Administrative/Program Enrichment Core

The overall objective of the Administrative/Program Enrichment (A/PEC) Core A is to provide centralized, efficient mechanisms to monitor, evaluate, and continuously improve the research, scientific and educational programs of this Minnesota (MN) Nathan Shock Center of Excellence on Genome Integrity and Aging (MN NSC). Additionally, the A/PEC will assure viability of the Center for the next generation of investigators in the basic biology of aging, geroscience, DNA damage, the DNA damage response, DNA repair, mouse models of accelerated DNA damage and aging and cellular senescence research and will provide intellectual leadership in support of the activities of the NSC consortium. Dr. Paul Robbins will serve as director of the A/PEC with Dr. Laura Niedernhofer serving as co-director, both of whom are experts in the biology of aging, DNA damage, DDR, cellular senescence, inflammation, mouse models of aging and drug development. They have exceled in their co-director leadership positions of the Institute on the Biology of Aging and Metabolism (iBAM) at the University of Minnesota (UMN) in regard to faculty recruitment, external grant funding, establishment of biology of aging-related cores, and serving on national and international boards as well as have long track records in mentoring junior faculty, post-doctoral fellows and students. The MN NSC will have an active communication plan to disseminate our ongoing research findings and resources for the basic biology of aging research community including the establishment of a NSC website, including a grant submission portal, and implementation of an online Cloud database for access to and tracking samples and experimental results. The A/PEC also will interact with both Internal and External Advisory Committee (IAC and EAC) that will provide at least annual feedback regarding the MN NSC initiatives and progress toward achieving the overall goals of the NSC. A/PEC also will be responsible for the establishment of a yearly symposium on different aspects of genomic instability and its role in driving cellular senescence, inflammation and other hallmarks of aging, that will enhance the visibility of the Center and advance the research goals of the MN NSC. Thus the three Aims of the A/PEC are to: 1) To provide scientific and educational leadership for the entire NSC through coordination of weekly Director, monthly Executive Committee, biannual IAC, annual EAC meetings, yearly symposia, lecture series and development of a website; 2) To provide efficient and centralized administration for MN NSC investigators by monitoring the financial performance and progress of each core, facilitate internal and external resource sharing, oversee the allocation of resources, facilitate all communication and advertising of services and oversee the Aging Research Pilot Awards, Research Stimulus Awards, the Career Development MN NSC New Investigator in Aging Award and Junior Faculty Sabbaticals and well as facilitating training opportunities in methodologies in the different cores; and 3) To participate in the annual NSC Directors Meeting and to provide intellectual leadership in support of the activities of the NSC consortium.