ADMINISTRATIVE CORE – Project Summary Established in 2018, the SDSU HealthLINK Center (Center) seeks to augment investigator and partner capacity, as well as institutional capacity, for minority health and health disparities (MHHD) research. Despite many advances over the first five years of the Center, SDSU, SDSUIV, and community partner organizations continue to have significant gaps in research administrative support critical for fostering innovative transdisciplinary MHHD research and dissemination for the uptake of research to practices and policies. The objective of Administrative Core (AC) is to create a sustainable infrastructure for innovative and impactful MHHD research at SDSU, SDSUIV, and with community partner organizations by removing barriers, building capacity, and fostering a transdisciplinary environment. We propose the following three Specific Aims that align with the goals of the RCMI specialized centers: 1) support the advancement and retention of investigators involved in MHHD research; 2) facilitate the exchange of ideas, best practices, and research tools and resources for fostering innovative and rigorous research, and translation of evidence to practices and policies; and 3) implement a comprehensive evaluation plan to assess investigator, partner, and institutional capacity to conduct impactful MHHD research. To accomplish Aim 1, AC will implement an organizational and governance structure that is compliant with SDSU, SDSUIV, SDSURF, and federal guidelines, collaborate with institutional leaders to implement institutional support, including a faculty hire and faculty course releases; facilitate career enhancement activities; and support mentor engagement. The AC will support implementation of activities within the Research Capacity Core (RCC), Investigator Development Core (IDC), Community Engagement Core (CEC), and Recruitment Core (RC) by providing support for hiring, fiscal management, use of facilities and equipment, among other Center-wide activities. To accomplish Aim 2, the AC will facilitate the exchange of ideas, best practices, and research tools and resources by maintaining a National Advisory Committee with experts in relevant sciences, community-engagement, faculty development, as well as by supporting communication and dissemination efforts, including with the RCMI Network. To accomplish Aim 3, the AC will implement a comprehensive evaluation plan to assess seven constructs, including implementation, engagement, and satisfaction with Center activities, as well as four measures of impact: impact on the institution to support MHHD research, impact on investigators and partners to conduct and disseminate findings from MHHD research, impact on the acquisition of extramural funding, and impact on innovations in MHHD research and practice with implications for policy, system, and environmental change. The ultimate goal of the Center is to contribute to reductions in health disparities and optimize health outcome...