Administrative Core

ADMINISTRATIVE CORE - ABSTRACT The Center for Environmental Exposures and Disease (CEED) aims to address the environmental healthrelated concerns of New Jersey (NJ) residents by engaging community members, organizations, and agencies as advisors and research partners. CEED provides critical investment and infrastructure for multidisciplinary, collaborative research and organizes training the next generation of environmental health scientists. The primary goal of the Administrative Core is to implement the strategic vision of CEED, coordinate and manage Center activities, and integrate and synthesize input from components to ensure that the Center’s mission of improving environmental health is achieved. Specifically, the Core coordinates and supports research, data management and sharing, recruitment and training, community engagement, infrastructure, and mentoring. Providing operational and fiduciary oversight, the Administrative Core will allocate resources from the grant and matching funds from the University to facilitate cutting-edge basic research, community-engaged participatory research, and training in environmental health sciences. Working closely with the Community Engagement Core (CEC), the Administrative Core will ensure the translation and dissemination of research findings to communities and valued partners. The Administrative Core will also ensure that CEED’s prevention and intervention strategies are assessed for efficacy and implemented to address the environmental health concerns of NJ communities. During the current funding period, the Administrative Core made notable progress in recruiting members across departments and schools within Rutgers and three other NJ universities and capitalized on substantial institutional support to improve research capabilities. Leaders of CEED are recognized across the university and the scientific community for their outstanding mentorship and research. Collectively, these accomplishments provide a significant platform to launch and advance research and training initiatives in the next grant cycle. Our specific aims are to: (1) Create and foster a structured, interdisciplinary environment that facilitates impactful, collaborative research that can be translated to improve health in NJ and nationwide; (2) Engage and amplify multidisciplinary perspectives in environmental health research and translation; and (3) Provide support for the training and career development of the next generation of environmental health scientists.