Administrative Core

ADMINISTRATIVE CORE – ABSTRACT To support the mission of the Advancing Cancer Control Equity Research Through Transformative Solutions in Patient Navigation (ACCERT PN) Center as a vibrant part of the U19 ACCERT Cooperative Network, the Administrative Core (AC) will provide organizational, administrative, research, and community engagement

leadership to foster transformative research focused on innovative patient navigation strategies to mitigate cancer health inequities in Chicago’s Black, Latinx, and low-income Chinese communities, and build capacity, foster growth, and drive community engagement both within the ACCERT PN Center and across the ACCERT

ecosystem as a member of the cooperative network. As the administrative hub of the ACCERT PN Center, the AC will helm infrastructure development, fiscal management, resource allocation, and communications at Northwestern University and among the ACCERT PN Center’s academic and community partners. The AC is

led by Melissa Simon, MD and Betina Yanez, PhD who have extensive administrative experience leading large- scale cancer research collaborations and community-engaged partnerships and consortiums. The AC will coordinate ACCERT PN processes, activities, advisory boards, and other structures that will provide scientific

and administrative support and evaluation across the ACCERT PN Projects and Cores. The AC will provide community engagement leadership to foster inclusive team environments that enhance collaboration with communities impacted by cancer health inequities, ensuring community participation in the design,

operationalization, implementation, and dissemination of all ACCERT PN research activities. Our assembled Community Advisory Board (CAB) of community and clinical partners is based on our longstanding and deep ties with the communities the ACCERT PN Center will serve. To build and grow the ACCERT PN Center, we will

foster capacity building and engagement with community partners and new investigators, leveraging our team’s extensive networks, skills building resources, and established participatory processes, while adding novel initiatives to strengthen the Center’s culture of inclusive excellence. The AC will oversee successful operations

of the ACCERT PN Center through the following Specific Aims. Aim 1: Provide centralized leadership of the ACCERT PN Center and budgetary and administrative management and oversight of all ACCERT PN Center activities. Aim 2: Collaborate on consortium-wide activities, including Collaborative Pilot Projects, through

interactions with the ACCERT Coordination Center. Aim 3: Identify resources, develop processes, and conduct programs for capacity building and growth. Aim 4: Foster community partner engagement within the Center through engagement and coordination of the ACCERT PN Center’s Community Advisory Board, and through

conflict resolution, technical assistance, evaluation of community engagement processes, and dissemination.