# Administrative Core

> **NIH NIH P50** · RAND CORPORATION · 2023 · $462,805

## Abstract

Administrative Core Abstract
The opioid crisis has become a polysubstance crisis involving synthetic opioids, and structural inequalities and
systemic racism have exacerbated burdens for the populations affected. Efforts to address the crisis must
occur in the context of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, which has affected opioid use and policies related to
treatment. The RAND-USC Schaeffer Opioid Policy Tools and Information Center (OPTIC) enhances the ability
of the opioid policy research community to evaluate policy effects in this dynamic environment while also
enhancing policymakers’ use of opioid policy research. OPTIC’s Administrative Core (AC) supports OPTIC
Investigators in pursuing these objectives. The AC has and will continue to provide overall scientific oversight,
develop and monitor a master timeline for all tasks, and provide budgetary oversight. It will convene bi-annual
meetings of an External Advisory Board, which ensures that Center activities are focused on the most pressing
policy issues and addressing the field’s most salient methodological challenges. The AC fosters a collaborative
OPTIC community identity in multiple ways, including facilitating regular meetings of Research Project teams
as well as a bi-annual “all hands” meetings and producing an internal OPTIC newsletter informing staff of
current work and new resources. The AC is responsible for OPTIC’s internal list servs and Kiteworks and
Teams sites used to share all pertinent internal OPTIC communications and information among OPTIC staff.
The AC also supports efforts to support the development of junior investigators through Pilot Projects, grant
workshops, and “meet n’ greets” at national conferences. The AC maximizes research dissemination and
policy impact through a dedicated Communications and Dissemination Arm, ensuring that OPTIC leverages
RAND’s robust communications infrastructure across all Center activities. Another AC dissemination activity
includes a quarterly external e-newsletter that highlights recent work by OPTIC researchers and by other
experts in the field. A key dissemination focus is OPTIC’s website, which describes Center activities and
houses recent publications and products, data visualizations and research tools, and educational materials and
webinars. The AC collaborates with RAND’s Digital Strategy and Communications Group to curate the site,
ensuring that resources and tools are promptly and appropriately posted. Among the site’s many resources,
policymakers especially value the Key Takeaways, one-page summaries of OPTIC’s opioid research findings
tailored for policymakers. The AC manages the process of identifying appropriate Key Takeaway topics,
producing and reviewing content, and posting them on OPTIC’s site.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10712922
- **Project number:** 2P50DA046351-06A1
- **Recipient organization:** RAND CORPORATION
- **Principal Investigator:** BRADLEY D STEIN
- **Activity code:** P50 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2023
- **Award amount:** $462,805
- **Award type:** 2
- **Project period:** 2018-08-15 → 2028-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10712922

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10712922, Administrative Core (2P50DA046351-06A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10712922. Licensed CC0.

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