ABSTRACT/PROJECT SUMMARY – ADMINISTRATIVE CORE COMPONENT The Administrative Core will be the organizational nucleus for all COBRE in Nutrition and Women’s Health activities. The Administrative Core will oversee the Research Project Leaders (RPLs), Pilot Project competi- tions, and faculty mentoring. It will be integrally involved in recruiting, hiring, and retaining new faculty to build a critical mass of scientists conducting federally funded research in nutrition and women’s health at the Uni- versity of Idaho. It will propel emerging investigators to achieve research independence, build a critical mass of scientists in this theme, and establish a new, vibrant research core facility, the Nutrition Analytics Core La- boratory (NACL). The Administrative Core will be highly organized, and its functions and processes transpar- ent. The leader of the COBRE and the Administrative Core will be PD/PI Dr. Michelle (Shelley) McGuire, an internationally recognized nutrition expert with decades of experience leading large, multidisciplinary teams; conducting research related to nutrition and women’s health; and mentoring emerging faculty engaged in nutri- tion research. There will be an Advisory Committee, comprised of five highly qualified members, that will ad- vise PD/PI McGuire in areas of scientific excellence, critique RPLs’ progress towards their milestone expecta- tions, evaluate the research core business plan and service to users, review/award Pilot Project grants, and review/approve replacement research project proposals and associate RPLs. There are five aims: 1) provide day-to-day oversight required for this COBRE to fully reach its goals, including organizing scientific and career development activities, preparing programmatic and financial reports, ensuring all activities are in comply with state and federal regulations, and managing budgets; 2) provide clear RPL Developmental Plans for continued professional development of RPLs that include specific milestones to transition to research independence; 3) establish and oversee a Pilot Project Program and Technology Access Grants to identify, promote, and support new investigators in the area of nutrition and women’s health; 4) based on continuous formative and summa- tive strategies, provide annual evaluations of this COBRE and implement recommendations of the Advisory Committee for ongoing improvements; and 5) communicate findings from this COBRE and other relevant re- search related to nutrition and women’s health to stakeholders in Idaho. This Phase 1 COBRE will build institu- tional critical mass and capacity in nutrition and women’s health research with the goal of establishing an inter- national reputation within this scientific theme. The collective efforts will be significant and innovative because they will support the only NIH COBRE solely focused on both nutrition and women’s health. Our results will be impactful, as this topic directly affects all Idaho women and more than half the...