Journal of Clinical and Translational Science

Composite endpoints can encode multiple pieces of information and are increasingly adopted in clinical trials. Advocacy for using composite endpoints began decades ago in cardiovascular trials, leading to incorporation of patient-oriented outcomes and consideration of a hierarchical ranking system. The use of composite endpoints in coronavirus disease (COVID-19) trials has evolved similarly. We conducted a literature review to investigate the use of composite endpoints in acute heart failure and COVID-19 clinical trials...

BACKGROUND: We describe a retrospective assessment of practitioner and patient recruitment strategies, patient retention strategies, and rates for five clinical studies conducted in the National Dental Practice-Based Research Network between 2012 and 2019, and practitioner and patient characteristics associated with retention. METHODS: Similar recruitment strategies were adopted in the studies. The characteristics of the practitioners and patients are described...

The Advancing the Science of Mentorship: Future Directions for Sustainable Implementation and Evaluation of Mentorship Education for the Clinical and Translational Science Workforce conference was held in Madison, Wisconsin, in April 2023. The conference provided an engaging and scholarly forum for clinical and translational researchers from diverse backgrounds and career stages (including leaders at Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) hubs and affiliated institutions) with a professional interest and commitment to improving and diversifying workforce development and fostering a climate of inclusive excellence through best practices in mentorship...

BACKGROUND: Incarceration is a significant social determinant of health, contributing to high morbidity, mortality, and racialized health inequities. However, incarceration status is largely invisible to health services research due to inadequate clinical electronic health record (EHR) capture. This study aims to develop, train, and validate natural language processing (NLP) techniques to more effectively identify incarceration status in the EHR. METHODS: The study population consisted of adult patients (≥ 18 y...

Digital badges can provide condensed competency-based knowledge enabling individuals a chance to explore specialized careers in clinical research. A digital badge can be an efficient pathway to introduce clinical research job roles and educate a larger diverse workforce for clinical research coordinator positions at AMCs. The New Jersey Alliance for Clinical and Translational Science (NJ ACTS) developed a digital badge with potential to broaden exposure to training opportunities for CRCs and improve their prospects for a career at Rutgers...

The hidden curriculum (HC), or implicit norms and values within a field or institution, affects faculty at all career stages. This study surveyed affiliates of a junior faculty training program ( n = 12) to assess the importance of HC topics for junior faculty, mentors, and institutional leaders. For non-diverse junior faculty and their mentors, work-life balance, research logistics, and resilience were key HC topics. Coping with bias and assertive communication were emphasized for diverse junior faculty and mentors...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

BACKGROUND: Assessing perceptions of the COVID-19 vaccines is essential for understanding vaccine hesitancy and for improving uptake during public health emergencies. In the complicated landscape of COVID-19 vaccine mandates and rampant misinformation, many individuals faced challenges during vaccination decision-making. The purpose of our mixed methods study is to elucidate factors affecting vaccine decision-making and to highlight the discourse surrounding the COVID-19 vaccines in diverse and underserved communities...

Research experience is often important for academic and career development. This paper describes the implementation and impact of a training program for temporary research assistants (RAs) at an academic medical center. The program includes a 9-month didactic lecture series covering research and professional development skills, a Quality Improvement project focused on improving research processes, and manuscript writing. Overall, the program goals of increasing confidence, self-efficacy, job satisfaction, and well-being, as well as providing an opportunity for career exploration, were met...

OBJECTIVES: Participation in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) has numerous benefits, yet many eligible children remain unenrolled. This qualitative study sought to explore perceptions of a novel electronic health record (EHR) intervention to facilitate referrals to WIC and improve communication/coordination between WIC staff and healthcare professionals. METHODS: WIC staff in three counties were provided EHR access and recruited to participate...

Translation of critical and broadly impactful health advancements is stymied by insufficient scientific scrutiny of barriers and roadblocks in the process. The Clinical & Translational Science Award (CTSA) funding opportunity announcement released in July 2021 makes clear the distinction between translational research and translational science (TS) and urges a shift from the former to the latter. This represents a significant shift in the overall scientific direction of the CTSA program and necessitates corresponding shifts in CTSA hub operations...

INTRODUCTION: Participant recruitment and retention (R&R) are well-documented challenges in longitudinal studies, especially those involving populations historically underrepresented in research and vulnerable groups (e.g., pregnant people or young children and their families), as is the focus of the HEALthy Brain and Child Development (HBCD) birth cohort study. Subpar access to transportation, overnight lodging, childcare, or meals can compromise R&R; yet, guidance on how to overcome these "logistical barriers" is sparse...

Access to local, population specific, and timely data is vital in understanding factors that impact population health. The impact of place (neighborhood, census tract, and city) is particularly important in understanding the Social Determinants of Health. The University of Rochester Medical Center's Clinical and Translational Science Institute created the web-based tool RocHealthData.org to provide access to thousands of geographically displayed publicly available health-related datasets. The site has also hosted a variety of locally curated datasets (eg...

We assessed the rigor and reproducibility (R&R) activities of institutions funded by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCTSA) through a survey and website search ( N = 61). Of 50 institutional responses, 84% reported incorporating some form of R&R training, 68% reported devoted R&R training, 30% monitored R&R practices, and 10% incentivized them. Website searches revealed 9 (15%) freely available training curricula, and 7 (11%) institutional programs specifically created to enhance R&R...

PURPOSE: This paper describes the process developed at the University of Pittsburgh to increase the number of NIH-funded Diversity Supplements. METHOD: The authors formed a Diversity in Academia Workgroup where we created the infrastructure and process to increase the number of Diversity Supplements. Each year, the Office of Sponsored Programs provided a list of grants that would be eligible to submit a Diversity Supplement. We surveyed the Principal Investigators inquiring about their interest in working with a trainee on a Diversity Supplement...

OBJECTIVE: Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) greatly influence health outcomes. SDOH surveys, such as the Assessing Circumstances & Offering Resources for Needs (ACORN) survey, have been developed to screen for SDOH in Veterans. The purpose of this study is to determine the terminological representation of the ACORN survey, to aid in natural language processing (NLP). METHODS: Each ACORN survey question was read to determine its concepts. Next, Solor was searched for each of the concepts and for the appropriate attributes...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

Institutional Development Awards for Clinical and Translational Research (IDeA-CTR) networks, funded by NIH/NIGMS, aim to advance CTR infrastructure to address historically unmet state and regional health needs. Success depends on the response to actionable feedback to IDeA-CTR leadership from network partners and governance groups through annual surveys, interviews, and governance body recommendations. The Great Plains IDeA-CTR applied internal formative meta-evaluation to evaluate dispositions of 172 governance recommendations from 2017 to 2021...

Empowering the Participant Voice (EPV) is an NCATS-funded six-CTSA collaboration to develop, demonstrate, and disseminate a low-cost infrastructure for collecting timely feedback from research participants, fostering trust, and providing data for improving clinical translational research. EPV leverages the validated Research Participant Perception Survey (RPPS) and the popular REDCap electronic data-capture platform. This report describes the development of infrastructure designed to overcome identified institutional barriers to routinely collecting participant feedback using RPPS and demonstration use cases...

While mentors can learn general strategies for effective mentoring, existing mentorship curricula do not comprehensively address how to support marginalized mentees, including LGBTQIA+ mentees. After identifying best mentoring practices and existing evidence-based curricula, we adapted these to create the Harvard Sexual and Gender Minority Health Mentoring Program. The primary goal was to address the needs of underrepresented health professionals in two overlapping groups: (1) LGBTQIA+ mentees and (2) any mentees focused on LGBTQIA+ health...