ADMINISTRATIVE CORE - Abstract The Administrative Core (AC) will provide all of the administrative and communications support to the Tri-State Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma TBEL (Tri-PACT) Center investigators, and form the central “hub” for productive interactions within the NCI TBEL community. The title of our Tri-PACT Center proposal is “Tumor Microenvironment Crosstalk Drives Early Lesions in Pancreatic Cancer”, and our Center incorporates three institutions – UT MD Anderson cancer Center (UTMDACC), University of Michigan (UMich) and Johns Hopkins University (JHU) in a collaborative and integrated U54 endeavor to study early pancreatic neoplasia. The Tri- PACT Center AC will be led by overall Contact PI, Dr. Anirban Maitra, and Co-PI Dr. Marina Pasca di Magliano, and housed within the Sheikh Ahmed Center for Pancreatic Cancer Research at UTMDACC. The AC will be supported by a PhD-level Core Administrator with experience with multi-investigator grants. Further, Dr. Yu Shen, Professor and Chair ad interim of Biostatistics at UTMDACC, will provide comprehensive statistical support for the Tri-PACT Center and will be assisted by a senior statistical analyst. Dr. Maitra and the AC have considerable experience in overseeing and participating in multi-investigator grants that include programmatic NCI U01, P01 and P50 Grants. The overall goals of the AC will be (a) to monitor research progress and to provide stable and continuous leadership that advances integration, communication, and collaboration among the Tri-PACT Center investigators participating in the three proposed projects and shared resource core (Multiscale Computational Oncology Research Core or M-CORE), and (b) to ensure productive interactions with other concurrently funded TBEL U54 sites and the TBEL CDMC, through formal and informal collaborative endeavors under the TBEL umbrella. The AC will leverage the wide-ranging research expertise of both the Internal Advisory Board (IAB) and the External Advisory Board (EAB) in critical decision-making steps, such as changes in research directions of currently proposed projects. The AC will ensure fiscal management, including personnel, budgets, and effort oversight, facilitate organization of virtual and in-person work-in-progress meetings for Tri-PACT center investigators, engage in manuscript preparation, and provide federally mandated progress and other reports to the NCI. The AC will facilitate attendance for the PIs and Tri-PACT investigators to the semi-annual TBEL consortium meetings, and ensure our participation in other network activities, including TBEL working groups, trans-network collaborations, and dissemination of results within and beyond the TBEL community. The AC will serve as a liaison with the TBEL CDMC in ensuring the transfer of TriPACT Center- generated data and materials under appropriate transfer agreements. The AC will also ensure timely communication and consultation with the NCI Program Directors for both adherence and...