ICRC-S Community of Practice:

Developing a (fundable) Research Question, Aim & Plan

Meeting 3: Friday, November20th, 2015, 2:00-3:00 p.m. ET

Moderator: Bekah Hunt, MPA Presenters: Jane Pearson & Catherine Cerulli

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Webinar Orientation

• Audio is streaming through your computer speakers. If you cannot listen through computer speakers, call 855-257-8350

• Type any technical questions or questions for the presenters into the Q&A box on the left.

• This meeting will be recorded and archived.

• We do not provide CEUs or certificates for our webinars.

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Agenda

• Presentation: Jane Pearson Developing a (fundable) Research Question, Aim & Plan

• Presentation: Catherine Cerulli How Scientific Questions Unfold

• Question & Answer

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The Community of Practice & Research Training Institute

The Community of Practice (CoP)

• Promote research collaboration between researchers and practitioners

• Monthly webinars 3rd Friday, September –February

• Open to everyone

• http://suicideprevention-icrc-s.org/cop/planning

The Research Training Institute (RTI)

• Skill building and mentored project development

• Intensive 5-day workshop held in Rochester, NY

• Application Due January 11th

• Call for Application and Application Form

Examples of Collaborative Research

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Poll

"Developing a (Fundable)

Research Question, Aim and

Plan"

Jane Pearson

NIMH

November 19, 2015

• The presenter is a full time employee of the National Institute of Mental Health, with no conflicts of interest to disclose.

• Caveat: These suggestions are geared towards applicants interested in community-based suicide prevention research

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Disclosures

Do you have a study question…

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…that someone in a decision making role needs the answer?

■ Who are the stakeholders who want to see your study done?

…that is aligned with funder priorities?■ Don’t try to put a ‘square peg in a round hole’. Changing your research

idea to fit a funders’ priority may not align with your interests and passion.

…that fits with the funding mechanism you are pursuing?

■ Exploratory stage? Implementation?

Said another way…

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Mission■ Find and read mission statements of the funder

■ Talk to someone at the funding institution sooner than later

Match Look for the language and approaches used by the funder (e.g., PCORI)

Talk to someone at the funding institution sooner than later

Mechanism Is the mechanism a good match for your stage of research and capabilities

Talk to someone at the funding institution sooner than later

Do you have study Aims…

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…that are relevant to the context yet also generalizable so it contributes to the field?

“If you’ve seen one Emergency Department, you’ve seen one emergency department.”

...that are stated so that regardless of your outcome, the aim yields a useful answer?

■ You find what you expected…

■ You find the opposite of what you expected…

■ Your findings are not yielding a clear answer/ there are contradictions

Do you have a research plan that stands up to

the (e.g., NIH) review criteria?

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• Significance. Does the project address an important problem or a critical barrier to progress in the field? If the aims of the project are achieved, how will scientific knowledge, technical capability, and/or clinical practice be improved? How will successful completion of the aims change the concepts, methods, technologies, treatments, services, or preventative interventions that drive this field?

• Investigator(s).

■ Are you out of your league?

■ Do you have the experts you need?

Are the PD/PIs, collaborators, and other researchers well suited to the project? If Early Stage Investigators or New Investigators, or in the early stages of independent careers, do they have appropriate experience and training? If established, have they demonstrated an ongoing record of accomplishments that have advanced their field(s)? If the project is collaborative or multi-PD/PI, do the investigators have complementary and integrated expertise; are their leadership approach, governance and organizational structure appropriate for the project?

Do you have a research plan that stands up to

the review criteria?

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• Innovation. Does the application challenge and seek to shift current research or clinical practice paradigms by utilizing novel theoretical concepts, approaches or methodologies, instrumentation, or interventions? Are the concepts, approaches or methodologies, instrumentation, or interventions novel to one field of research or novel in a broad sense? Is a refinement, improvement, or new application of theoretical concepts, approaches or methodologies, instrumentation, or interventions proposed?

e.g., First to do this in your state, with a particular stakeholder team, might be one innovation

• Approach. Are the overall strategy, methodology, and analyses well-reasoned and appropriate to accomplish the specific aims of the project? Are potential problems, alternative strategies, and benchmarks for success presented? If the project is in the early stages of development, will the strategy establish feasibility and will particularly risky aspects be managed? If the project involves clinical research, are the plans for 1) protection of human subjects from research risks, and 2) inclusion of minorities and members of both sexes/genders, as well as the inclusion of children, justified in terms of the scientific goals and research strategy proposed?

• Environment. Will the scientific environment in which the work will be done contribute to the probability of success? Are the institutional support, equipment and other physical resources available to the investigators adequate for the project proposed? Will the project benefit from unique features of the scientific environment, subject populations, or collaborative arrangements?

Free help …

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Is Your Idea Original? In addition to a good literature review, Check the NIH RePORTER database to show how your work advances the science

Free help … grants.nih.gov/grants/writing_application.htm

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TALK TO A PROGRAM OFFICER

• Don’t wait too long to do this.

• Send a one page document with background, aims and hypotheses

• It’s our job to talk to you!

