Patient-Oriented Research and Training to Accelerate Learning (Penn PORTAL) - Contact PD/PI: HALPERN, SCOTT PROJECT SUMMARY The University of Pennsylvania (Penn) proposes to establish the Patient-Oriented Research and Training to Accelerate Learning, or Penn PORTAL, to build and diversify capacity in deploying patient- centered outcomes research (PCOR) within LHSs. Penn PORTAL will integrate operations leaders, mentors who are expert in all Learning Health System (LHS) competencies, community partners, and all health systems in the City of Philadelphia with several leading LHS research centers at Penn. We will develop and test interventions that are informed by our expertise in changing human behavior and using the most rigorous and ethical comparative effectiveness and implementation science research methods. Penn PORTAL will be led by 3 physician-scientists with diverse personal backgrounds, clinical disciplines, career stages, and methodologic expertise: Scott Halpern, Meghan Lane-Fall, and Mucio (Kit) Delgado. These MPIs will lead PORTAL’s Administrative Core and be joined on its Steering Committee by 7 senior investigators and operations leaders in overseeing and synchronizing the work of a Research Education Core (REC), Research & Data Analysis Core (RDAC), and Equity & Community Engagement (ECE) unit that will ensure principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion pervade all PORTAL activities. The REC will be co-led by Jen Myers, Director of Penn’s Center for Healthcare Improvement and Patient Safety, and Rachel Werner, Director of its Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics. Drs. Myers and Werner bring complementary expertise in training embedded scientists with system leadership roles and independently-funded LHS investigators, enabling us to train both types of scientists in a 2-year program blending didactic and experiential learning and intensive mentorship that we developed during our current AHRQ/PCORI K12 award. The RDAC will be co-led by Kevin Johnson, an internationally recognized leader in building and leading informatics-informed LHSs, and Michael Harhay, a statistical epidemiologist and expert in developing methods for pragmatic clinical trials. The ECE will be led by Jaya Aysola, Director of the Center for Health Equity Advancement – a first-of-its-kind health equity center embedded within a large health system enterprise. Led by the ECE, PORTAL will partner with the Philadelphia Department of Health, several community organizations, and all Philadelphia health systems, the latter through an initiative funded by the region’s largest payer to combat racism and health inequities across the City. These partnerships will diversify the pool of LHS scientists we train and amplify our opportunities to implement effective interventions across all Philadelphia-area health systems. Finally, guided by an Internal Advisory Board that includes the Deans of Penn’s Schools of Medicine, Nursing, and Business (Wharton), and an External Advisory Board that includes 11 national LHS leaders, PORTAL will realize the ideals of an LHS imbued with an equity-first focus.
