The Administrative Core
The overall goal of the administrative core is to develop a vision for the Center based on the input of scientific leaders, and to promote that vision in a smooth and effective manner. The core administrative component of the Center brings together shared resources and management that represent the nucleus of the Center. The administrative core is designed to support the long-term development of the Center, to directly support the major research areas, to support the individually funded research projects, and to provide technical assistance and training support. The administrative structure of the Center will be composed of the following elements:
a) Leadership - the principal investigator, an external and internal advisory board, and a steering committee,
b) Training and Mentorship - expansion of the existing K30 Graduate Training Program in Clinical Investigation, broadening of the pre-clinical medical school curriculum, mentorship with CAM practitioners within the community and the Johns Hopkins institutions, continued expansion of the post-graduate programs in CAM,
c) Protocol Development - Protocol review committee for project development, use of Cores to assist investigators,
d) Budgetary Support - Administrative and financial support for all projects, cores, and programs, and
e) Evaluation - continual evaluation of all projects, cores, and programs.
The various roles of the administrative core are to:
a) manage the operational aspects of the Center on a daily and long-term basis,
b) coordinate the cores and the projects,
c) manage the training and mentorship programs within an educational unit,
d) coordinate and manage advisory boards,
e) develop a vision for the Center based on the input of scientific leaders, and to
f) promote that vision through liaison with the scientific and CAM practitioner community.
This Core will be responsible for assuring that the "whole is more than the sum of its parts."
Educational Aspects of the Adminstrative Core
Dr. David Levine, Director, Department of Medicine Postgraduate Training Programs, will direct this aspect of the Administrative Core, working closely with Dr. Charles Flexner from the Graduate Training Program in Clinical Investigation, and internal Johns Hopkins experts in scientific writing and faculty development. Our overall goal is to train investigators in the performance of high quality research to better answer fundamental and clinical questions regarding the use of CAM cancer interventions.
The Educational Program will be directed at two major target groups:
- health professionals in training (e.g., medical, nursing, public health students, residents, postdoctoral fellows),
- existing health professionals (e.g., physicians, nurses, acupuncturists, dieticians).
Our efforts will build on existing programs where possible and create new programs tailored to the needs of each group. The acceptance and use of these specific educational programs will be evaluated as well as their impact on knowledge, professional practice, and patient and public use. The educational component is viewed as critical to the communication and effective translation of new knowledge, as well as the nurturing of a new generation of scientists in this area.
The Statistics & Methodology Core
The biostatistical and methodology component of this core will provide assistance and direction in experimental designs and analyses through statistical consultation and collaboration on methodology, feasibility, safety monitoring, analyses and reporting of clinical trials and related basic science studies. Dr. Jerilyn Allen, an expert in psychosocial measures and questionnaire design will assist with managing theses aspects of the data and analysis.
The data management component will provide quality controlled data in a systematic, efficient, and coordinated fashion so that accurate, complete, validated databases are available, in a timely fashion, to allow investigators to analyze and report research efforts and more effectively plan future treatment and studies.
The Laboratory Core
This core is dedicated to measurement and intellectual leadership of many of the neuroendocrine, immune, and oxidation elements of the projects and is organized to allow expansion in to the novel arenas necessary to maintain state-of-the-art research. The goal is to better understand the mechanism by which CAM interventions work and to establish the role of surrogate markers.
There are three components of this core:
- Cancer Immunology laboratory, directed by Drew Pardoll, M.D., Ph.D.,
- Neuroendocrine laboratory for the measure of key neuroendocrine stress hormones, under the supervision of Gary Wand, M.D., and
- Oxidative damage and estrogen metabolites in the toxicology laboratory of James Yager, Ph.D.
