This application is for support to conduct a Research Development Conference that will convene a meeting of experts for the dual purposes of articulating a research agenda for clinical predictive instrument research with the objective of increasing their impact in clinical practice, and framing a research agenda for a National Center for Predictive Instrument Research (CPIR). To address these twin issues, we propose to have a conference that will bring together the thought and methods leaders in the closely-related areas to predictive instrument research, with the goal of reframing the research agenda for predictive instrument research, outlining the key areas for a proposed CPIR to address. This conference will also generate relevant summary documents for appropriate dissemination: a general document about the general agenda, for public dissemination, and a document that will help set the CPIR's agenda, which will be for internal use. The former report would be primarily a general review of the use of clinical predictive instruments that would include a general discussion of areas in which further work is needed. The latter report would more specifically summarize the conference's discussions and would translate them into suggestions for the specific plans for a CPIR. The conference is tenatively scheduled for November 9, 2001 at the Boston Park Plaza Hotel.
