The Midwest Leadership in Education, Application, and Dissemination of Research to Improve Health (Midwest LEADRs) - A robust body of literature indicates both biological and non-biological factors influence health outcomes. Non-biological factors may include environmental exposures, socioeconomic conditions, housing, nutrition, healthcare access, education, and community resources that interact with individual characteristics to influence health. There are limited opportunities for nurse and aligned health scientists to learn rigorous training in the conceptual frameworks, research methods, and implementation strategies needed to study and intervene on such non-biological factors. Our team from the Indiana University (IU) Schools of Nursing and Medicine propose the Midwest Leadership in Education, Application, and Dissemination of Research to Improve Health (Midwest LEADRs) to address this gap. Midwest LEADRs will train scientists to identify, measure, and intervene on specific, measurable, non-biological factors that influence health. Training will emphasize rigorous conceptual frameworks, community-engaged research, intervention development, and pragmatic evaluation models. We will engage three cohorts of 20 scientists; each cohort will be engaged in the program for nine months. Institutional Fellows (n=8) will include IU PhD students, postdoctoral fellows, or faculty in their first three years of appointment. Regional Fellows (n=12) will be nurse scientists; eight will be recruited through our partnership with the Midwest Nursing Research Society as well as two partnering Midwest Schools of Nursing. Regional Fellows will be a) faculty at the assistant or associate level, or b) scientists who conduct or direct research in non-academic settings. There are three pillars of the program. The Education Pillar begins with a 4-day Research Intensive to provide foundational training in measurement, qualitative and quantitative research designs, intervention development for non-biological factors influencing health, and training in the responsible conduct of research. Over the subsequent eight months, Fellows continue to receive instruction and mentorship, both in-person (Institutional Fellows) and remotely (Regional Fellows). As part of the Application Pillar, Fellows will apply knowledge gained to their own research (e.g. publications, grant applications), and to research needs of health system and community partners. As part of the Dissemination Pillar, Fellows will present their work locally (home institution) and submit presentations to peer-reviewed conferences. The overall goal of the Midwest LEADRs Program is to prepare scientists to develop, implement, and evaluate interventions to improve health outcomes. Its aims are: 1: Educate nurse scientists and scientists in aligned health professions on conceptual frameworks, methodological approaches, and implementation tools to identify, measure, and intervene on non-biological factors shaping health. 2: Support Fellows in applying training to develop intervention-focused research to improve health outcomes. 3: Evaluate, refine, and disseminate key resources from the program, accessible by nurse scientists and the scientific community.
