Introduction:The National Institutes of Health (NIH) Institutional Development Award (IDeA) program was created to build capacity and enhance research in states with historically low levels of NIH funding. IDeA Clinical and Translational Research (CTR) networks are focused on building statewide and regional capacity to conduct biomedical research. The tracking and evaluation component of each CTR is tasked with collecting data to facilitate continuous improvement and measure impact. Methods:This paper presents findings from a survey conducted with IDeA-CTR evaluators examining the following questions: 1) To what extent do evaluators use meta-evaluative practices and how does meta-evaluation inform their evaluation? and 2) What challenges evaluators face in their evaluation planning and implementation? Results:Findings show that 50% of CTRs conducted some form of meta-evaluation. Further, quantitative and qualitative responses tell a compelling story of the challenges in translational research evaluation. The most prominent were the development of feasible and useful data management systems, the selection and endorsement of program-wide impact metrics, and the promulgation of realistic expectations regarding feasibility and utility for recipients of the evaluation, including expectations for project impacts that lead to systemic change. Conclusions:Findings suggest the importance of internally adopting a participatory, collaborative approach to evaluation and externally sharing insights with and adopting strategies from fellow evaluators within a learning community. This study promotes the value of conducting meta-evaluation in CTR settings, demonstrates means for and results from doing so, and shares best practices for addressing challenges encountered by many CTR evaluators.

OBJECTIVES/GOALS: Using the NIH’s expanded definition of underrepresented populations in the biomedical, clinical, behavioral and social science research enterprise, we examined the impediments for conducting translational research experienced by those from underrepresented groups. [https://acts.slayte.com/calls/detail/740a13de-316c-11ee-90f4-0e0ce905385c/draft/389221c1-434e-11ee-90f4-0e0ce905385c#_ftn1] #_ftn1 METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: One hundred and ninety-nine people completed a survey distributed to 750 persons who had interacted with our Center’s service cores as users, awardees, mentors, committee members, seminar attendees, and/or participated Center sponsored programming (response rate = 26.5%). The survey addressed barriers to conducting clinical and translational research at the respondent’s institution, awareness of and interest in using specific Advance RI-CTR services, and satisfaction with their institution’s efforts to support clinical and translational research. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: Women reported access to collaboration across institutions as a barrier to clinical and translational research that existed to a great extent (28%) significantly more than men (10%). More than half (53%) of the other underrepresented researchers surveyed identified insufficient grant administration supportas a barrier that occurs to a great extent, compared with 35% of researchers who were not from an underrepresented group. Other barriers reported more frequently among underrepresented researchers included lack of pilot project funding, inadequate space for conducting research, lower access to collaborators across institutions, and difficulty obtaining advice on regulatory issues and commercial development. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE: Efforts to address the barriers identified by underrepresented groups will include, but not be limited to, improving collaborations across institutions, support for grant administration, and a discussion of plans for the Center to augment and advocate at the partner institutions on behalf of these underrepresented individuals.

The Tracking and Evaluation Core of Rhode Island Advance-CTR conducted an online needs assessment survey at the program's inception in 2016 and again in 2021. Now dealing with well-established support systems provided by the grant, we were particularly interested in how the perceived needs of the research community in Rhode Island might have changed over five years. Specifically, what barriers have been reduced or eliminated and which have persisted or increased? How do those barriers vary by demographic status and what implications do those differences have for the CTR? An online survey was completed by 199 researchers, who reported the extent to which they perceived the lack of access to a range of research supports as a barrier to conducting research at their institution. Overall, researchers indicated statistically significant changes from 2016 to 2021 such that a lack of pilot project funding and proposal development support had decreased as barriers, while space for research, and advice on commercial development, had increased. Statistically significant differences in the salience of particular barriers by some demographic variables were also noted and the results of this study suggest Centers for Clinical and Translational Research can have salutary effects on the research paradigm within their partnering institutions in a relatively short time.

