Shared Resource Management

Project Summary/Abstract - Shared Resources Management Eight CCSG-supported Shared Resources (SRs) provide cost-effective access to technologies and services to UNMCCC members. The SRs have been developed to complement but not overlap with other cores or shared resources at UNM. They are managed centrally by the Cancer Center Research Administration (CCRA) and Scott Ness, Ph.D. (CMO), Associate Director for Shared Resources. All of the SRs have a faculty Director who receives salary support from the CCSG and who participate in regular meetings with Senior Leaders and Program Leaders. Five SRs charge user fees (Analytical & Translational Genomics, Animal Models & Imaging, Flow Cytometry, Fluorescence Microscopy & Cell Imaging, Human Tissue Repository & Tissue Analysis) and utilize a centralized billing system for tracking utilization. Three (Bioinformatics, Biostatistics, Behavioral Measurement & Population Science) operate with a collaborative model, tracking usage as faculty or staff effort recovered on grants. User feedback is collected through several mechanisms, including oversight committees, research program meetings and anonymous surveys, and the results are used by Ness, the senior leadership and the SR Directors to improve and strategically develop the SRs. During the previous funding period three SRs (Animal Models & Imaging, Bioinformatics and Flow Cytometry) were significantly reorganized in response to this feedback and have shown dramatic improvements in utilization and user feedback. The SRs have demonstrated consistent growth in demand and in user fees collected, including continued overall growth since the last CCSG renewal in 2015 and nearly 3-fold growth since our first CCSG renewal in 2010. This growth reflects continuous improvements and significant investments made by UNMCCC, including $2.2 million for new instrumentation and renovation costs, $500,000 in non-CCSG cost sharing benefits that reduce the charges for members and $265,610 in SR-focused pilot grants that generated $4.8 million (direct costs) in extramural grant funding. An example of continuous improvement is the Behavioral Measurement & Population Science Shared Resource, which was developing but has now been promoted to a full SR. In this renewal application, CCSG funds are requested to support a new developing Translational Science Shared Resource, which will facilitate the translation of discoveries from UNMCCC investigators to clinical trials, integrating correlative studies with ongoing clinical trials at UNMCCC, interfacing with the other SRs to promote collaborations among clinical and basic/translational investigators while supporting the recruitment and retention of clinician-scientists. In the current funding period, CCSG funds supported 23% of the operating budgets for the SRs, which were predominantly used by UNMCCC members. During the previous 5 year, total chargebacks (billing) for the SRs was over $3 million, the SRs supported 139 peer-reviewed NIH grants ($49 million in total funding) and 128 current and former UNMCCC members from all three Research Programs used the SRs.