PEDSnet Scholars:
A National Pediatric Learning Health System Embedded Scientist Training and Research Program
SUMMARY
Creating integrated learning health systems (LHSs) that improve child health will require a new
generation of pediatric scientists with diverse backgrounds who will be embedded in healthcare
organizations’ clinical and research operations. We propose to address this need by creating a
Pediatric LHS Embedded Scientist Training and Research Center. The Center will be integrated
within PEDSnet, a PCORnet Clinical Research Network and a national pediatric LHS with 11
institutional members that provide care for 10% of the nation’s children. The Center will extend and
enhance the successful PEDSnet Scholars program, which is an AHRQ LHS Center of Excellence
(K12) and has trained 29 junior faculty. The aims for the Center are: Aim 1 (Center Organization and
Integration): Establish a national, pediatric embedded LHS scientist training and research center with
administrative, education and training, research and data analysis, and scientist development cores;
Aim 2 (Scholar Development): Select, retain, and mentor a diverse cadre of pediatric scientists, called
PEDSnet Scholars, who are within 5 years of their initial academic appointment or those making a
mid-career transition, creating a community of national leaders who will help realize the promise of
LHS science for children; Aim 3 (Education Program): Deliver a core curriculum that builds
competence in LHS science with an emphasis on authentic stakeholder engagement and patient-
centered outcomes research; Aim 4 (Research Support): Provide project management, engagement,
methodological, and dissemination and implementation resources and support to PEDSnet Scholars
and their research projects; and, Aim 5 (Program Evaluation): Evaluate the impact of the Center and
its activities on scientists’ professional development and patient and system outcomes. We anticipate
using AHRQ/PCORI funding for 14 individuals and up to an additional 16 can be funded by their
institutions. Scholars will conduct projects that are meaningful, impactful, and outcomes-focused
addressing health and healthcare challenges facing children, their families, and the health systems
that serve them. We have added a Scientist Development Core, which will implement an innovative
Diversity Plan, mentoring, and all activities related to Scholar professional development. The three
MPIs have complementary expertise and are national leaders in LHS science, multi-institutional
research, faculty training, enhancing workforce diversity, and the science of health equity. The
PEDSnet Scholars working within the Center will become institutional and national leaders in
advancing outcomes and the leaders who will forge the national pediatric LHS system of the
future. The PEDSnet Scholars program is not a project for PEDSnet or its member institutions; it is
part of a strategic campaign to create an integrated LHS for the nation’s children.