In evaluation research, “programs” are often conceptualized as clearly bounded, narrow in scope, focused on specific outcomes, using a well-defined linear causal model, and hence, suitable for standard evaluation methods. The evaluation work reported here was carried out in a more challenging context, where large, complex, interwoven systems were targets for change as a means to influence a diffuse array of outcomes. Our evaluation of an NIH-funded program to improve statewide infrastructure for clinical and translational health research (“Advance-CTR”) used qualitative data provided by investigators who used the program’s services, were funded awardees, or were members of an internal advisory committee (leadership representatives from partnering institutions). We examined perceived barriers to systemic changes to enhance research, as well as how systems have changed due to the Rhode Island Advance-CTR program’s efforts, to what degree, and with what effects. Using the causal logic of our program to connect these more distal systemic outcomes to the services and components of Advance-CTR, we discuss the effects this program has had on researchers and their environments, contributing to the development of sustainable programs of research that ultimately improve the health and well-being of our state’s residents.

ABSTRACT IMPACT: Identifying the causative antigen in membranous glomerulopathy cohorts enables the development of serum assays to detect and monitor disease progression without the need for invasive kidney biopsies. OBJECTIVES/GOALS: Primary membranous glomerulopathy is caused by the formation of autoantibody immune complexes which deposit in the glomerulus and obstruct kidney function. Causative antigens remain to be identified in roughly 20% of cases. Our goal is to identify the antigen in these cohorts, so that non-invasive assays can be developed for disease monitoring. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: Renal biopsy tissue from known antigen cases (PLA2R, THSD7A), and unknown cases were included in the analysis. Renal biopsy tissue from formalin fixed paraffin embedded tissue was cut at a thickness of 10 µm onto Leica PET-membrane frame slides. These slides were then stained with hematoxylin. The glomeruli were microdissected into microcentrifuge tubes using a Leica DM6000B microscope. The microdissected glomeruli were lysed in 2% SDS and 0.1M DTT at 99 degrees Celsius for 1 hour and processed by filter assisted sample preparation (FASP). Digested peptides were analyzed by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry using an Orbitrap Fusion Lumos using data-dependent acquisition. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: Mass spectrometry data collected from the laser captured glomeruli was searched against the human proteome fasta database from Uniprot using MaxQuant. IBAQ values were used for quantitation and statistical analysis. Null hypothesis significance testing was performed for each protein by comparing each sample group to the rest of the samples in the data set. In the control groups, the causative antigens PLA2R and THSD7A were detected and quantified with the largest magnitude fold change in their respective category, validating the experimental design. Using this approach, the proteins SAP, NELL1, and NCAM1 were identified and subsequently validated as causative antigens in distinct patient cohorts. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE OF FINDINGS: Here, we share the results of our efforts to comprehensively identify the spectrum of causative antigens in membranous glomerulopathy. In this context, antigen discovery is an essential first step for the development of non-invasive assays to inform prognosis, monitor response to treatment, and better understand disease etiology.

ABSTRACT IMPACT: This work has begun to provide the foundation for better ensuring that translational research funded and supported by our IDeA-CTR grant is more directly addressing community- and stakeholder-authored health priorities. OBJECTIVES/GOALS: In order to effectively engage diverse, societal perspectives, we aimed to determine the relevance and feasibility of purposefully aligning translational research with health priorities adopted by the RI Department of Health, health-focused organizations, and community leaders. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: Individuals from 27 community organizations in RI were asked, ‘What are your health related goals for your community’ and submitted responses online for 2 weeks. Participants generated 71 goals which they sorted into meaningful clusters and rated for importance and feasibility. Clusters were contrasted with RI health priorities to gauge alignment and saturation. In the next phase of this project, researchers and service users funded by Advance-CTR will be asked in routinely administered surveys how their current work may align with RI health goals and whether their future work can feasibly be connected to those priorities. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: Using Group Concept Mapping software, the 71 health goals identified by community organization representatives were fit into an 8-cluster model. Results suggested highest importance placed on Accessible & Healthy Housing (M=4.12, SD=0.29), Community (M=4.08, SD=0.28), Youth (M=4.04, SD=0.49) and Mental Health (M=4.03, SD=0.46). State agency priorities were found to overlap substantially with clusters defined by community leaders. We expect researchers will rate clusters differently, and find some community-endorsed health goals more relevant to their work than others. Perceived feasibility of tailoring future research to state health goals is expected to vary widely by item and researcher. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE OF FINDINGS: We intend to: 1) facilitate discussions about successes and challenges of translating community-authored priorities into research, and 2) foster better understanding between researchers and the communities they aim to serve on the role of CTR for addressing health challenges in the state.

