The Louisiana State University (LSU) Health Services Research Program was established under Phase I of the Building Research Infrastructure and Capacity (BRIC) grant awarded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality in 2001. The purpose of the Program is to increase the amount and relevance of health services research in Louisiana. This Program is a partnership between the LSU School of Medicine and the LSU Health Care Services Division (LSU HCSD), the latter a statewide clinic/hospital integrated delivery system serving approximately 1,000,000 people in Louisiana. The majority of these patients are low-income (70 percent are below 200 percent of Federal poverty level), uninsured (65 percent), or have Medicaid (13 percent), and 60 percent are African Americans. This Program focuses on applied research directed toward accelerating translation of evidence into practice, and improving systems of care, with particular emphasis on topics of priority to the LSU HCSD. In the current application, the applicant will: 1) demonstrate the accomplishments achieved to date; and 2) outline the need for continued support in order to refine and sustain the program until such time that it will sustain itself with institutional and external support. In Phase I, the applicant conducted several pilot studies, an activity that will be continued in Phase II. Further, in accordance with the original plan, in Phase II, the applicant will use the pilot data obtained from a number of trials for the development of grant applications for funded health services research (HSR). The goals of this application for continued funding include: 1. Center development; 2. Continuation of efforts to maintain and build collaborative linkages that are fundamental to a successful health services research network needed in this area; 3. Development and concentration on specific """"""""research themes"""""""" as a method of building a sustainable health services research infrastructure; and 4. Submission of an individual research project for funding. Methods that will be utilized for the achievement of these goals include: 1. A mentoring program for participants; 2. Seminars which will deal with Works in Progress; 3. Skills and Issues Seminars; and 4. Training of Core Office support staff.
