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Rosenthal GE, Tsevat J, Hynes DM, Vaughan-Sarrazin MS, Blackman MR. Building Successful VA HSR&D/CTSA Collaborations in Comparative Effectiveness Research. Presented at: VA HSR&D / QUERI National Meeting; 2012 Jul 17; National Harbor, MD.
Workshop Workshop Objectives: The NIH Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) initiative was established to develop an integrated home within universities for all domains of translational science, including comparative effectiveness research (CER). To date, 60 institutions have received CTSA funding. Two important goals of the CTSA initiative are to develop cross-institutional collaborations and improve the efficiency of conducting research, including trials comparing effectiveness of alternative treatments. The CTSA initiative also provides opportunities to build joint VA-CTSA programs in CER and develop VA capacity in CER. In addition, VA-CTSA collaborations provide opportunities to capitalize on the functionalities in VA and university electronic medical records (EMRs) and develop innovative approaches (e.g., point of care randomization, collection of patient-reported outcomes through My HealtheVet) for conducting lower cost CER trials. However, many HSRandD investigators are unfamiliar with these opportunities, and VA-CTSA collaborations around CER remain underdeveloped. The primary goals of this workshop are to: 1) build awareness among HSRandD investigators of CTSA initiatives in CER and opportunities for collaboration with CTSA programs; and 2) explore the feasibility of developing a network of HSRandD investigators with strong CTSA ties to promote efficient Veteran-centric CER trials within CTSAs and enhance VA's presence in the CTSA CER community. Activities: The workshop will include three segments and involve a mix of didactic presentations and interactive discussions. The initial segment will review CTSA activities in CER, including: 1) education and training programs; 2) efforts to promote innovative CER methods and study designs; and 3) efforts to develop patient registries and other infrastructure elements to support CER. The second segment will feature presentations from VA research programs that have built strong collaborative ties in CER with their CTSAs. This segment will describe the benefits of such relationships to VA HSRandD programs, as well as strategies for building collaborations and potential obstacles. The third segment will gauge interest among participants for establishing a network of VA investigators to pursue the development of low-cost CER trials that would include VA and university patient populations, capitalize on current EMRs, and employ common methods of patient enrollment and data collection. Target Audience: Junior, mid-career, and senior investigators and directors of HSRandD research centers Assumed Audience Familiarity with Topic: None Required
