Space and Facilities

The institute occupies 36,500 square feet over three floors in the Westside Research Office Building, located within walking distance of all the health colleges. The institute includes conference rooms, two focus group rooms with adjoining observation rooms, and space for survey research. Most centers and programs affiliated with the institute occupy offices in this building.

Grants Management

The institute’s financial team supports more than 70 active research projects and 60 proposal submissions annually. They manage a diverse research portfolio that includes RO1s, specialized grants (RO3s, R21s), training grants and large-scale research initiatives such as program projects. They also support faculty contracts with public and private health agencies, usually for short-term projects, such as program evaluations.

IHRP grants managers are familiar with the requirements of a wide range of funders, including state and local public health departments, nonprofit organizations such as the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the American Cancer Society, and federal agencies, including the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The institute supports collaborative agreements with faculty in universities across the United States and international contracts with universities on four continents.

The financial team uses a sophisticated financial system to shadow Banner, the university’s electronic data system, to produce more detailed financial reports for investigators that include both personnel and non-personnel expenditures and allow salary projections through a budget period.

Human Resources

The IHRP Human Resources team manages appointments for almost 300 faculty and staff members each year, recruits new staff, and advises IHRP staff and affiliated faculton campus employment policies and procedures, including those regarding international appointments and visa sponsorships. The HR team works with dozens of departments and 11 colleges on campus to process appointments. The HR team is experienced in managing faculty and academic professional appointments funded by multiple sources that require several levels of approval across campus. They also work closely with the financial staff to ensure employees’ appointments are maintained in compliance with university policies through multiple and frequent changes in funding.

Human Subjects Protection

To facilitate the timely implementation of funded research, IHRP provides consultation regarding the protection of human research subjects to investigators developing grant proposals and study materials. A senior researcher with six years’ experience serving on the UIC Institutional Review Board guides researchers through the IRB approval process, including the development of consent forms and recruitment materials.

For more information, contact: Audrey Gordon, PhD IHRP Institutional Review Board Coordinator akg@uic.edu [3] (312) 413-9827

Computing Environment

IHRP features a modern, comprehensive computing environment, including servers and desktop computers connected in a secure local area network. In addition to the familiar office software suites, this environment supports the newest versions of statistical, analytical, mathematical, and data processing software, including SAS, SPSS, and GIS packages. The network allows researchers to access and analyze their data from any computer anywhere at any time and offers scalability, which facilitates the adoption of creative and technologically unique methods of data collection.

In-house informational technology staff provide consultation on the use and integration of a wide range of data collection technologies employed by researchers, provide on-site maintenance of all equipment and servers, and ensure the safe storage of data.

The institute also benefits from the services of the university’s Academic Computing and Communications Center, which supports site licenses for major software and statistical packages, enables researchers to purchase GIS and other software at discounted rates, and offers access to UIC mainframe computers and a Beowulf Cluster for high-performance programming and statistical analysis.

For more information, contact: David Haschemeyer Informational Technology Manager dhasch@uic.edu [4] (312) 413-9838

Communications

IHRP is committed to promoting the research of its investigators through the media, its website, its annual report and other venues. IHRP Communications identifies research activities of interest to the media and solicits the support of UIC Office of Public Affairs in writing and disseminating news releases. IHRP Communications also advises research teams on communications issues related to their research, such as recruitment of study participants.

For more information, contact: Veronica Johnston Director, IHRP Communications vjohnsto@uic.edu [5] (312) 355-2800