Cores
Call Us
(615) 343-8776
tn-cfar@vumc.org
About the Administrative Core
The Tennessee CFAR is located in the Southeastern United States (US), the region with the greatest burden of HIV. The epidemic in Tennessee impacts both urban and rural areas, with Memphis/Shelby County ranking #2 in HIV incidence among US metropolitan statistical areas.1 Since this CFAR was established in 2015, an effective Administrative Core has been vital to its success. This CFAR was established upon the foundational relationship between Vanderbilt University Medical Center and Meharry Medical College, a deep partnership strengthened over many decades between two leading academic medical centers serving the communities of middle Tennessee. In 2015, CFAR pioneered a new partnership with the Tennessee Department of Health (TDH), and in 2020 expanded to include Nashville CARES (hereafter called “CARES”), a sophisticated HIV community-based organization. The Administrative Core is particularly important given the need to coordinate activities and resources across multiple institutions, each with a distinct yet complementary mission.
The Administrative Core oversees resources and creates a collaborative environment through Cores, Scientific Working Groups (SWG), Interest Groups, and community engagement; receives input from CFAR members, community representatives, and other groups; modifies resources; and refines the organizational structure and processes as appropriate. In the following pages, we describe the Specific Aims of the Administrative Core, how these will be accomplished, and how they integrate with the other CFAR Cores to support the overall CFAR Specific Aims.
Specific Aims
To provide leadership, management, coordination, and supervision of CFAR activities.
The AC will monitor progress toward achieving overall CFAR and individual Core Specific Aims. It will provide responsible operational and financial management of the CFAR and will coordinate with existing institutional core resources to maximize administrative, financial, and scholarly efficiency.
To enhance the HIV research productivity of VUMC, MMC, TDH and CARES by supporting and coordinating collaborative and trans-disciplinary approaches.
The AC will foster new collaborations among existing HIV investigators, and investigators not yet engaged in HIV research. It will also continue to grow community-engaged research (CEnR), and will identify and support new and existing collaborations beyond CFAR, including CFAR-to-CFAR collaborations.
To facilitate effective and bi-directional communication about HIV-related research resources, activities and advances.
The AC will continue to maintain and improve a CFAR website as a centralized portal to all HIV-related research and resources across institutions. It will support and coordinate a variety of events to foster collaborative science, including trans-disciplinary CFAR symposia. It will be responsive to members’ needs and feedback.
Services Offered
- Planning and evaluation
- Training
- Organization and sponsorship of events
- Managing operations and allocation of resources
- Communication: outreach via member databases, website, newsletters and local bulletins
For service request or inquiries, please contact tn-cfar@vumc.org