Thursday, April 25, 2024
4/25/2024
Implementation Research in Infectious Diseases in Peru – GARCIA, Hector H. Training in Infectious Diseases in Peru – Time for Implementation Research PROJECT SUMMARY This renewal application proposes to apply the training experience built in Peru over the past 25 years with Fogarty support, and take advantage of the now existing cadre of well-trained clinical researchers, to guide a new generation of trainees into objective-driven implementation research (IR). In this five-year period, our trainees will be oriented to produce research aimed to improve policies and practices in our region. The basic foundations of our program (continuous hands-on participation in these studies and a step wise system involving a Diploma course in Research Methods, a Master’s degree in Epidemiology or related fields, advanced courses overseas, and PhD studies), combined with a wide array of ongoing research programs by our mentors, provide an optimal framework for this objective. We have succeeded in forming independent researchers, many of whom now head their own research labs and have obtained competitive grant funding. Specifically, we will enroll 50 medium-term mentored post- and pre-graduate students in a Diploma course (10 per year), 22 mentored Master’s degree students (5 in years 1 to 3, 2 each in years 4 and 5), and up to four PhD students including two enrolled in the UPCH PhD program. With the addition of the experienced IR team of the U. of Washington, courses in the foundations and practice of implementation research will be incorporated into the curricula of the Diploma, master’s and PhD programs. We will include online versions of these Diplomas and Master´s courses to allow trainees from less favored regions to enter our research training pathway, and to address changing norms post SAR-CoV-2. We will also establish an implementation unit within the university´s Center for Clinical Studies, providing trainees with exposure to ongoing clinical studies and allowing the inclusion of IR expertise at the planning stage of clinical trials, rather than at the end when required information is found not to have been recorded and translation efforts are many times lost. By the end of every year, our trainees will submit research proposals with a focus on implementation that will be evaluated by an external expert panel. The top two will be funded each year. Successful applicants will attend the annual 2- week Implementation Science Institute at UW. They will also be supported by a mentor with experience in IR, a thematic mentor, and a prior trainee with more research experience, providing necessary guidance to perform their proposed study over one year. Another addition will be a mentor development track aimed to incorporate up to 24 young mentors, mostly prior trainees. They will receive training and the appropriate tools to develop their mentoring skills through interaction with senior mentors, yearly mentorship workshops, online courses, etc., and will be evaluated in terms of specific deliverables such as thesis advice, research supervision, publications, and grant submissions from their assigned trainees. Focusing on implementation research to improve activities or processes in the health system should capitalize in this critical mass and provide trainees and mentors a new, productive perspective while at the same time contribute to a much-needed reduction of inequalities in health. PHS 398/2590 (Rev. 06/09) Page Continuation Format Page
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