2. ABSTRACT
The Coast-to-Coast Consortium (C2C)
proposes Strong UBR Recruitment, Retention,
and Facilitation through innovation (SURRF).
C2C combines experienced and new sites to
provide innovative and committed support to
NIH goals for (1) strong underrepresented in
biomedical research (UBR) enrollment, retention, and engagement; (2) use of implementation
science best practices; and (3) increase return of value to participants. Our use of implementation
science will improve data-driven decision making, and establish the right balance between costs
per participant and successful recruitment and retention of UBR participants. Our institutions
(Table 2.1) will recruit a total of 68,222, with 80% UBR (Table 2.2). This will be accomplished
through new outreach and partnerships that take advantage of our extensive catchment areas.
Within >80% overall UBR representation, we expect >50% based on race/ethnicity, and >20%
on low-income. We will increase UBR community-based partnerships by at least 20%, and we
will have >60% retention by Year 5.
Five of our institutions are founding members of the All of Us Research
Program (AoU) California Precision Medicine Consortium (CAPMC),
which has met or exceeded its milestones for recruitment, retention,
including UBRs, for the past six years. The new sites were chosen because
they complement existing sites not only with highly diverse populations, but
also diversification in institution types and locations: RIQI, a Health
Information Exchange (HIE) covering the whole state of Rhode Island;
PRCCI, a research institute with sites all over Puerto Rico; and Yale, a research university in the
state of Connecticut. An HIE will allow us to understand the efficacy of shifting the existing
model of having healthcare provider organizations (HPOs) recruit from their sites, to having the
hub of a network of organizations select among any of its contributing sites, allowing to focus on
sites enriched for UBRs. PRCCI is a consortium of clinical research sites in Puerto Rico, where
74% of the population is UBR. The population covered by Yale New Haven Health reflects the
contrasts of Connecticut, which has the highest per capita income in the country, but where 25%
of the population lives in poverty. Of the four new institutions, three have begun already started
recruiting via supplements to CAPMC (Yale and PRCCI) or via the AoU Nutrition for Precision
Health study (UCLA).
Our multidisciplinary team has a strong track record of collaborative research, which facilitates
working together successfully. Contact PI Lucila Ohno-Machado has been the contact PI for
CAPMC, and she has more than 25 years of experience serving as PI/program director (PI/PD)
for NIH research/training grants and service contracts. Dr. Ohno-Machado has deep working
relationships with each PI and provides an inclusive, collaborative environment. Our multi-PI
team has a combination of leaders in their fields and emerging leaders, and itself represents the
diversity we strive to recruit and retain. Of 11 MPIs, only four are male; various racial and ethnic
groups are represented; there are MDs, MD/PhDs, and PhDs in various areas. Our staff are
equally diverse and reflect the communities we serve. We have established partnerships and will
continue to collaborate with the San Diego Blood Bank (also in the AoU Direct Volunteer
Program), various Federally Qualified Healthcare Centers (FQHC), as well as multiple
community partners. We share lessons learned and value the privilege of being part of AoU.