Shared Resource Management

PROJECT SUMMARY / ABSTRACT The Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center (LCC) provides strategic and scientific oversight and allocates funds to support 14 Shared Resources (SR), 13 of which are established and one of which is developing. The mission of SR Management (SRM) is to support the SRs so that they can provide exceptional service to LCC members to advance cancer research. LCC support to SRs facilitates and enables a broad spectrum of basic, preclinical, clinical, and population sciences research, representing all programs of the center. SRM is overseen by the Associate Director (AD) for Shared Facilities, who also chairs the Shared Resources Oversight Committee (SROC). The AD for SRs works closely with the ADs of Basic, Translational, Clinical and Population Sciences to maximize the impact of the SRs on science and clinical translation. He also collaborates with the AD for CRTEC to plan seminars, webinars, and other informational events, to ensure that LCC members are fully informed of the capabilities of all SRs. During the current funding period - in addition to securing 11 NIH S10 grants - LCC invested $6.2M, leveraged by institutional support of $20.4M to support SR operations, upgrade equipment, create a new developing SR, and optimally align SR capabilities with the needs of our members, according to the LCC Strategic Plan. During this funding cycle, the LCC SRs have had a profound enabling impact on academic productivity, as reflected by its support of 427 high impact (IF>10) publications and 888 NIH grants. NUCORE – the transaction processing system that permits shared resources to accept and track orders and to bill for their services – was originally developed by the LCC and has been adopted subsequently throughout Northwestern University (NU). This program continues to be upgraded, with updates and new features released bi-weekly, and is currently used by other academic cancer programs in the country. During the next funding period, it is expected that the Immune Assessment Core (IAC), a new developing shared resource of high LCC priority, will be able to transition to an established core. This facility has emerged in response to member input, through LCC strategic planning, and as a result of ongoing expansion of the cancer immunology and immunotherapy capabilities of the LCC. The LCC will also continue the use of artificial intelligence (AI), a strong component of NU and LCC expertise, to further optimize and expand its Core Navigation system, developed during this grant period, into an AI powered chat bot.