Administrative Core

Administrative Core – Summary The overarching aim of the Climate and Health: Action and Research for Transformational Change (CHART) Center is to launch a transformative and integrative framework for climate health research, from molecules to populations, that generates and drives evidence-based impactful solutions. The Administrative Core (AC) is the heart of CHART, providing direction, support, oversight, and evaluation to ensure that CHART goals are achieved in line with the NIH Climate and Health Initiative. CHART is working across multiple Schools and In- stitutes at Columbia University, building on existing climate change and health research and training expertise and further expanding capacity by integrating advanced climate science, large-scale epidemiologic studies, omics, toxicology, advanced environmental statistics, data science, and machine learning. To this end, CHART is structured around two Cores—the Community Engagement Core (CEC) and Integrated Data and Exposure Analytics (IDEA) Core—in addition to the AC, as well as two Research Projects investigating the association between multiple co-occurring climate-related threats and neurodegeneration. Project 1 will leverage nation- wide claims data and longitudinal analyses of a well-characterized aging cohort (mid- to macro-scale), while Project 2 will identify network biology-based markers of climate-induced neurodegeneration (micro-scale). CHART’s resources are optimally designed to help investigators address emerging climate and health chal- lenges, develop and harness new methods, and innovate actionable solutions to advance CHART’s mission and climate and health research in general. The AC will be the central hub that manages these efforts, coordi- nating and integrating CHART components and activities and facilitating interactions with other Climate Change and Health Research Centers (CCHRC), the Research Coordinating Center (RCC) to Support Climate Change and Health Community of Practice, and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Specifically, the AC will (1) establish a leadership and administrative structure that fosters coordination and integration; (2) promote research capacity building through pilot projects, seminars, and networking events; and (3) assess productivity, effectiveness, and appropriateness of Center activities and strategies. The AC will provide central oversight, support, integration, and translation for all CHART activities. Through an effective supportive structure, the AC will provide robust leadership and guidance for CHART to achieve its mission by building upon our existing ex- pertise and leveraging transdisciplinary and integrative collaborations to transform climate and health research towards actionable solutions.