC and embedded Career Development Program, four defined Research Focus Groups, various facility cores, and the Pilot Project Program.