Mays Cancer Center at UT Health SA

The purpose of the Mays Cancer Center (MCC) Research Administrative Division (MCC Administration) is to provide administrative leadership, oversight, and support for the research initiatives of the MCC membership; promote and coordinate the intra- and inter-programmatic transdisciplinary activities of this matrix-based Cancer Center within the University of Texas Health San Antonio (UT Health SA); and support collaboration and multi-institutional partnerships at the state and national levels. The MCC Administration seeks to facilitate and enhance scientific productivity and collaborations among members, and to translate the MCC Strategic Plan into action. MCC Administration provides operational leadership, organization, and financial oversight in support of the activities of the Director, Senior Leadership, Research Program Leaders, Shared Resources Directors, and all MCC members. As a matrix Cancer Center, MCC Administration provides support to 94 MCC members in three Research Programs from 18 departments in UT Health SA. MCC Administration leverages the expertise of its 16 centrally located Full Time Employees (FTE) to operate in an efficient and value-added manner in support of the mission of the Cancer Center. Areas of responsibility and functions of MCC Administration include management of: 1) strategic planning and evaluation activities; 2) MCC membership process; 3) faculty recruitment; 4) allocation of institutional funds, including Cancer Center-designated philanthropic funds ; 5) MCC Shared Resources; 6) MCC research seminars, symposia, and scientific program retreats; 7) space allocation; 8) pre-award management for complex cancer-relevant grant mechanisms; and 9) pre- and post-award management of the MCC internal Pilot Grant Program. Key accomplishments of the MCC Administration over the past five years include: • Supporting strategic recruitment of 54 clinical and research faculty. Of these, 36 are full members • Increasing direct cancer-relevant peer-reviewed research funding from $16.4M in 2014 to $27.9M in 2019 • Developing strategic informatics solutions for reporting requirements and research purposes • Implementing electronic reporting tools for essential data metrics for the Cancer Center • Establishing the MCC Offices of Community Outreach and Engagement (COE) and Education. Future plans include: 1) continued administrative support for research initiatives, including submission of multi- investigator proposals. Examples are the upcoming submission of a Prostate Cancer SPORE and an American Cancer Society Institutional Research grant; 2) recruitments as laid out in the MCC Strategic Plan, 3) developing new resources such as the MCC Biobank; and 4) development of the next MCC Strategic Plan.