CENTER FOR DISSEMINATION AND IMPLEMENTATION SCIENCE

The Center for Dissemination and Implementation Science (CDIS) was founded in 2017 to advance implementation research, practice, and education to achieve health equity and reduce health disparities among underserved populations in partnership with communities. Despite challenges related to the COVID-19 pandemic, CDIS expanded its robust program of extramural research funding, scholarship, and mentorship.

Scholarship

In the past year, CDIS faculty, post-doctoral students, and staff produced 26 peer reviewed publications, delivered 12 presentations at national and international conferences, gave four invited talks, and participated in four NIH study sections.

We highlight a few publications. Crooks, Donenberg, & Matthews (2021) discussed how to conduct ethical research with Black populations in the time of COVID-19 and Black Lives Matter, recommending three strategies: ensure research settings are emotionally and physically safe; share findings with communities to facilitate trust and encourage feedback to guide interpretation of the findings; and have honest conversations with Black participants about their feelings regarding the risks, strengths, and barriers to research involvement. Donenberg, Merrill, Atujuna, Emerson, Bray, & Bekker (2021) reported pilot data on the mental health outcomes of a two-arm randomized controlled trial of a HIV-prevention program, Informed Motivated Aware and Responsible Adolescents and Adults - South Africa (IMARA-SA), for South African adolescent girls and young women and their female caregivers. At 6-month follow up, findings revealed that the IMARA-SA group reported significantly less anxiety than the control group and were less likely to report depression and PTSD symptoms than baseline.

Research Funding

Center investigators submitted 28 grant proposals for new sponsored projects and managed 18 active research grants with awards totaling over $3.9 million in extramural research funding. Two notable projects are described here. One is a “Sexual and Reproductive Health Program for Latina Teens and Mothers” (PI Kate Merrill, PhD), a K99/R00 career development award to adapt an evidence-based sexual and reproductive health intervention for Latina adolescents and their mothers/female caregivers. The second project, funded by the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, represents Phase II of a Small Business Innovation Research grant (MPIs: Donenberg, Smith, Feil). This study is completing the development of a web-based training platform teaching people to deliver PHAT Life, an empirically supported groupbased HIV and STI prevention intervention for juvenile offenders. The platform will be evaluated in a 2-arm randomized controlled trial.

Mentorship

CDIS faculty trained two clinical psychology interns and more than 20 undergraduate and graduate mentees in 2021. We hosted a ten-week CDIS Summer Internship program for undergraduate students and recent graduates. The internship enrolled eight individuals who engaged in CDIS research projects and attended workshops on implementation science and professional development. Two CDIS post-doctoral fellows, Drs. Nyssa Snow-Hill and Kate Merrill each submitted a NIH career development application - F32 and K99/R00 respectively, and both were awarded.

CDIS sponsored an undergraduate capstone project through the Latin@s Gaining Access to Networks for Advancement in Science (L@S GANAS) program, and supported a Bridge to Faculty post-doctoral fellow in the College of Education. Over 20 junior faculty from public health, nursing, pharmacy, pediatrics, internal medicine, and psychiatry, received formal (via K-awards and the CDIS Faculty Affiliate program) and informal mentorship by CDIS faculty and staff.

Center Initiatives

• Monthly Works-in-Progress seminars for scholars to share their scholarship, receive feedback, and explore potential partnerships

• One-on-one and small-group consulting for researchers seeking guidance with grant reviews, implementation framework/theory, methods, or measure selection across six UIC colleges and 12 investigators

• Professional development lecture series for center faculty and post-doctoral fellows exploring a wide range of topics such as grant mechanisms, foundation funding, social media strategies

• An annual one-day workshop on the foundations of dissemination and implementation science attended by over 70 faculty, staff and students from seven UIC’s colleges

• The CDIS Colloquium Series, co-sponsored by the Center for Clinical and Translational Sciences and the Richard Weber lecture series, hosted expert implementation science scholars including Daniel Almirall, PhD and Ana Baumann, PhD

• The CDIS Faculty Affiliate program, a multidisciplinary group of scholars committed to CDIS’ mission expanded in 2021. Eight affiliates represent four UIC colleges, including Medicine, School of Public Health, College of Nursing, and the College of Pharmacy, and the Institute for Public Health Research and Policy.