Admin Core

Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston MA

Investigators

Linked publications & trials

Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT The Administrative Core (AC) has been critical to the continued success of the Boston Area NORC over the last cycle. The NORC has continued to fill major gaps in the promotion of nutrition and obesity research in Boston. The AC facilitates the continued expansion of the NORC, leveraging a strong membership, including an increased number of junior investigators, accomplished in research across the translational spectrum, building a strong clinical and translational focus, and developing state of the art core services, including genomic and single cell transcriptomic techniques, cell culture and organoid services, mitochondrial functional assessment, model development, detailed metabolic assessment in animal models, and highly sophisticated functional imaging techniques allowing investigators to probe human metabolic pathways including appetite, substrate flux, and tissue specific inflammation. The goals of the Boston Area NORC AC are: 1) to provide an overall organizational structure with which to direct the NORC, including a Director experienced in clinical and translational research and 4 strong Associate Directors (AD’s) with complimentary expertise; 2) to capitalize on a strong Research Base in Nutrition and Obesity in Boston, with themes in translational research; 3) To foster cutting edge research by enabling highly successful and well used cores: Genomics and Cell Biology (GCB), Metabolic Phenotyping (MP) and Metabolic Imaging (MIC) cores, leveraging the strengths in these areas (including functional adipose imaging, PET and Functional Neuroimaging (MI); and Metabolomics, Mitochondrial Function, Adipocyte Biology, and Model Development (MP), next generation sequencing, single-cell profiling, high-content/high-throughout cell- based assays, cell culture and organoids, and bioinformatics (GCB) demonstrating significant usage and facilitating key publications; 4) To administer a vibrant P&F Program which has been a highly successful component of the NORC fostering promotion of successful young scientists in the nutrition/obesity field, leveraging pilot funds into significant NIH grant support, and catalyzing new collaborations in translational science. 5) To administer a highly respected and popular enrichment program, including an Annual Symposium on nutrition and obesity topics, responsive to changing research priorities, training the next generation of scientists in nutrition and metabolism through coursework, and mentoring of young trainees, via our annual P&F Symposium; 6) To promote the advancement of early career researchers in nutrition and obesity research, through funding an RFA and ongoing efforts to increase P&F applications and success rates for early career researchers.