Administrative Core

University Of Southern California, Los Angeles CA

Investigators

Linked publications, trials & patents

Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY - NCCC Administration (NCCC-A) The University of Southern California (USC) Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center (NCCC) is a matrix cancer center with a longstanding tradition of exceptional science across the spectrum of basic, clinical, translational, and population research. NCCC Administration (NCCC-A) provides the critical infrastructure to support the Director, Associate Directors, Program Leaders, Shared Resources (SRs), 187 members, and NCCC offices and external stakeholders engaged in cancer research, community outreach and engagement, and training and education. Over this grant period, NCCC-A has undergone a major transformation to completely reshape administrative support for NCCC in order to improve its impact, value, efficiency, and alignment with CCSG guidelines. Under the strong leadership of new NCCC Director Caryn Lerman PhD and Associate Director for Administration Christopher Loertscher MA, NCCC-A achieved many accomplishments over this grant period, including to: 1) help develop and implement a new Strategic Plan; 2) coordinate a major reorganization of the five NCCC Research Programs and the six SRs presented in this application; 3) reorganize and expand the administrative staff structure with three new senior administrative managers to expand expertise in finance, SRs management, grants administration, research informatics, and communications; 4) revamp NCCC membership and space policies to enhance cancer focus; 5) implement new tools to improve reporting on grants, publications, pilot awards, and clinical trials; 6) provide support to recruit and onboard 40 new external faculty; and 7) coordinate ramp-down and resumption of NCCC activities during the COVID-19 pandemic. NCCC-A manages all finances, pilot awards, grants, space, and SRs, including NCCC's annual operating budget of $37 million (FY2020). It supports all governance and programmatic meetings and retreats to propel the NCCC research enterprise to greater collaboration and innovation. NCCC-A manages NCCC's 300,000 sq. ft. of space across the three NCCC-dedicated buildings under the control of the Director. In the next grant period, NCCC-A will continue to execute the initiatives within the new NCCC 2020-2025 Strategic Plan by providing critical support to: hasten the pace of cancer discovery; recruit new high impact, collaborative faculty; increase the impact of community outreach and engagement as well as training and education; and foster new team science grants through targeted RFAs and administrative activities that foster new collaborations. The efforts of NCCC-A contributed to a 18% increase in total cancer research funding (11% increase in peer-reviewed funding, including a 22% increase in NCI funding) over this grant period.