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Session Title: Evaluation of a Collaborative to Foster Research Translation Between Campuses and Communities: The Atlanta Clinical and Translational Science Institute's Community Engagement and Research Program
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Panel Session 401 to be held in Suwannee 18 on Thursday, Nov 12, 4:30 PM to 6:00 PM
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Sponsored by the Collaborative, Participatory & Empowerment Evaluation TIG
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| Chair(s): |
| Iris Smith, Emory University, ismith@sph.emory.edu
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| Abstract:
The Atlanta Clinical and Translational Science Institute (ACTSI) is a federally funded collaboration between Emory University, Morehouse School of Medicine, Georgia Institute of Technology and other community organizations to enhance research productivity and speed the transfer of clinical innovations to community practice. The ultimate goals are improved public health and reduction in health disparities. Challenges to collaboration include real and perceived differentials in prestige, influence and resources among the institutions, organizational complexity, and limited resources. The strengths of the partnership include the diversity and complementarity of partner expertise. The ACTSI evaluation function is highly participatory and represents cross-institutional collaboration. Challenges to the evaluation include operationalizing and measuring multi-level, multi-faceted collaborative activities while creating a utility focused evaluation that reflects the information needs of a diverse group of academic and community partners. This multi-paper panel will discuss the socio-political/historical context of the ACTSI, the evaluation design and preliminary evaluation findings.
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Atlanta Clinical and Translational Science Institute (ACTSI) Evaluation Framework and Organization: Benefits of Organizational Placement and Collaborative Evaluation Planning
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| Iris Smith, Emory University, ismith@sph.emory.edu
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| Andrew West, Emory University, awest2@emory.edu
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| Leo Andres, Emory University, landres@sph.emory.edu
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The Atlanta Clinical & Translational Science Institute Tracking and Evaluation Program is one of 11 key functions that comprise the Institute. Organizationally it is equivalent to other key functions which include: Clinical Interaction Network; Research, Education, Training and Career Development; Ethics, Regulatory Knowledge and Support; Community Engagement and Research; Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Research Design; Translational Technology and Resources; Pilot and Collaborative Translational and Clinical Studies; Biomedical Informatics; Clinical Translational Research Program for Pediatrics and Governance. The evaluation framework is participatory and utilization-focused with an emphasis on stakeholder involvement. Evaluation activities are coordinated by an "evaluation workgroup" that includes evaluators from each of the academic institutions, ACTSI Governance and Biomedical Informatics. The organizational placement and collaborative process of building the evaluation function has facilitated evaluation "buy-in" and rapid communication of evaluation activities and findings.
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Measuring Partnership Functioning Within the Atlanta Clinical and Translational Science Institute (ACTSI)
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| Cam Escoffery, Emory University, cescoff@sph.emory.edu
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| Brenda Hayes, Morehouse School of Medicine, bhayes.msm.edu
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A Leadership Council comprised of the program directors oversees the administration and operations of the ACTSI. The purpose of this presentation is to describe the development and implementation of a partnership evaluation of the ACTSI. The evaluation will help assess engagement and satisfaction of the members of the Leadership Council and the key partners in the following dimensions: member characteristics and perceptions, planning and implementation, leadership, partner involvement in the collaboration, communication, and progress and outcome. The utilization-focused data will provide information on opportunities, challenges and barriers and suggest strategies to strengthen the collaborative relationships.
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Animated Social Network Analysis of Patterns of Collaboration in the Atlanta Clinical and Translational Science Institute (ACTSI)
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| Iris Smith, Emory University, ismith@sph.emory.edu
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| Circe Tsui, Emory University, ctsui2@emory.edu
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| Eva K Lee, Georgia Institute of Technology, evakylee@isye.gatech.edu
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| Cam Escoffery, Emory University, cescoff@sph.emory.edu
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| Tabia Henry Akintobi, Morehouse School of Medicine, takintobi@msm.edu
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A baseline social network analysis was conducted to identify trends in research collaboration from March 2007 (prior to ACTSI grant award) through October 2008 (13 months post award) using the Social Network Image Animator (SoNIA) which produces an animated sociogram allowing for visualization of changes in collaborative patterns over four time points. The results of the analysis showed an increase both in the number of multi-institutional grants developed and their proportion relative to the total number of grants generated by the partnering institutions. In addition, the animated sociograms positioned Emory University School of Medicine research teams at the center of the diagrams with the highest concentration of grants. Analysis of the sociogram suggested that over the 18 month period, there was an increase in the number of Morehouse School of Medicine and Georgia Institute of Technology researchers being drawn into the Emory research clusters.
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Evaluation of a Collaborative to Foster Research Translation Between Campuses and Communities: The Atlanta Clinical and Translational Science Institute's Community Engagement and Research Program
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| Tabia Henry Akintobi, Morehouse School of Medicine, takintobi@msm.edu
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| Brenda Hayes, Morehouse School of Medicine, bhayes@msm.edu
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This presentation will detail evaluation of the institutional partnership, processes, and The Atlanta Clinical and Translational Science Institute (ACTSI) Community Engagement and Research Program (CERP) partners Morehouse School of Medicine and Emory University in strategies to 1) sustain the generation of research that is effectively translated from the laboratory bench to communities, 2) partner communities and academicians in all aspects of research, and 3) train investigators in community-based participatory research principles and practice. Activities central to these aims include The CERP Community Mini-grant Program, research-community workshops, and The Community Engagement in Health Disparities in Clinical and Translational Research Course. All strategies and activities are advised and reviewed by a steering board composed of a community stakeholder majority. Evaluation of CERP is central to the ACTSI's goals of fostering ethical community engagement and translation of science to Atlanta outcomes central to achieving the aims of CERP.
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