• jpearson@nih.gov

Developing a (fundable) Research Question, Aim & Plan

How Scientific Questions UnfoldPresenter: Catherine Cerulli, JD, PhD

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Example 1

Changing Paradigms Exploring Suicide and Domestic

Violence Risk Factors Among Family Court Consumers

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Project History

• This research portfolio began in 1999.

• Project grew from a program evaluation to a hope to have a court-based mental health clinic.

• Hallway conversations led to seizing an opportunity, again and again.

• “Careers are based on luck, opportunity, and ambition.” – Paul Burgett

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History Continued

• 1999 Family Court Study (Conner, Cerulli, Caine, 2002).

• 45.5% of Respondents had a history of threatened suicide.

• Most recent threats clustered in previous six months 71% (n=31).

• Of those with a history of threats, 12 (26%) had attempted suicide.

But What About the Victim?

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If “we” build it – will they come?

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Coverage

Example 2

From Evaluation to a Randomized Control Trial

Promote Health Survey

Patient Information: test patient3

Patient ID: 123

Taken on: 1/25/2004

The fact that you have taken the time to do this questionnaire shows that you are

interested and concerned about your health. We hope that these recommendations

are helpful as you consider what you can do to stay as healthy as possible.

General Health Diabetes is a serious disease characterized by high blood sugar levels. Unless

properly controlled by medication and diet, diabetes results in complications such

as heart attacks, kidney disease, loss of limbs, and blindness. If you have diabetes,

you should undergo regular check-ups and carefully monitor your blood sugar

level. For more information, contact the American Diabetes Association at 1-800-

DIABETES.

Let your doctors know if you take any over-the- counter medication or any herbal

or home remedies. Since some medications do not react well with others, they may

need to change what they prescribe for you.

You reported regular exercise. Good for you ! Exercising for at least 20 minutes a

day, 3-4 times a week, can help control your blood pressure and weight and make

you feel more energetic.

A high cholesterol level is a risk factor for early heart disease and stroke. You can

lower your cholesterol by eating a very low fat diet. People with a very high

cholesterol level, however, may require medications to lower their cholesterol

levels. For more information, contact the American Hearth Association at 1-800-

AHA-USA1.

Tobacco/Alcohol/Medications/Drugs It is important to take all of your medication(s) as prescribed. If you are having a

problem with your medication, or it is too expensive, please let your doctor know.

Usually the doctor can adjust or change your prescription according to your needs.

Using needles to take drugs increases risk of infections, such as HIV, the virus

50-70 Questions

10 minutes

Health Advice

Physician report

Progress: 68% Done

Has your partner ever physically

hurt you?

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NIMH K Award

Enter Family Court

Informed Consent

Promote Plus Promote TAU

Example 3Exploring Suicide and Domestic

Violence Risk Factors Across Disciplines

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Investigators:

URMC: C. Cerulli, J. & Rhodes, K.

Team: J. Thompson-Stone, C. Nichols-Hadeed

Evelyn Brandon: S. Rousseu

Funding Source:

CDC -- U01 CE001942-01

Creating and Testing a Suicide Prevention

Curriculum for A Community Mental Health Center

Why Consider IPV and Suicide?

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• Findings are consistent – there is an undeniable association between IPV and suicide.

• This finding is robust, and consistently found even in international studies.

• Preliminary Steps For This Study:

– Building a curriculum with the National Domestic Violence Hotline Staff (Cerulli, Cross, Campbell, Gould, Crean, Mazzei, Jones & Stone)

– Tested it with 3 shifts in Texas and 3 local community groups that serve IPV Victims

Evelyn Study Aims

Aim 1: To examine the feasibility and acceptability of utilizing CASI in the waiting room of a busy CMHC. Aim 2: To examine the prevalence of IPV and co-morbid suicidal thoughts and behavior (STB) among CMHC patients. Aim 3: To examine whether the CASI provider printouts effects patient disclosure of IPV and/or STB to their therapist, and whether that disclosure is moderated by IPV and/or STB status. Aim 4: To examine whether disclosure improves IPV+

patients’ steps for safety post-visit.

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The Design

N=1000

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Funding Sources – Don’t Despair

• Baldy Center for Social Policy and Mental Health Association Gottschalk Grant.

• NRSA- Modified for Court Intervention Creation

• NIMH- First Randomized Control Trial in Family Court Setting

• Departmental Resources – Post-Doc position created

• CDC

• RWJ

• PCORI

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Portfolio Limitations

Funding: Pilot Study with limited funding –lead to limited publications

Surveys: Information based on self-report instruments – but now we include secondary objective sources as well

CBPR Limitations: people and places

Victim Population: Hard to treat – but also hard to track, 94% retention rate for current study

But – I wouldn’t trade it!

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Now What?• Understanding clinical

implications

• Provide ongoing reports to community partners

• Bringing Promote Health to community-based venues

• Student scholarship

• Partner scholarship

Questions

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Resources

• Archived Webinars, Resources, and the RTI Application can be found at:

http://suicideprevention-icrc-s.org/cop/planning

• Contact us with questions, and stay engaged with the CoP for technical assistance: icrc-s@edc.org

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Thank you for participating!

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Please complete this evaluation:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/J6R5WLH

Next Meeting:

December 18th, 2015

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