Introduction: Advance Clinical and Translational Research (Advance-CTR) serves as a central hub to support and educate clinical and translational researchers in Rhode Island. Understanding barriers to clinical research in the state is the key to setting project aims and priorities. Methods: We implemented a Group Concept Mapping exercise to characterize the views of researchers and administrators regarding how to increase the quality and quantity of clinical and translational research in their settings. Participants generated ideas in response to this prompt and rated each unique idea in terms of how important it was and feasible it seemed to them. Results: Participants generated 78 unique ideas, from which 9 key themes emerged (e.g., Building connections between researchers). Items rated highest in perceived importance and feasibility included providing seed grants for pilot projects, connecting researchers with common interests and networking opportunities. Implications of results are discussed. Conclusions: The Group Concept Mapping exercise enabled our project leadership to better understand stakeholder-perceived priorities and to act on ideas and aims most relevant to researchers in the state. This method is well suited to translational research enterprises beyond Rhode Island when a participatory evaluation stance is desired.

OBJECTIVES/SPECIFIC AIMS: We sought to solicit and synthesize stakeholders’ ideas for how the Advance-CTR program can best increase the quality and quality of clinical and translational research in Rhode Island, and to apply these findings to address barriers and strengthen research capabilities across our partner institutions. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: We utilized a Group Concept Mapping approach, involving university and Institution-based researchers and administrators. The process was conducted using the web-based concept mapping application CS Global Max (Concept Systems, Inc). Respondents were asked to provide their best ideas for promoting clinical and translational research in RI. These ideas were then organized by our project team into a set of unique items for consideration by attendees of an Advance-CTR retreat. Participants were tasked with sorting these ideas by theme (cluster), and were also asked to rate each idea according its importance and feasibility. Using the online software, these clusters and ratings were analyzed to identify key themes and to explore differences among sub-groups. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: The Group Concept Mapping exercise yielded 150 statements that were edited down to 78 unique ideas, and clustered into nine themes (e.g., institutional collaboration, training). Fifty-seven retreat participants completed the sorting and rating tasks of the concept mapping exercise. Overall, ideas rated as highly important and highly feasible included “providing seed grants to encourage new collaborations across basic science,” and “connecting researchers with common interests.” Top rated items varied across institutions and according to respondent demographics, allowing us to consider the unique issues relevant to particular groups. Relative rankings of clusters across groups revealed notable differences, such as higher importance placed on community engagement among administrators as compared with researchers, and differences in needs for internal support for research between universities. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE OF IMPACT: Group Concept Mapping was an effective and insightful participatory approach to engage our program’s stakeholders in developing ideas and identifying challenges to enhancing clinical and translational research in Rhode Island. Our results have implications for project decision-making and initiatives to facilitate translational research in RI. Thus, results have been presented to the Advance-CTR community via webinar, as well as Advance-CTR project leadership and advisory committees.

The Advance-Clinical and Translational Research (CTR) program was established in Rhode Island in May of 2016 with an IDeA Program Infrastructure award to collaborating institutions: Brown University, the University of Rhode Island, with the Lifespan, Care New England and Providence VA Medical Center healthcare institutions and the Rhode Island Quality Institute. To support programmatic planning, the Tracking and Evaluation Key Component Activity (KCA) of Advance-CTR developed and implemented a needs assessment survey to identify the obstacles to clinical and translational research at the participating institutions. We describe the methods used and the responses, which identified needs for study design and data analysis support. Support for project development, pilot funding and grants administration showed significant variation, depending on the affiliation of the respondent. The results of the survey are discussed in the context of Rhode Island's significant opportunities to support and develop the capabilities of scientists who engage in translational research. [Full article available at http://rimed.org/rimedicaljournal-2018-02.asp].

