Administrative Core
Executive Council

John Kirwan, PhD
LA CaTS Center Director
Pennington Biomedical Research Center

L. Lee Hamm, MD
LA CaTS Program Co-Director
Tulane University

Steve Nelson, MD
LA CaTS Program Co-Director
LSU Health New Orleans
Administrative Staff

Tiffany Prather, RN
LA CaTS Program Manager
Pennington Biomedical
tiffany.prather@pbrc.edu
(225) 763-2979

Kieu Pham
LA CaTS Administrative Coordinator
Pennington Biomedical
kieu.pham@pbrc.edu
(225) 763-3142

Bonnie Hymel Trentecoste
Inter-institutional Liaison
Pennington Biomedical
bonnie.hymel@pbrc.edu
(225) 763-2986

Carly Pigg, CRA
LA CaTS Administrator
LSU Health New Orleans
cgerva@lsuhsc.edu
(504) 568-4439

Andrew Barton, MS
LA CaTS Administrator
Tulane University
abarton1@tulane.edu
(504) 988-9038

Meaghan Donewar, MPH
LA CaTS Coordinator
Tulane University
mhendri@tulane.edu
Contact this core
Email: info@lacats.org
About This Core
The Administrative Core facilitates the business and management structure for bringing
about the meaningful and inclusive collaborations that form the heart of the LA CaTS
Center. This Core sets the tone for a Center culture devoted to integration and performance
by coordinating and articulating the work conducted by the Center’s 10 Cores. With
direction from our leadership team, we ensure effective Center services, facilitate
implementing the strategic plan and track the Center’s progress in achieving goals.
Our objectives include providing Center Offices, facilitating access to Center Resources,
encouraging interaction, building collaborations, maintaining available resources,
and providing consistent information. All of these things are vital for scientists
and investigators who are interested in pursuing careers in clinical and translational
(CT) research, particularly those involved with the current NIH COBRE and INBRE programs
in Louisiana.
Leadership for the activities carried out by this Core include:
- John Kirwan, PhD, LA CaTS Center Principal Investigator and Administrative Core Director: Dr. Kirwan is the Executive Director of Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge.
- L. Lee Hamm, MD, LA CaTS Center Program Co-Director: Dr. Hamm is the Senior Vice President and Dean of the School of Medicine at Tulane University.
- Steve Nelson, MD LA CaTS Center Co-Program Director: Dr. Nelson is the Interim Chancellor of LSU Health-New Orleans, which is comprised of 6 schools - Medicine, Nursing, Allied Health, Public Health, Graduate Studies, and Dentistry.
The Administrative Core convenes the following committees and boards:
Administrative Core Staff. Each of the 3 Primary Collaborating Institutions has dedicated administrative staff who carry out the day to day operations of the LA CaTS Center and assist the PI, Program Co-Directors and cores. LA CaTS Administrative staff also serve as the primary points of contact for the Center.
Administrative Core Significance: This core provides the infrastructure that enables cross-component and cross-institutional strategies and that culture to establish the Center as the academic home for creating a community of scholarship and point of entry to clinical and translational research and resources. Through this Core, our leaders come together to implement the Center’s plan and harmonize the plans of the LA CaTS Cores and Collaborating Institutions to support the COBREs and INBRE. We consistently track and evaluate the work of the Center, then have it reviewed by outside experts to achieve optimum efficiency and results.
A key element of our strategic plan is to guide Center activities to leverage novel
scientific opportunities (i.e., COVID-19 testing and vaccination, Long-Covid Cohort,
community based participatory research, precision medicine and nutrition initiatives)
in a way that ensures resources are accessible in a fair and equitable fashion to
a diverse faculty and in a way that is inclusive to underserved and underrepresented
communities across our state. We will pursue this goal via the following Specific
Aims:
Specific Aim 1. Provide effective creative leadership, and an administrative and governance structure
that ensures expansion, growth, coordination, and access of research resources and
services across all partner Institutions and Cores. The Administrative Core will efficiently manage and effectively coordinate and streamline
all business, fiscal and scientific functions related to LA CaTS across the network
institutions. The Core will execute decisions and recommendations made by the LA CaTS
leadership and the Operations Committee to align Cores to achieve the overall Center
mission. The Core will be responsible for integrating the expertise of all partners
to expand and enhance the LA CaTS Center statewide research enterprise. Core leadership
will convene the following Center-wide committees: External Advisory Committee, Internal
Advisory Committee, Executive Council, Steering Committee, and Operations Committee.
Specific Aim 2. Provide for and support an environment that fosters a culture of collaboration between
investigators, key components, and institutions within and outside Louisiana. The Administrative Core will provide the planning, organization, support, and communication
to promote, initiate, implement, and strengthen research-related collaborations within
and outside the Center. The Core will promote and emphasize activities in support
of scientific opportunities and multi-institutional/multidisciplinary statewide projects
designed to improve health outcomes and address health disparities.
Specific Aim 3. Provide an interface for the effective interaction and communication of our unified
research enterprise to the stakeholders and populations we serve. The Administrative Core will provide an overarching framework for cultivating relationships
and ensuring effective interactions among key stakeholders (LA CaTS Cores, all involved
institutions, governing and advisory committees, Center staff, COBRE and INBREs, the
NIGMS program office and our regional and national CTSA and IDeA-CTR partners). The
Administrative Core will oversee and coordinate the activities of all other cores
to advance consistent and culturally appropriate messaging to inform our diverse communities
and patient populations on the value and benefit of research and the availability
of research trials and initiatives (e.g., clinical trials, community based participatory
research).