(Mentored Collaborative Opportunities) We propose a range of Mentored Collaborative Opportunities that build on our team's expertise and distinctive research resources at i) Virginia Tech (in Roanoke) with our Neuromotor Research Clinic, our Human Neuroimaging Lab, and our new Treatment Implementation Center; ii) The Ohio State University (in Columbus) with our PeaRL Lab (Pediatric and Rehabilitation Lab) offering sophisticated biomechanical (motion detector) and behavioral recording capacity, our infant neuroimaging expertise, our Injury Prevention and Rehabilitation Research Lab (IPARR) and our new Neuromotor Assessment Center; and iii) Nationwide Children's Hospital (in Columbus), consistently rated as a ?top ten? best children's hospital with a strong commitment to discovery and an active portfolio of NIH pediatric rehabilitation trials from the neonatal period through adolescence. The collaborations will build upon our team's presentations at major scientific meetings with planned follow-up activities (see Didactic Interactions), our close work with recipients of small grants (see Pilot Studies), and our team members' vigorous engagement in Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSAs) and national and international special research interest groups and NIH research networks, most centrally StrokeNet.
Specific aims for Mentored Collaborative Opportunities are: 1) to identify individuals and research teams well-positioned to make high-impact and novel contributions to pediatric medical rehabilitation research. We seek to develop individually-tailored mentored collaborations to strengthen the breadth and depth of knowledge and research skills among the collaborators; and 2) to provide intensive mentored collaborative experiences that focus on increasing the competencies of investigators and the quality of their competitive applications in pediatric rehabilitation research. These include a mix of educational and hands-on opportunities that will support Phase I through Phase III clinical trials, comparative effectiveness and practice-based research, focused methods research, and Implementation Science trials. We will document all mentored collaborative opportunities we provide and solicit timely feedback from users about the effectiveness and impact of the supports from our National Pediatric Rehabilitation Resource Center (PedRehab Ctr). We reserve modest funding to help with some research expenses (e.g., specialized materials and travel), although home institutions are expected to provide the majority of support for participants.
