Yale University

Core Services

Below, we briefly describe the services offered by CIRA's Cores:

Each Core offers individual and core consultations, as well as a variety of other services and activities to assist in the development of new research collaborations, the conduct of research, and the dissemination of research findings. Call 203-764-4333 to have your request triaged to the appropriate Core or e-mail/call the Core contact listed below directly.

I. Administrative (Admin) Core (Gai Doran or 203-764-4342)

  • Consultations on CIRA affiliation, budget preparation, personnel planning, grant preparation, and interpretation of Federal and University regulations.
  • Grant preparation and management assistance including biosketches, other support pages, resource pages, and budget justifications for standard items. Grants managed through CIRA include form preparation, review of grant package, pagination, copying and submitting grant.
  • Use of state-of-the-art equipment (videoconferencing, projectors, laptops, scanning, color printing, transcription machines, digital camera) and comfortable meeting space.
  • Opportunities to collaborate in many disciplines and share research findings with other colleagues through workshops, seminars, meetings and conferences.
  • Informative weekly email bulletin that details Center, University, and local events, and information on conferences, funding, and job opportunities.
  • Internet describing affiliated projects and scientists, Cores and Core activities.
  • Web design and development, ranging from full custom site development to a menu of already created templates to facilitate ease and keep costs low.

II. Development (Dev) Core (Kate Stoddard or 203-764-8476)

  • Peer review process in which a multidisciplinary group of colleagues with a range of expertise provides constructive feedback on proposals and manuscripts to enhance their quality.
  • Opportunity to work with fellows from the NIMH Post- and Pre-doctoral interdisciplinary HIV prevention training program, and international training programs.
  • Opportunities for seed money to undertake HIV prevention research.
  • Support in the development of diversity supplements for eligible CIRA affiliated grants.

III. Interdisciplinary Research Methods (IRM) Core (Russell Barbour or 203-764-4332)

  • Advice in the design/modification of data management systems.
  • Support and consultations for statistical analyses.
  • Help for circumstances where sampling has been problematic (missing data, clustering, unequal, etc.) through the application of Bayesian methods, Generalized Estimating Equations (GEE), and other algorithms.
  • Data mapping, GIS, and spatial analysis using advanced spatial statistics.
  • Development of monitoring and evaluation plans, sensitivity analysis, and other procedures to quantify qualitative outcomes.
  • Training in statistical software and GIS, including an on-site training area where analysis maybe be performed in the context of an IRM Core consultation.
  • Training and installation of LINUX-based open source statistical and GIS software.
  • Training in qualitative data collection and analysis including the conduct of focus groups, individual interviews, and ethnographic observations.
  • Advice in the design of infectious disease modeling and economic analysis of care and prevention programs.

IV. Clinical and Health Services Research (CHSR) Core (Dini Harsono or 203-764-8454)

  • Support of multi-disciplinary, collaborative research focusing on HIV and aging, comorbidities and toxicity, and mental health and substance abuse issues.
  • Organization of working groups focused on major thematic areas of research interest. Promotes multi-disciplinary research on these issues by bringing together CIRA-affiliated scientists from varied clinical and health services research backgrounds.
  • Review and development of survey instruments to assess risky behavior and substance abuse in HIV.
  • Organization of mini-conferences around major thematic areas (HIV and aging, comorbidities and toxicity, and mental health and substance abuse). Promotes publication of white papers arising from mini-conferences.

V. Community Research (CR) Core (Gai Doran or 203-764-4342)

  • Consultations on: community based research (CBR) methods; dissemination; linkages with community research partners, community based organizations, and scientists; and other community-related issues.
  • Guidance for successful community-university research partnerships.
  • Assistance with the dissemination of research project information and findings to the community.
  • Support of the Community Research Partnership Program pilot project grants.
  • Trainings/workshops on community based research related issues as needed.

VI. Law, Policy and Ethics (LPE) Core (Dini Harsono or 203-764-8454)

  • Consultations, including Peer Review participation, focusing on a range of topics including, but not limited to, legal issues that may help or hinder research, assistance in directing research findings to policymakers, consideration of ethical dilemmas that may arise in conducting research and/or design of human subjects protection plans for IRB applications.
  • Research and preparation of Policy Updates that relate to public policy, legal questions, and/or ethics and human subjects topics that impact HIV prevention research. Suggested topics for Policy Updates are welcome from all CIRA affiliated scientists.
  • Organization of mini-conferences to bring researchers, community members and other relevant stakeholders together in order to debate and explore law, policy and ethics issues. Affiliated scientists do not need to be members of the Core to initiate these events. Administrative coordination, background research, and financial support are provided by the Core.
  • Assistance in the development of research on structural interventions: provides consultations on methods in measurement and analysis of structure and runs working group to review published papers and developing grants and manuscripts on topics in structural determinants and structural interventions.