Building and InnovatinG: Digital heAlth Technology and Analytics (BIGDATA)

University Of Alabama At Birmingham, Birmingham AL

Investigators

Linked publications, trials & patents

Abstract

The BIGDATA CCCR encompasses three distinct and synergistic cores – the Methodologic and Health Informatics Core, a newly proposed Dissemination, Implementation and Community Engagement (DICE) Resource core, and an Administrative Core. All three are aligned around the theme of patient-centered research using real-world evidence, mobile and digital health (e.g. apps, virtual reality), informatics, and advanced analytics. The DICE Core will facilitate our important subtheme of community engagement. In this renewal application, we will continue to foster our goal to bring innovative tools and methods to the research community to effectively advance the NIAMS mission for rheumatic and musculoskeletal disease (RMD) research. We will support innovative approaches, methods and technologies necessary to transform healthcare in the 21st century through achieving these Specific Aims: Specific Aim 1: To harness the outstanding, innovative, and synergistic RMD research expertise at UAB to expedite clinical, translational, and informatics-related science through the utilization of our Methodologic and Health Informatics (MHI) Core. The MHI core is composed of a multidisciplinary team with expertise in biostatistics, informatics (e.g., natural language processing, machine learning, artificial intelligence, data visualization), epidemiology, and implementation science. Specific Aim 2: To strengthen community engagement through our newly proposed Dissemination and Implementation and Community Engagement (DICE) Resource core. DICE will focus on three main capacities: 1) study recruitment and community engagement; 2) Dissemination and implementation (D&I) research, translating research into practice in academic and community settings; and 3) incorporating the patient voice in all aspects of clinical research, starting with the study question, extending to representing patients’ input in the data acquisition process to ensure that data collected is relevant to patients, and bridging to implementation so that RMD patient views are well represented. Engagement with the DICE Core will be facilitated in part by our Patient Advisory Committee and through tested structures to engage patients in pre- and post-award roles. Specific Aim 3: To comprehensively coordinate our CCCR’s activities, effectively leverage institutional resources (e.g. the UAB CCTS) and promote training for both early and established investigators in state-of- the-art methods applicable to the NIAMS mission through a broad range of enrichment activities, all overseen by our Admin Core.