Mid-Atlantic CFAR Consortium Plus (MACC+)

Johns Hopkins University

PI’s: Stefan Baral, Sheree Schwartz

The Mid-Atlantic CFAR Consortium Implementation Science Consultation Hub (MACC+) provides technical assistance through coaching, group-based mentorship, training, and review to CFAR investigators, EHE awardees, health department officials, community stakeholders, and other HIV IS investigators. Led by Drs. Sheree Schwartz and Stefan Baral, the MACC+ is funded by the NIH under the national EHE initiative. The Hub seeks to accelerate HIV prevention, diagnosis, and treatment strategies by providing mentoring and technical support to ongoing and future IS projects and investigators. We also offer mentorship and development opportunities through didactic training, applied learning activities, and intensive IS coaching. By expanding collaboration across the CFAR network and strengthening partnerships with Health Departments and community stakeholders, the MACC+ Hub is developing a collaborative network aimed at supporting the EHE agenda and NIH HIV/AIDS research priorities.

What do we offer?

• • Selecting or better understanding a framework
  • Exploring ways to engage partners, including utilization of participatory methods, human-centered design, and community-led monitoring
  • Identifying data sources
  • Defining your target, source, and study population
  • Framing implementation science research questions and/or refining your specific aims
  • Developing your logic model
  • Selecting study designs, including use of adaptive study design methods
  • Applying implementation outcomes
  • Use of technologies

And many more!

MACC+ Hub Website

UAB CFAR Implementation Science Hub

The University of Alabama at Birmingham

PI’s: Robin Lanzi, Michael Mugavero

The UAB CFAR Implementation Science Hub services are organized around a research team that consists of experts with training, and experience in three overarching domains: Implementation Science, HIV Content Expertise, and Community Engagement.

Areas of focus and methodology include those specific to the EHE Supplement Projects such as: qualitative and mixed methods; partnership formation and ongoing relationships with health departments, ASO’s, CBO’s, and government agencies; social media strategies and inter-CFAR networks and leadership; and program evaluation and data management.

Aims:

• • Coaching: Centered on developing a project development plan with each supplement/project PI
  • Consultation: Guidance on application of the IS logic model and identification of appropriate outcome measures for each project
  • Dissemination: Guidance on scholarly products informed by the project development plan as well as consideration to subsequent grant applications
  • Collaboration: Achieved with ISCI and the other IS Hubs via the evaluation working group, training seminars, and workshops
  • Conducting: Cross-Hub multisite pilot implementation research project to inform the field of HIV IS regarding best practices towards achieving EHE targets

Rapid, Rigorous, Relevant (3R) Implementation Science Hub

The University of California Los Angeles

PI: Alison Hamilton

The UCLA Rapid, Rigorous, Relevant (3R) Implementation Science Hub provides leadership and support for HIV-related implementation research emphasizing pragmatic study designs and methods that address health equity and produce sustainable solutions. The Hub is supported by an Ending the HIV Epidemic supplement award from the National Institute of Mental Health.

The unique goal of the Hub is to provide leadership and support for 3R HIV-related implementation research emphasizing pragmatic study designs and methods that address health equity and produce sustainable solutions.

Aims:

• • Provide consultation, coaching, and technical assistance to EHE grantees, with a focus on cutting-edge 3R content, methods, strategies, models, theories, and frameworks.
  • Accelerate HIV research impacts by a) collaborating with ISCI, the other Implementation Hubs, and IS consortia and centers and b) identifying resources and opportunities for advancing evidence-based interventions through the implementation pipeline.
  • Provide and promote a platform for multidisciplinary collaborations in support of developing HIV-related implementation research and supporting the next generation of diverse IS investigators.
  • Conduct a cross-Hub multisite pilot implementation research project.

EHE awardees assigned to the UCLA 3R Hub will have access to individualized consultation, coaching, and technical assistance sessions; timely roundtable feedback; IS methods workshops; expert discussion sessions; and lectures and resources that will advance the application of IS concepts, theories, frameworks, and methods.

