ABSTRACT - ADMINISTRATIVE CORE The Duke/UNC Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center (ADRC) Administrative Core provides leadership, oversight, and infrastructure support for each of the Duke/UNC ADRC’s five Cores (Clinical; Neuropathology; Data Management and Statistical (DMS); Outreach, Recruitment, and Engagement (ORE); and Biomarker Cores) and its Research Education Component (REC). The Administrative Core is responsible for cultivating and promoting “Center-ness” around the theme of identifying age-related changes across the lifespan that contribute to the development, progression, and experience of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). While our theme and cohort studies are focused on AD, the Administrative Core ensures that the Duke/UNC ADRC meets the needs of a broader community of researchers studying any aspect of AD or Alzheimer’s disease-related dementias (AD+ADRD). To this end, the Administrative Core conducts annual needs assessments, provides a “concierge service” for local or non-local investigators interested in accessing ADRC expertise and resources, oversees the process of timely and compliant sharing of data and resources, and administers a Developmental Project program to stimulate and support innovative lines of AD+ADRD research. To ensure regular assessment of the Cores’ and REC’s effectiveness and accessibility, and formal annual evaluation and subsequent response of the Duke/UNC ADRC, the Administrative Core monitors progress of all Cores/REC and engages an Internal Advisory Committee (IAC) of institutional leaders and leading AD+ADRD scientists and an External Advisory Board (EAB) of both scientific and lay members. The Administrative Core Specific Aims are to: 1) Provide coordination as well as scientific and administrative leadership and oversight to ensure operational efficiency, fiscal responsibility, and regulatory compliance; 2) Support and promulgate a culture of rigorous AD+ADRD research; 3) Solicit, select, administer, and monitor developmental projects (DP), from a diverse pool of high-caliber, creative investigators; 4) Sustain and promote connection between the Duke/UNC ADRC and external stakeholders; 5) Assess and refine the Duke/UNC ADRC program through an annual evaluation process. A critical role of the Administrative Core in this new ADRC will be to lead the process of identifying, nurturing, and evaluating “pockets of opportunity” with an eye toward how such areas should be developed and operationalized, possibly as new Cores or ancillary studies, as the Center evolves.