Training Interprofessional Community-Engaged Research Teams (TICERT) - Adverse conditions continue to contribute to preventable poor health outcomes across the United States. While research has substantially advanced understanding of the non-biological drivers associated with health, there is an urgent need to prepare investigators who can translate this knowledge into evidence-based interventions that improve health outcomes. Addressing this need requires a multidisciplinary research workforce equipped to design, implement, evaluate, disseminate, and scale sustainable solutions in partnership with the communities most affected. Western University of Health Sciences (WesternU) proposes the Training Interprofessional Community-Engaged Research Teams (TICERT) program, an innovative one-year research education program that will prepare 80 nurse scientists and other healthcare providers over two cohorts to conduct intervention-focused, community-engaged research focused on access to quality healthcare, mental healthcare, health education, healthy nutrition, and safe living environments. TICERT integrates implementation science, interdisciplinary collaboration, community partnerships, and mentored research experiences to strengthen participants' capacity to translate research into improvements in clinical care, public health, healthcare systems, and policy. The program will also produce the TICERT Toolkit, a nationally disseminated multimedia resource designed to support replication of the curriculum and expand workforce capacity in implementation-focused community-engaged research. The long-term goal of TICERT is to develop a cadre of nurse scientists who lead the development, evaluation, implementation, and dissemination of evidence-based interventions that address access to healthcare, health education, healthy nutrition, and safe living environments. WesternU has assembled an interdisciplinary team of faculty, researchers, clinicians, and implementation experts whose expertise spans nursing, public health, behavioral science, implementation science, health policy, evaluation, and community-engaged research. A multidisciplinary Community Advisory Board representing healthcare systems, public health organizations, community leaders, will ensure that participant research remains scientifically rigorous, community-informed, and positioned for successful implementation. Specific Aim 1 is to prepare nurse scientists with the knowledge and implementation-focused research competencies needed to develop, evaluate, and disseminate evidence-based interventions that improve health outcomes by addressing access to quality health care and health education, healthy nutrition, and safe living environments. Participants will develop competencies in healthcare frameworks, implementation science, intervention development, community-engaged research, ethical research practices, and dissemination strategies. Specific Aim 2 is to provide interdisciplinary, mentored research experiences that prepare participants to translate scientific evidence into sustainable healthcare and community solutions. Through collaboration with Research Mentors and community partners, participants will develop implementation-ready research proposals designed to evaluate interventions that improve health outcomes while strengthening interdisciplinary collaboration, grant development, and dissemination. Program outcomes include: (1) preparing 80 nurse scientists to develop and evaluate intervention-focused community-engaged research; (2) establishing interdisciplinary mentoring and community partnerships that support implementation-focused research careers; (3) developing implementation-ready research proposals that form the foundation for future NIH and other externally funded intervention research; and (4) creating and nationally disseminating the TICERT Toolkit to expand workforce capacity in solution-oriented community research. The TICERT curriculum consists of five sequential virtual instructional units integrating implementation science
