RCMI CC’s senior management team facilitates engagements between RCMI PIs, the NIH/NIMHD and other Network stakeholders.

The senior management team provides direction and leadership for the Network’s key domains: project administration and coordination among sites (ACC), early-stage investigator development and mentoring (IDC), research resources to support scientific projects (RIC), data-driven evaluation (ETC), and community engagement (CEC). The team meets weekly to address the priorities for the Network and develop short- and long-term action agendas.

Senior Management Team

Elizabeth Ofili, M.D., M.P.H.

Morehouse School of Medicine and Science

Director and Senior Associate Dean with the Clinical Research Center & Clinical and Translational Research

RCMI CC - Principal Investigator

Daniel F. Sarpong, Ph.D.

Yale University

CMHDRE Director & Endowed Chair; Professor of Biostatistics – Division of Clinical & Administrative Sciences

RCMI CC - Evaluation Core

Emma Fernandez-Repollet, Ph.D.

University of Puerto Rico Medical Sciences Campus

Professor of Pharmacology and Toxicology

RCMI CC - Steering Committee Chairperson

Paul B. Tchounwou, Sc.D.

Morgan State University

Dean of School of Computer, Mathematical and Natural Sciences

RCMI CC - Research Infrastructure Core; RCMI Program Director

Vivek R. Nerurkar, D.M.L.T., M.Sc., Ph.D.

University of Hawaii at Manoa

Department of Pediatrics

RCMI CC - Investigator Development Core

Administrative Coordinating Center (ACC)

Morehouse School of Medicine – Atlanta, Georgia

The Project Director and ACC staff work closely with Network leadership to enhance and streamline overall RCMI CC management and operations. The ACC is highly involved in regular evaluations of Network processes and procedures and implements strategies to improve communication and performance of all Network participants.

Program coordination across all RCMI U54 Centers can increase research capacity and heighten competitiveness to advance the science of minority health and health disparities.

During the planning of the RCMI CC, the RCMI U54 PI/PDs engaged in a series of strategy sessions and needs assessments that have informed the activities of the RCMI CC administrative domain to align with the objectives of the administrative cores of the RCMI U54 Centers.

Investigator Development Core (IDC)

University of Hawaii at Manoa – Honolulu, Hawaii

The IDC Consortium is comprised of all RCMI U54 IDC Directors and serves as the principal mechanism for maintaining active engagement of all RCMI U54 Centers to coordinate and leverage on-going mentoring and professional development activities. The IDC Consortium harnesses the collective intellect and expertise of basic biomedical, behavioral and clinical researchers across all RCMI grantee institutions, and engages investigators from non-RCMI programs (such as COE, TCC, IDeA-CTR, ISPCTN, ADRC, RCMAR, CARC and JHS).

The IDC Consortium also works closely with the RIC and CEC Consortia to deploy a Research Studio Program to assist new and early-stage RCMI investigators in preparing competitive NIH grant applications.

Research Infrastructure Core (RIC)

Jackson State University – Jackson, Mississippi

The availability, operational efficiency and sharing of novel technologies are important for health disparities research. The RIC addresses this critical need at RCMI U54 Centers by providing a platform for researchers to find the best instruments, meet and exchange scientific knowledge, and form productive collaborations. The RIC Consortium, comprised of all RCMI U54 RIC Directors, facilitates coordination and sharing of research resources and expertise to increase the capacities of RCMI U54 Centers to conduct innovative health disparities research, and to build a critical mass of minority investigators who have the expertise to make significant contributions to advancing the science of health disparities.

Evaluation and Tracking Core (ETC)

Xavier University of Louisiana – New Orleans, Louisiana

A key for the RCMI CC is implementing of a robust evaluation plan aimed at coordinating data-driven decisions, optimizing efficiency and effectiveness, and documenting productivity, successes and weaknesses of the key components of the RCMI Program as a whole. The ETC Consortium is comprised of evaluators from each RCMI U54 Center and is designed to:

develop common data elements and performance metrics for systematic, broad-based evaluation of all key components and programmatic activities through process and formative evaluation;
work with NIMHD to analyze evaluative data for continuous improvement of the RCMI Program;
demonstrate the overall impacts through annual summative evaluation measurements.

Community Engagement Core (CEC)

Xavier University of Louisiana – New Orleans, Louisiana

The CEC Consortium facilitates community engagement efforts across RCMI sites and communities. RCMI U54 CEC Directors meet bi-monthly to advance their objectives, which include:

facilitating broad access and collaboration with RCMI and non-RCMI community partners;
fostering sustainable relationships with community-based organizations;
building participant recruitment and retention through a Community Research Studio Program (CRSP);
assisting RCMI sites to involve the community in identifying health disparities research focus that are acceptable to the community and supported through the pilot project grants mechanism;
monitoring the impact of RCMI U54 CEC activities;
organizing a CEC workshop for the annual RCMI grantees conference.