This reflective case study uses one public university example to explore the role of student learning outcomes assessment in the improvement of general education programs. These programs are a universal feature of higher education in the United States, requiring learning experiences for all students at an institution—but with little likely commitment from the faculty. Our university's efforts to overcome faculty apathy and resistance, build a responsive assessment system, and direct it toward transformation of our program are instructive beyond the higher education context. We take a participatory, utilization‐focused approach and reflect on what we have learned as it illuminates both the relevance of evaluation concepts to our work in assessment and the contributions from our context to the broader domains of evaluation conceptualization and practice.

Coalitions are the most common platform for implementing community-level environmental strategies (ES), such as media, policy, or enforcement for substance use prevention. The current study examines the associations between two types of coalition capacity (general and innovation-specific) and ES implementation efforts and outputs within 14 intervention communities over a three-year period. Efforts refer to the amount of energy exerted to implement an ES while outputs refer to the materials produced through these efforts. Quantitative measures of capacity were provided by coalition key informants and expert-raters. Additionally, Training and Technical Assistance (TTA) provided proactively to improve the implementation of ES was also examined. Greater general capacity, as rated by a coalition informant, was associated with more ES policy effort. Both expert-rated general and innovation-specific capacity, however, were associated with greater ES outputs. Study results also found that community coalitions that endorsed weaker mobilization, structure and task leadership, (measures of general capacity), utilized more TTA compared to those who perceived their coalition as having greater capacity. Moreover, communities that utilized more TTA resources reported a greater number of successful policy changes. The study supports the need to consider both general and innovation-specific capacity for ES implementation and offers promising preliminary findings regarding the role of TTA for improving coalitions' capacity to facilitate policy change.

BACKGROUND:Memory can be deleteriously affected by cancer treatment. It is important to quantify these effects, to assess the effectiveness of interventions to ameliorate them, and to monitor changes in cancer patients' memories over time. However, brief and reliable screening measures of cancer treatment-related memory problems are lacking. We report on the latent structure and reliability analysis of a brief patient self-reported cancer-related memory problem screening measure (SRMP).METHODS:Participants (N=781) included in this analysis were part of a larger study on cancer-related fatigue. Patients completed the Fatigue Symptom Checklist (FSCL) at four time points. Five items from the FSCL that assess memory problems were aggregated into the SRMP. Suitability of the data for latent structure analysis was determined using the various criteria: Kaiser-Myer-Olkin, Bartlett's Test of sphericity, Kaiser's simplest criterion test of eigenvalue (λ) >1, and the presence of item-correlation coefficients of r ≥ 0.30. Principal components analysis (PCA) and Cronbach coefficient alphas (αs) were calculated to determined validity and internal consistency of the SRMP.RESULTS:Reliability assessment of the SRMP revealed high internal consistency of the SRMP as indicated by α = 0.90. The PCA revealed a one-dimensional measure with a single component with λ > 1 that explained 71% of the variance. The KMO value was .87, and the Bartlett's Test of Sphericity was significant (p < 0.001). Subsequent reliability assessments of the SRMP revealed αs of 0.90 and above, all with one component explaining 71% to 73% of the variances.CONCLUSION:The results support the use of the SRMP as a one-dimensional brief screening measure of cancer treatment-related memory problems. The SRMP could be used as an initial indicator of underlying memory problems that may need further examination. Future studies need to establish the construct validity of the SRMP.

Background: Studies have documented that members of college fraternities and sororities (i.e., Greeks) drink more heavily and experience more alcohol-related consequences than other students. Few studies have examined the role of Greek leaders in the socialization of Greek members. Objectives: The present study investigated how alcohol-related attitudes and behaviors among Greek leaders differ from the attitudes and behaviors of members. Methods: At a single university, two anonymous surveys were conducted in 2006 and 2007 (N = 726 and 757, respectively) at fraternity and sorority chapter meetings. All individuals present at the meetings were invited to participate. One-way analyses of covariance (ANCOVAs), controlling for age and sex, were conducted to examine the effect of leadership status on alcohol-related attitudes and behaviors. Zero-inflated negative binomial regression was used to analyze the effect of leadership status on alcohol-impaired driving. Results: Few differences were found between Greek leaders and members. In both years, leaders perceived alcohol control policies as stricter than did members. Notably, leaders and members did not significantly differ in reports of alcohol use or consequences. Conclusion: With this additional study, the literature suggests that alcohol-related attitude and behavioral differences between Greek leaders and members may be highly variable across college and university campuses. Scientific Significance: The socialization process among Greek leaders and members warrants further investigation. The current findings suggest that future research should examine the roles that campus climate and on-campus initiatives may play in the Greek socialization process.