UC San Diego Dissemination and Implementation Science Center (DISC)

The University of California San Diego

PI’s: Borsika Rabin, Nicole Stadnick

Dissemination and implementation research intends to bridge the gap between research, practice, and policy by building a knowledge base about how health information, effective interventions, and new clinical practices, guidelines and policies are communicated and integrated for public health and health care service use in specific settings (NIH PAR-19-274). Recognizing the need for increased capacity in D&I research, training, and leadership, we established the UC San Diego DISC in 2020 as a center focusing on dissemination and implementation science across UC San Diego Health Sciences. Key activities provided by the UC San Diego ACTRI DISC include training, consultation, technical assistance, and mentoring to advance D&I science with a local, national, and global impact.

Mission:

Establish UC San Diego as a nationally and internationally recognized flagship for dissemination and implementation (D&I) science through training, technical assistance, community engagement, and research advancement.

Vision:

Advance UC San Diego’s public health impact locally and globally through D&I science.

Tennessee CFAR Implementation Science Hub

Vanderbilt University

PI’s: April Pettit, Carolyn Audet

We have a strong team of clinicians and researchers who are very excited to work with the EHE Supplement Projects on developing and testing new strategies to improve the HIV care cascade in the United States. Our expertise include: health equity/health disparities, community engagement, adaptation of EBI’s, quality improvement, learning health systems, clinical provision of HIV prevention and treatment services, and collaboration with public health.

Core Activities:

• • Leveraging Vanderbilt Clinical Quality and Implementation Research (CCQIR) activities (webinars, manuscript presentations)
  • Studio model borrowed from Vanderbilt Institute for Clinical and Translational Research (VICTR) grant reviews
  • Dissemination of EHE study results

Research Alliance in Implementation Science to End HIV/AIDS

The University of Washington

PI: Kenneth Sherr

RAISE builds on the expertise of UW/Fred Hutch CFAR’s Implementation Science Core, and its faculty Kenneth Sherr, Matthew Golden, Christine Khosropour, and Arianna Means, as well as other affiliated members. RAISE is one of nine Implementation Science Consultative Hubs across the country that provide implementation science consultation to NIH-funded EHE research projects designed to improve the uptake and effectiveness of HIV/AIDS interventions and bend the curve on the HIV epidemic in the United States. RAISE also works in partnership with the National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors (NASTAD) to provide technical assistance in implementation research to health departments in EHE jurisdictions.

Objectives:

• • Provide implementation science consultation services to a subset of NIH-supported EHE research projects.
  • Develop and support generalizable knowledge through cross-hub implementation science research.
  • Working in collaboration with NASTAD, provide implementation science education and consultation to EHE health departments and develop a platform that links health departments with implementation researchers to promote new research collaborations that are responsive to health department needs, enhance the impact EHE activities, and build long-term, collaborative infrastructure to end the HIV epidemic.

Emory CFAR Implementation Science Hub

Emory University

PI: Jessica Sales

Our central purpose is to advance research and interventions designed to prevent new infections and improve health equity in populations living with and at risk for HIV. We accomplish this by supporting the implementation of evidence-based biomedical, behavioral, and social prevention intervention and research methods for studies of pre-exposure prophylaxis, treatment as prevention, technology-supported prevention, and geospatial analyses.

What we offer:

• • Design and programming of web-based behavioral surveys
  • Molecular Laboratory and university partnership best practices
  • Integration of STI biomarkers in behavioral research
  • Data collection methods, analysis, and integration
  • Research participant management and retention
  • Project management for HIV research studies
  • Intervention design and adaptation
  • Mobile app development
  • Geospatial data analysis
  • Implementation study designs
  • Implementation frameworks, measures, and outcomes

Texas Implementation Science Hub to End HIV

Baylor College of Medicine, UTHealth Houston and Texas Biomedical Research Intitute

PI: Chris Markham

The Texas IS Hub is a component of the Texas D-CFAR. The Texas D-CFAR focuses its research on the theme “Ending HIV and optimizing HIV health in Texas.” The Texas IS Hub is now one of nine national Implementation Science Consultation Hubs working with the HIV Implementation Science Coordination Initiative supporting NIH-funded EHE supplement projects across the country.

Over the next year, the Texas IS Hub will provide consultation to eight to 10 HIV/AIDS research teams. The Hub will also provide local and national trainings, and curated access to implementation science theories, frameworks, and capacity building activities like workshops and grant advisement.

