Project management in public health research settings: The impact of innovative organizational and structural elements on management and practice

Research Project Managers (RPMs) in public health settings have traditionally operated within a vertical staff structure specific to project topic, method and duration, wherein the RPM receives direction and supervision from the Principal Investigator. In large research consortia comprised of multiple investigators and projects, such a structure can be limiting, resulting in inefficient knowledge sharing between research staff members. To address these issues, the Center for Urban Epidemiologic Studies (CUES) at The New York Academy of Medicine developed an alternate approach: the addition of a horizontally organized, innovative RPM peer group to overlay and augment the vertical structure. While the RPM group is coordinated by a Senior Project Manager who oversees key elements (monthly meetings, senior staff representation, creation of abstracts, manuscripts and training), the group is primarily a forum for RPMs to share experience, techniques and resources. This mechanism promotes cross-fertilization of a breadth of information and ideas among multiple large-scale projects and preserves institutional knowledge during periods of staff transition. At CUES, the RPM group has informed development of community and academic relations, grant proposals, project implementation and materials, and staff supervision and training. Three case examples illustrate the benefits and challenges of this organizational structure, and the model's application and expansion to other research settings. While challenges remain, including sustaining a cohesive RPM core, the mechanism developed for joint training, resource sharing and problem-solving has resulted in improved skill-sets and work performance.