This paper examines the idea of competence in terms of the ‘development of meaning’. Data are drawn from three main studies: one of people engaged in everyday work activities, one of people at university who were undertaking ‘mundane’ part-time work at the same time, and one of homeless people studying the humanities. From the studies, it is argued that different kinds of meanings are made in different kinds of activities, that not all of these meanings can be expressed in terms of the verbalisable, collective, ‘sacred’ concepts of the culture, and that there are cognitive, dispositional and physical struggles involved in connecting ‘mundane’ and ‘sacred’ meanings. It is concluded that the development of competence involves not only engagement in ‘mundane’ activities, but in connecting these understandings with the ‘sacred’ meanings of the culture; and that common approaches to competency-based vocational education and assessment ignore this need.

Immoderate drinking in college is common and is associated with significant negative sequelae. In this study, measures of Decisional Balance for Immoderate Drinking were developed. This construct is proposed to represent the basic decision-making process that is used by students when deciding whether to drink at immoderate levels or not. Furthermore this construct is embedded in a larger model of behavior change, the Transtheoretical Model of Change, which has been shown to be effective in understanding many health-related behaviors across a wide variety of populations. A total of 629 college students were administered a 25-item decisional balance questionnaire in 1993-1994. Exploratory and confirmatory analyses suggested two different solutions, a two-factor solution and a three-factor solution, but did not provide clear evidence for the psychometric superiority of one over the other. The three-factor solution was chosen as it was seen as an elaboration of the two-factor solution, and validity evidence for this solution is presented. The three factors were labeled the Pros, the Cons-Actual, and the Cons-Potential of Immoderate Drinking. The Cons-Actual scale is a measure of negative affective states associated with current drinking whereas the Cons-Potential measures the risk of more concrete negative effects of drinking. External validity was established by the significant and meaningful differences on a number of alcohol-related variables including consumption variables, three measures of negative sequelae of immoderate drinking, and Stage of Change, the organizing construct of the Transtheoretical Model of Change.

This study investigated the relative influence of perceived parent and peer disapproval for using drugs on youth intentions to use drugs. In a cross-sectional design, sixth and eighth grade students (N = 1,649) completed surveys that included measures of parent disapproval, peer disapproval, and intentions to use drugs in the future. Parent influences were more salient for sixth graders, whereas peer influences were predominant for eighth graders. Peer disapproval was significantly evident in the sixth grade sample, as was parent disapproval in the eighth grade sample. Additionally, girls' drug use intentions were higher than were boys'. These findings suggest that parents can have a robust protective role over and above peer influences and that girls' intentions to use substances deserve increased attention. Editors' Strategic Implications: These findings, if replicated, should help practitioners develop developmentally appropriate strategies and programs for substance use prevention.

A team of academic researchers, clinicians, prison administrators and undergraduate and graduate students came together to conduct an evaluation of a pre-release discharge planning program in a women's prison facility. This paper describes differences between academic and corrections systems, adaptations needed in order to work within the correctional system, pragmatic and ethical issues addressed by our team, and the joys and benefits we experienced doing the project. Team members who had not previously worked in a prison setting found it an extraordinary, transformative learning experience in spite of the challenges.

This paper describes the Rhode Island Tobacco Control Enhancement Project (TCEP), a state-university-community technical assistance system. TCEP was developed under the auspices of the Rhode Island Department of Health's Tobacco Control program and was designed to build capacity among nine community-based organizations to mount comprehensive tobacco control interventions in five diverse communities within the state. This paper: (1) provides a description of community mobilization; (2) presents a logic model for planning and decision making used by state-university-community partners; (3) describes training, technical assistance services and implementation; and, (4) describes the evaluation and program improvement activities used to support on-going project development.