The Utah Center for Iron and Heme Disorders (UCIHD) seeks to enhance our understanding of hematopoiesis, a process that involves formation of blood cells from hematopoietic stem cells. The goals of the UCIHD are to support research on hematopoiesis through pilot grant funding and enhance education on molecular/cellular biological pathways involved in normal hematopoietic stem cell biology and erythroid differentiation and disease states. One facet of erythroid differentiation involves hemoglobin synthesis and the insertion of its iron-containing heme cofactor. UCIHD core facilities will provide access to a variety of advanced technologies and capabilities to researchers affiliated with the UCIHD. The core facilities supported by UCIHD include the Mutation Generation and Detection Core offering TALEN and Crispr-Cas9 genomic editing, Metabolomics Core offering LC-MS, GC-MS and lipidomics services and the Iron and Heme Core providing analyses of metals, porphyrins and heme. All projects funded by the UCIHD must comply with this mission statement and utilize the supported cores.
The Administrative Core’s goal is to oversee the operational and financial functioning of the CIHD. This will be accomplished through an Executive Committee, an associated External Advisory Board and NIDDK program staff.
Specific Aims include:
1) Periodically review current membership and select new members. If necessary, withdraw membership from existing members. The prime reasons to withdraw membership would be a change in research focus, a lack of collegiality, or for use of Cores for projects not related to the stated mission of the CIHD.
2) Monitor administrative and scientific activities of the CIHD, which include fiscal oversight of the entities in the center (Enrichment, Pilot Projects, Cores). The committee will ensure that the Cores access new technologies and services as they develop or, if required, discontinue the services that are no longer useful.
3) Select projects to be funded through the Pilot and Feasibility Program and ensure they are appropriately administered. Monitor the status of approval of protocols for human and animal research.
4) Coordinate activities among group members, manage the budget, and schedule investigator and advisory board meetings.
5) Oversee communications with members to ensure transparent interactions between investigators and projects as well as provide key information critical for effective communication.
6) Work directly with the NIDDK Program Director staff through quarterly meetings or as needed. We plan to have one of the Executive Committee meetings bring members of the External Advisory Committee to Utah to coincide with our established annual Metals/Heme/T32 symposium, although the focus of the meeting will be on research themes of the CIHD.
Role of the Internal Advisory Committee:
The Executive Committee’s function is to catalyze and stimulate research and education initiatives, and to serve as the major administrative resource for all investigators. Day-to-day governance and financial management should not require significant intervention because each Core has a defined set of responsibilities and a preset budget. Should unusual circumstances require rebudgeting or personnel changes, however, the Executive Committee will have that power (in consultation with NIDDK Program Staff). If new personnel or budgeting changes are required by a natural course of events (e.g., a Core Director resigns voluntarily and must be replaced), or if the P.I. feels the need to rebudget by 10% or more, then the new plan will need approval by a simple majority of the Executive Committee. More drastic changes (e.g., major budget changes or involuntary removal of a Core Director) will require approval of six of the seven members of the Executive Committee. Such actions will only occur under very unusual circumstances, but our plan provides a mechanism for removing someone who is underperforming. The requirement for such a vote will ensure general agreement before any such action is taken, and also allows for actions to be taken against any Center member, including Executive Committee members. The Executive Committee is both the working and strategic planning group for the CIHD.
The Executive Committee will meet quarterly via videoconferencing to permit Utah members and members from Harvard and the NIH to participate. The External Advisory Board will meet in person once per year and be provided the opportunity to conference with the Executive Committee at each of the quarterly meetings.
Members of the Internal Advisory Committee:
John Phillips Ph.D., P.I., Professor, Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Hematology, University of Utah, Committee Chair
Janis Abkowitz M.D., Professor, Department of Medicine, University of Washington
Harry Dailey Ph.D., Professor Emeritus, Departments of Microbiology and Biochemistry, University of Georgia
Randall Peterson Ph.D., Professor, Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Utah
Caroline Philpott M.D., Chief of the Genetics and Metabolism Section, Intramural Division, NIDDK
Wes Sundquist Ph.D., Professor, Department of Biochemistry, University of Utah
Dennis Winge Ph.D., Professor, Departments of Biochemistry and Internal Medicine, University of Utah
Operating Procedures and Chargeback:
The majority of core services are well developed and rates for CIHD investigators are shown in each core rate spreadsheet. The HSC Core Administrative office will manage all recharge activities for the CIHD. A streamlined billing and collections service has been established and is used for all cores described in this application. Setting up a user account for University of Utah researchers and others is done online and is very user friendly. Providing user name, department, laboratory location, P.I. name, and university account information is all that is required.
If applying for an internal account to the University of Utah, follow this link
If applying fro an external account to the University of Utah, follow this link
The Administrative Office of the Cores takes five percent of collected revenue for billed services to support its infrastructure. Services will be billed the first week of each month to be paid within 30 days.
Critical to our goal of being a national center are mechanisms by which we disseminate information: defining the aims of the CIHD, services including Cores support, techniques, seminars, workshops and programs. This is accomplished through websites, social media and electronic newsletters. We have established a Center for Iron and Heme Disorders website. The CIHD website will contain the criteria for membership, in addition to the information mentioned above.
Kris Larrabee – CIHD Administrative/Financial Manager
Email: kris.larrabee@hsc.utah.edu
Phone: 801-585-7655