To advance the Beau Biden Cancer MoonshotSM Initiative to accelerate cancer research and the Blue Ribbon Panel's recommendation to minimize cancer treatment's debilitating side effects, RTI International proposes to serve as the Coordinating Center (CC) for the Research Centers (RCs) for Improving Management of Symptoms Across Cancer Treatments (IMPACT) Consortium. As the CC, RTI will provide leadership, scientific expertise, and logistical support to unite RCs into a cohesive research group that will provide actionable evidence based on implementation science principles to improve symptom management across the cancer treatment continuum (i.e., treatment with curative intent, treatment with noncurative/palliative intent, cancer survivorship) and address the unique challenges of minority and medically underserved populations. Specifically, we will (1) enhance research efficiency, productivity, and impact by facilitating collaboration and providing the logistical, communications, and operational support necessary to run a multicenter research Consortium; (2) facilitate the development of evidence-based symptom management recommendations by establishing processes for harmonized data collection, the use of common data elements, and the application of consistent procedures across studies and research sites; and (3) accelerate adoption of integrated systems for monitoring and managing patient-reported symptoms by developing and applying analytic approaches to IMPACT pooled data and collaborating with RCs and other stakeholder to broadly disseminate findings. This application has specific strengths that will enhance the scientific productivity of the Consortium: (1) Under the leadership of Dr. Barbara Kroner, the CC will foster collaboration within the IMPACT Consortium by uniting diverse researchers around shared goals and harmonized studies to advance the research agenda. (2) RTI will promote effective communication by developing custom web-based tools for communications, document sharing, and online trainings; establishing and leading SC working groups in topics relevant to IMPACT (e.g., Health Disparities; Implementation Science; Data Management, Statistics, and Informatics). (3) RTI will use a common implementation framework (i.e., Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, and Maintenance (RE-AIM)) combined with the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research) to concurrently evaluate multilevel factors that can influence clinical practice by assessing both effectiveness and implementation outcomes. (4) RTI will leverage data standards and harmonization across the Consortium to catalyze data sharing and aggregation. (5) RTI will advocate for a Stakeholder Advisory Group to guide and inform pooled study design, data collection, analyses, and interpretation of study findings. (6) RTI will combine the harmonized data with planned pooled analyses which will yield optimal management system models for implementing integrated systems into routine clinical practice and use implementation science approaches to accelerate adoption of integrated systems and sustain changes in clinical practice.
Millions of cancer patients suffer from complications associated with their illness, including symptoms that can significantly impact quality of life during treatment and survivorship. As the Coordinating Center for the new Improving Management of Symptoms Across Cancer Treatments (IMPACT) Consortium, RTI International will facilitate collaboration and coordination among the IMPACT Research Centers, advancing efforts to improve symptom control for cancer patients, particularly those in minority and medically underserved populations.
