PROJECT SUMMARY / ABSTRACT – Administrative and Mentoring Core In Phase 1 of the COBRE-Diabetes, the Administrative and Mentoring Core (AMC) developed novel and effective administrative strategies to coordinate the management of the Diabetes Research Center (DRC) at the University of Hawaiʻi. The AMC designed a successful multi-level mentoring approach for the Research Project Leaders (RPLs) and Pilot Project Leaders (PPLs) that included: mentors, peer-to peer mentoring, the Advisory Committee (AC), and Clinical Internal Advisory Board. The overall goal of this core, in alignment with the overall DRC proposal, is to build a self-sustaining Diabetes Research Center that will improve current and future research competitiveness and broaden the research breadth and trans-disciplinary scope of diabetes (DM) and insulin resistance (IR) studies and future diverse scientists in Hawaiʻi. The emphasis of the AMC is the coordination of all the resources to mentor and facilitate research for the RPLs and PPLs. This will be accomplished through Specific Aim 1 which is to effectively coordinate and manage a center of excellence dedicated to DM/IR. The AMC oversight will be conducted by Director, Mariana Gerschenson, PhD and Deputy Director, Dr. Marjorie Mau, MD. The Executive Committee also includes the Metabolic and Analytic Core Director and Co-Director: Olivier Le Saux, PhD and Alexandra Binder, ScD and the Pilot Project Program Co-Directors: Takashi Matsui, MD, PhD, and V. Andrew Stenger, PhD. The team and RPLs obtain advice from the AC. The Clinical Internal Advisory Board (CIAB) provides the RPLs with clinical scientific advice on diabetes regarding the approach and analysis of their projects. Community Engagement will be led by Dr. Mau and will consist of a 2-day conference that will prominently feature our DRC investigators as well as community-recommended topics such as diabetes management updates and the latest prevention strategies. In addition to an annual DM-focused conference, the DRC leadership will initiate a more active presence on our website and social media platforms. In Specific Aim 2, the Administrative and Mentoring Core will help each RPL develop an individual mentoring plan. All mentors and mentees (RPLs and PPLs) will have training sessions on the best mentoring practices including: Mentor Training, Managing Mentoring Relationships, Unconscious Bias, and Launching Research facilitated by the Center For the Improvement of Mentored Experiences in Research (CIMER) and the National Research Mentoring Network (NRMN). The Mentoring Team, Executive Committee, and the EAC will help each RPL develop a detailed mentoring plan with the specific goal that the RPLs graduate within three years. In Specific Aim 3, the COBRE-Diabetes Phase 2 will continue our Pilot Project Program that will stimulate and advance extramural funding of meritorious diabetes proposals and assist researchers to develop into future RPLs. An important component of scientifi...