PROJECT SUMMARY The critical need remains to advance our understanding of benign genitourinary (GU) diseases – their etiology, pathophysiology, and mechanisms of progression. The phenotypic expressions of many common benign GU diseases are yet to be defined. Clinical gaps in knowledge include objective diagnostic tests and criteria for many symptomatic benign GU conditions and the efficacy of multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary approaches to management. The impact of these conditions on other disease processes and whole body health; productivity, functioning, and quality of life; and public health overall is virtually unknown. The impact of disparities in healthcare and health outcomes on patients with benign GU disease is understudied. The potential power of prevention is unexplored. The proposed Interactions Core for the Community of NIDDK-funded benign GU Centers and Programs known as CAIRIBU (Collaborating for the Advancement of Interdisciplinary Research in Benign Urology) will foster and support integrated basic and translational science that answers critical questions in benign GU disease and builds the breadth and depth of benign urologic investigators. Our mission is to provide intellectual leadership and logistic support for the CAIRIBU Community by identifying and facilitating opportunities for cross-CAIRIBU collaboration and promoting research findings and resources to the broader benign GU research community. Specific Aims are to: 1) provide scientific leadership to the CAIRIBU Community by enabling the full potential of NIDDK staff and CAIRIBU leaders to provide guidance that results in highly meritorious convergent research and highly-trained new investigators in benign GU diseases; 2) provide leadership in team science by identifying and fostering opportunities for transdisciplinary interaction and collaboration within CAIRIBU and among the broader benign GU research community; 3) provide administrative support by building the CAIRIBU infrastructure to maximize communication, collaboration, coordination, and resource sharing; and 4) develop internal and external evaluation mechanisms to maximize the performance, transdisciplinary nature, productivity, and effectiveness of the Interactions Core and CAIRIBU Community. Our Interactions Core is led by a Principal Investigator who is an established benign GU disease investigator and has functioned in a pilot capacity as Director of Interactions for CAIRIBU since July 2018. Our Co-Investigator is an expert in the science of team science and has experience in collaboration-building and measuring collaborative science efforts. The University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health provides the ideal environment for supporting the Interactions Core due to its multiple resources. The Department of Urology is the idea “home” for the Interactions Core due to its strong commitment to and track record in benign GU research. Our Core will use innovative approaches to leverage CAIRIBU members’ common passion for addressing critical gaps in knowledge in benign GU disease.

PROJECT NARRATIVE The overarching goal of the Interactions Core at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health is to foster and support collaborative transdisciplinary scientific research to enhance our understanding of the causes, development, progression, and personal, societal, and environmental impacts of non-cancerous urologic conditions, including urinary tract infection, kidney and bladder stones, prostatic enlargement, lower urinary tract symptoms (pain, incontinence, neurogenic bladder, and other voiding dysfunctions), male reproductive disorders, and developmental (congenital) abnormalities of the urinary tract. We will provide intellectual leadership and logistic support to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) Urology Centers and Programs collectively known as CAIRIBU – Collaborating for the Advancement of Interdisciplinary Research in Benign Urology. Specifically, the Interactions Core will identify and facilitate opportunities for cross-CAIRIBU interactions and collaborations with new urology investigators, promote research findings and resources to the broader benign urology research community, and build the community and diversity of benign urology basic, clinical, and population scientists that are actively studying benign urologic diseases.