Mid-Atlantic CFAR Consortium Plus (MACC+)

Johns Hopkins University

PI’s: Stefan Baral, Sheree Schwartz

The Mid-Atlantic CFAR Consortium Implementation Science Consultation Hub (MACC+) provides technical assistance through coaching, group-based mentorship, training, and review to CFAR investigators, EHE awardees, health department officials, community stakeholders, and other HIV IS investigators. Led by Drs. Sheree Schwartz and Stefan Baral, the MACC+ is funded by the NIH under the national EHE initiative. The Hub seeks to accelerate HIV prevention, diagnosis, and treatment strategies by providing mentoring and technical support to ongoing and future IS projects and investigators. We also offer mentorship and development opportunities through didactic training, applied learning activities, and intensive IS coaching. By expanding collaboration across the CFAR network and strengthening partnerships with Health Departments and community stakeholders, the MACC+ Hub is developing a collaborative network aimed at supporting the EHE agenda and NIH HIV/AIDS research priorities.

What do we offer?

• • Selecting or better understanding a framework
  • Exploring ways to engage partners, including utilization of participatory methods, human-centered design, and community-led monitoring
  • Identifying data sources
  • Defining your target, source, and study population
  • Framing implementation science research questions and/or refining your specific aims
  • Developing your logic model
  • Selecting study designs, including use of adaptive study design methods
  • Applying implementation outcomes
  • Use of technologies

And many more!

UAB CFAR Implementation Science Hub

The University of Alabama at Birmingham

PI’s: Robin Lanzi, Michael Mugavero

The UAB CFAR Implementation Science Hub services are organized around a research team that consists of experts with training, and experience in three overarching domains: Implementation Science, HIV Content Expertise, and Community Engagement.

Areas of focus and methodology include those specific to the EHE Supplement Projects such as: qualitative and mixed methods; partnership formation and ongoing relationships with health departments, ASO’s, CBO’s, and government agencies; social media strategies and inter-CFAR networks and leadership; and program evaluation and data management.

Aims:

• • Coaching: Centered on developing a project development plan with each supplement/project PI
  • Consultation: Guidance on application of the IS logic model and identification of appropriate outcome measures for each project
  • Dissemination: Guidance on scholarly products informed by the project development plan as well as consideration to subsequent grant applications
  • Collaboration: Achieved with ISCI and the other IS Hubs via the evaluation working group, training seminars, and workshops
  • Conducting: Cross-Hub multisite pilot implementation research project to inform the field of HIV IS regarding best practices towards achieving EHE targets

UAB CFAR IS Hub

Rapid, Rigorous, Relevant (3R) Implementation Science Hub

The University of California Los Angeles

PI: Alison Hamilton

The UCLA Rapid, Rigorous, Relevant (3R) Implementation Science Hub provides leadership and support for HIV-related implementation research emphasizing pragmatic study designs and methods that address health equity and produce sustainable solutions. The Hub is supported by an Ending the HIV Epidemic supplement award from the National Institute of Mental Health.

The unique goal of the Hub is to provide leadership and support for 3R HIV-related implementation research emphasizing pragmatic study designs and methods that address health equity and produce sustainable solutions.

Aims:

• • Provide consultation, coaching, and technical assistance to EHE grantees, with a focus on cutting-edge 3R content, methods, strategies, models, theories, and frameworks.
  • Accelerate HIV research impacts by a) collaborating with ISCI, the other Implementation Hubs, and IS consortia and centers and b) identifying resources and opportunities for advancing evidence-based interventions through the implementation pipeline.
  • Provide and promote a platform for multidisciplinary collaborations in support of developing HIV-related implementation research and supporting the next generation of diverse IS investigators.
  • Conduct a cross-Hub multisite pilot implementation research project.

EHE awardees assigned to the UCLA 3R Hub will have access to individualized consultation, coaching, and technical assistance sessions; timely roundtable feedback; IS methods workshops; expert discussion sessions; and lectures and resources that will advance the application of IS concepts, theories, frameworks, and methods.

