Administrative Core

Project Summary/Abstract The overarching goal of the Administrative Core (AC) is to maximize the opportunity of our proposed Johns Hopkins-Emory developmental AIDS Research Center (JH-E-dARC) to better measure and respond to stigma as a threat to mental health and the HIV response. Stigma is a fundamental barrier to health, and our proposed JH-E-dARC is unique in highlighting the need and value of improving how stigma is measured and mitigated. Moreover, along with researchers, we propose to engage a diverse group of stakeholders domestically and internationally--multilateral organizations and community groups and organizations--seeking to better translate research to relevant change for individuals living with and at risk for HIV. Our JH-E-dARC will provide an opportunity for investigators and partners to learn and adapt from existing expertise, tools, and methods instead of continually reinventing the wheel in stigma measurement and intervention development and evaluation. The potential for our JH-E-dARC to support these varied initiatives is evidenced by existing projects but also letters of support from more than 25 partners across more than 20 countries, including local networks of people living with HIV, international agencies, and university leadership. To this end, the AC will provide scientific, administrative, financial, and technical knowledge management leadership to provide the organizational infrastructure to strengthen the impact of the developmental, measurement, and interventional cores. Furthermore, the AC will support research coordination and collaboration across sites by advancing the methodological rigor of proposed studies focused on measuring or responding to stigma and structural risks for mental health and HIV, advancing the science around stigma and structural risks. Moreover, the AC will leverage this multi-institutional partnership to strengthen institutional and individual research capacity to do this work in the US and around the world to cultivate long-lasting and sustainable benefit. A high-functioning JH-E- dARC necessitates efficient management structures and coordination to providing the integration, efficiency and ease of use that will maximize our center's ability to provide services to and interfacing with investigators, community groups, and normative technical agencies and also coordinate with other ARCs. Our specific aims are to: 1) Develop and implement the management and organizational strategy for achieving JH-E-dARC objectives across the development, measurement, and interventions cores. 2) Coordinate and manage JH-E-dARC cores to ensure harmonious execution of programmatic, financial, advisory, knowledge management and communications activities. 3) Monitor and evaluate progress towards the overarching JH-E- dARC objectives, development, and two research cores including measurement and interventions. Sub aim 3: Implement a monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) strategy to ensure successful achievement of dARC objectives, development, measurement, and intervention cores and support continuous project-wide learning. 1