Administrative Core

The Administrative Core of the Interdisciplinary Research Unit for Attacking Failure of Antibiotic Treatment (AFAT) will oversee the day-to-day operations of the Unit, ensuring that the scientific Aims of the Unit are met. The Core Director, Dr. Tim van Opijnen, will oversee the Core in collaboration with an administrator and a Synergy Director, Dr. Ralph Isberg. Milestone tracking will be an important duty of the Administrative Core, and a defined set of these goals has been established to facilitate the timely completion of Specific Aims detailed in three Research Projects and one Scientific Core. A second important duty will be ensuring scientific synergy as well as technology transfer between individual projects and the Scientific Core. There will be a Mentoring Plan established to allow students and fellows to be collaboratively guided within the three Projects, with special emphasis on bioinformatic training provided by the Scientific Core. An external Scientific Advisory Board will provide guidance on the conduct of the Unit, including critiques of spending plans and evaluation of progress toward effective implementation of synergistic relationships. Another important role of the Board will be to evaluate progress toward milestones, and provide suggestions regarding alternate routes of attacking problems, when needed. A key responsibility of the Core will be to communicate with NIAID officials regarding progress in the Unit, as well as organize, prepare and submit annual progress reports. The Core will also plan for annual meetings attended by other Combatting Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria Interdisciplinary Units (CARBIRU) and provide resources for travel for of the Team to these annual meetings.