The Administrative (Admin) Core will form the foundation of the Optimizing Implementation Science in Cancer Control (OPTICC) Center. The overarching goal of the Admin Core is to maximize the OPTICC Center?s impact on implementation science (IS) and cancer control through informing, supporting, and monitoring progress of OPTICC?s research agenda. The Admin Core has four specific aims.
Aim 1 is to maximize OPTICC?s operational efficiency; the Admin Core will provide programmatic and administrative support for all Center investigators, the Research Program Core, and the Implementation Laboratory. The Admin Core will facilitate communications between the Cores. The Admin Core will support training in team science for all co-investigators and Study Leads in order to foster integration among our multi-disciplinary collaborators.
Aim 2 is to grow the capacity of investigators to apply new IS optimization methods. We will market three different levels of training and mentoring opportunities. The three levels of training will include 1) one-on-one peer mentoring for OPTICC Study Leads, including structured support for follow-on proposals as these studies are completed, 2) training and technical assistance for post-doctoral fellows, new investigators, and established investigators new to IS during proposal development, and 3) general didactic sessions on IS methods for a broad audience, including graduate students. We will also collaborate with other ISCCCs to foster a network of national mentoring opportunities. To increase the OPTICC Center?s impact on reducing health disparities, we will encourage our trainees to develop IS proposals that focus on reaching populations experiencing health disparities, partnering with institutions that serve populations experiencing health disparities, or both.
Aim 3 is to foster synergy across the ISCCCs, the IS research community, and key stakeholders. The Admin Core will lead activities related to disseminating OPTICC research findings to the research community and participating in and hosting ISCCC meetings and workshops. The Admin Core will also develop a searchable centralized repository of methodological tools and resources developed and refined through OPTICC studies, along with plain-language summaries of study findings with evidence organized by OPTICC?s causal pathway diagrams and massive open on-line courses.
Aim 4 is to evaluate OPTICC?s impact. Each Core will have an evaluation plan with metrics specific to that Core?s aims and goals. In addition, we will evaluate the value of participating in OPTICC among Center co-investigators, trainees, staff, Implementation Laboratory Partners, and Scientific Advisory Board and Stakeholder Advisory Committee members Collectively, the expected outcomes of the Admin Core are an environment of research excellence, support for the innovative methodological studies proposed and yet to be developed by OPTICC investigators and collaborators, and growth in research capacity and skills related to IS optimization methods in cancer control.
