Administrative Core

The Administrative Core of the Center for Urban Responses to Environmental Stressors (CURES) is the seat of leadership, governance, fiscal management, communications, career enhancement, and evaluation for all Center operations, resources, Cores, and Programs. The Administrative Core is responsible for assuring that all units are cooperating toward our shared goals and for anticipating the needs of the Center investigators and the community so that they can be met by CURES. The CURES Director and Deputy Director, Drs. Melissa Runge-Morris and Christine Cole Johnson, foster a shared vision well aligned with NIEHS, establish priorities, set clear expectations of members, and promote collaborations in meeting the CURES goals of facilitating transdisciplinary, translational research and community engagement regarding exposures to stressors prevalent in the urban post-industrial environment and their effects on human health. The specific aims of the Administrative Core are to 1) coordinate essential operational activities of CURES by a) providing leadership with the requisite expertise to oversee all activities of the Center; b) managing Center business operations including financial and personnel issues; c) communicating operational activities to Core and Program leaders through monthly meetings with the internal advisory committee; d) coordinating biannual meetings with the external advisory committee to review Center progress and direction; e) communicating regularly with the institutional leadership to ensure that adequate facilities and resources are always available to the Center; and f) maintaining lines of communication with NIEHS and other environmental health sciences core centers; 2) facilitate Center-wide communication and enrichment by holding a) a seminar series that features presentations by CURES members and external experts; b) Center-wide “research integrator” meetings; and c) an annual full-day thematic symposium; 3) establish a Career Enhancement Program that supports the scientific and career advancement of CURES investigators by a) providing mentoring for early-stage and new investigators and training for all investigators to improve scientific and funding success and b) providing training to develop skills for effective communication between CURES investigators and community members and within interdisciplinary research groups; and 4) apply evaluative metrics to capture, track, and share all data indicative of CURES research progress, community engagement, and public health impact by implementing a series of “Operational and Strategic Dashboards” to provide insight and visualize performance metrics against enterprise-wide goals. The Administrative Core is responsible for preserving one clear focus among the investigators and with the community, on the shared, overarching theme of CURES - to be a gateway to a healthy urban environment for all.