Administrative Core

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This core is responsible for the oversight and direction of the entire Pennington/ Louisiana NORC. The overall objective of the Administrative Core is to promote scientific synergies by fostering communication, interaction and the pursuit of novel research strategies. This is accomplished through the following duties:

• Publicize and promote the use of the NORC within the Pennington Center, at other campuses within the LSU system and eventually at other Louisiana research institutions such as Tulane University. 
• Organize the administrative process to announce, collect, review and award the Pilot and Feasibility grants
• Publicize, promote and manage the pilot and feasibility grants, which are intended to encourage the pursuit of novel research ideas, to engage new investigators in research focusing on the NORC’s scientific objectives, and to generate pilot data for future grant submission
• Manage the enrichment program, which serves as a stimulus for new ideas, aids in communication for the NORC investigative team and aids in translation of research from the laboratory to the clinic and eventually to the population
• Set criteria for use of core facilities
• Provide for the services of the NORC statistician and maintain access to the data management services.
• Direct the fiscal management of the grant.
• Compile reports for NIDDK, as required.

The aims of the Pennington/Louisiana Administrative Core are:

• Aim 1: Provide the administrative infrastructure that facilitates successful performance of and interactions between the three scientific core resources (Human Phenotyping, Molecular Mechanisms, and Animal Models & Phenotyping), the Pilot and Feasibility (P&F) Grant Program, and the Enrichment Program. This includes ongoing assessments of productivity and effectiveness of Center activities and overseeing the decision and implementation process for improvements.
• Aim 2: Increase the quality and quantity of research on “Nutrition, Obesity and Metabolic Health through the Lifespan” at our and collaborating institutions by continuing to attract both experienced and junior faculty together with the latest research technologies, to the study of nutrition and obesity. Our NORC will achieve this growth through access to shared core scientific resources, stimulation of collaborations, enrichment activities, and identification of high-powered technologies. It also includes sustaining a data management and storage system that allows data sharing by NORC members.
• Aim 3: Solicit, review and select P&F projects. The P&F submission and review processes are conducted online, thus allowing efficient evaluation and monitoring of ongoing projects. The P&F grant program is a vibrant part of the NORC, enabling exciting new lines of research that result in successful new K and R grant proposals. A second critical goal is to facilitate the scientific and academic advancement of our P&F recipients to early-stage academic positions.
• Aim 4: Leveraging our tight affiliation with the Pennington-based Louisiana Clinical and Translational Science (LA CaTS) Center (U54 GM104940), we now assist with and supervise the design and statistical analysis of experimental studies performed by all NORC members in basic, clinical and population sciences.
• Aim 5: Administer the collection and storage of biospecimens and data from both animal and human research. This includes a fully functional tissue repository cataloging system, which allows collaborating investigators access to data and bio-specimens from past and upcoming studies.

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Administrative Core

Eric Ravussin, Director
Leanne Redman, Associate Director
Peter Katzmarzyk, Enrichment & Outreach Director

Biostatistics and Clinical Epi

Kimberly Drews

• Leverage with LACaTS
• .35 FTE
• Assist power calculation and basic science researchers with data interpretation
• Bioinformatics

Pilot and Feasibility

Eric Ravussin

• RFA
• LOI, invitation for full simulation
• Review and awards
• Progress reports
• Tracking of recipients

Enrichment & Outreach

Peter Katzmarzyk

• Coordinate training for postdocs, pre-docs and medical students
• Organize scientific meetings
• Produce newsletter and web-based enrichment materials

Coordination Across Cores

Human Phenotyping

Corby Martin, Director
Ursula White, Associate Director

Molecular Mechanisms

Michael Salbaum, Director
David Burk, Associate Director

Animal Phenotyping

Robert Kesterson, Director
Christopher Morrison, Associate Director