UC San Diego Dissemination and Implementation Science Center (DISC)

The University of California San Diego

PI’s: Borsika Rabin, Nicole Stadnick

Dissemination and implementation research intends to bridge the gap between research, practice, and policy by building a knowledge base about how health information, effective interventions, and new clinical practices, guidelines and policies are communicated and integrated for public health and health care service use in specific settings (NIH PAR-19-274). Recognizing the need for increased capacity in D&I research, training, and leadership, we established the UC San Diego DISC in 2020 as a center focusing on dissemination and implementation science across UC San Diego Health Sciences. Key activities provided by the UC San Diego ACTRI DISC include training, consultation, technical assistance, and mentoring to advance D&I science with a local, national, and global impact.

Mission:

Establish UC San Diego as a nationally and internationally recognized flagship for dissemination and implementation (D&I) science through training, technical assistance, community engagement, and research advancement.

Vision:

Advance UC San Diego’s public health impact locally and globally through D&I science.

Tennessee CFAR Implementation Science Hub

Vanderbilt University

PI’s: April Pettit, Carolyn Audet

We have a strong team of clinicians and researchers who are very excited to work with the EHE Supplement Projects on developing and testing new strategies to improve the HIV care cascade in the United States. Our expertise include: health equity/health disparities, community engagement, adaptation of EBI’s, quality improvement, learning health systems, clinical provision of HIV prevention and treatment services, and collaboration with public health.

Core Activities:

• • Leveraging Vanderbilt Clinical Quality and Implementation Research (CCQIR) activities (webinars, manuscript presentations)
  • Studio model borrowed from Vanderbilt Institute for Clinical and Translational Research (VICTR) grant reviews
  • Dissemination of EHE study results

Research Alliance in Implementation Science to End HIV/AIDS

The University of Washington

PI: Kenneth Sherr

RAISE builds on the expertise of UW/Fred Hutch CFAR’s Implementation Science Core, and its faculty Kenneth Sherr, Matthew Golden, Christine Khosropour, and Arianna Means, as well as other affiliated members. RAISE is one of nine Implementation Science Consultative Hubs across the country that provide implementation science consultation to NIH-funded EHE research projects designed to improve the uptake and effectiveness of HIV/AIDS interventions and bend the curve on the HIV epidemic in the United States. RAISE also works in partnership with the National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors (NASTAD) to provide technical assistance in implementation research to health departments in EHE jurisdictions.

Objectives:

• • Provide implementation science consultation services to a subset of NIH-supported EHE research projects.
  • Develop and support generalizable knowledge through cross-hub implementation science research.
  • Working in collaboration with NASTAD, provide implementation science education and consultation to EHE health departments and develop a platform that links health departments with implementation researchers to promote new research collaborations that are responsive to health department needs, enhance the impact EHE activities, and build long-term, collaborative infrastructure to end the HIV epidemic.

Emory CFAR Implementation Science Hub

Emory University

PI: Jessica Sales

Our central purpose is to advance research and interventions designed to prevent new infections and improve health equity in populations living with and at risk for HIV. We accomplish this by supporting the implementation of evidence-based biomedical, behavioral, and social prevention intervention and research methods for studies of pre-exposure prophylaxis, treatment as prevention, technology-supported prevention, and geospatial analyses.

What we offer:

• • Design and programming of web-based behavioral surveys
  • Molecular Laboratory and university partnership best practices
  • Integration of STI biomarkers in behavioral research
  • Data collection methods, analysis, and integration
  • Research participant management and retention
  • Project management for HIV research studies
  • Intervention design and adaptation
  • Mobile app development
  • Geospatial data analysis
  • Implementation study designs
  • Implementation frameworks, measures, and outcomes

Texas Implementation Science Hub to End HIV

Baylor College of Medicine, UTHealth Houston and Texas Biomedical Research Intitute

PI: Chris Markham

The Texas IS Hub is a component of the Texas D-CFAR. The Texas D-CFAR focuses its research on the theme “Ending HIV and optimizing HIV health in Texas.” The Texas IS Hub is now one of nine national Implementation Science Consultation Hubs working with the HIV Implementation Science Coordination Initiative supporting NIH-funded EHE supplement projects across the country.

Over the next year, the Texas IS Hub will provide consultation to eight to 10 HIV/AIDS research teams. The Hub will also provide local and national trainings, and curated access to implementation science theories, frameworks, and capacity building activities like workshops and grant advisement.