January 17, 2018: The “All of Us” Research Program Asks for Research Ideas

The groundbreaking “All of Us” research program, which aims to enroll and track more than a million people, is asking prospective researchers, community organizations, and citizen scientists for suggestions regarding potential research questions. Ideas can be submitted through a special research page and are due by February 23, 2018. At a Research Priorities Workshop in March 2018, meeting attendees will use the input to set research priorities that will drive the development of the All of Us research platform and associated tools.

December 18, 2017: New Podcast: Drs. Greg Simon and Susan Ellenberg Discuss Data and Safety Monitoring in Pragmatic Trials

The NIH Collaboratory is pleased to announce that the new episode of the Grand Rounds podcast is now available, featuring Dr. Greg Simon, principal investigator on the Suicide Prevention Outreach Trial (SPOT), and Dr. Susan Ellenberg of the Regulatory/Ethics Core. In this episode, Drs. Simon and Ellenberg discuss the need for a data and safety monitoring plan in any clinical trial, and specifically when a Data and Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB) might be needed in a pragmatic trial.

Listen to the episode here:

At least once a month, we will release interviews with Grand Rounds speakers that delve into their topic of interest and give listeners bonus time with these featured experts.

Please let us know what you think by providing your feedback through the podcast page. We also encourage you to listen and share the recordings with your colleagues!

December 14, 2017: NIH Encourages Authors to Publish in Reputable Journals

Publication in journals is an essential part of the scientific process, an important metric for scholarly career advancement, and an integral aspect of grant approval and funding mechanisms. Pressure to publish has engendered a global industry of open access journals, which are driven by author publication fees rather than subscription services. Some of these journals are not credible and are considered predatory; they may have misleading pricing, fraudulent editorial boards, and inadequate (or nonexistent) peer-review processes.

To help ensure the credibility of published research, the NIH released a statement on publication in scientific journals (NOT-OD-18-011).

“In support of public access to National Institutes of Health (NIH) funded research, authors are encouraged to publish their results in reputable journals. The NIH has noted an increase in the numbers of papers reported as products of NIH funding which are published in journals or by publishers that do not follow best practices promoted by professional scholarly publishing organizations.”

There are a number of resources available to authors to help identify reputable journals:

For more information on disseminating results from pragmatic clinical trials see the Living Textbook Chapters:

December 12, 2017: NIH Collaboratory Core Working Group Interviews: Reflections from the Patient-Reported Outcomes Core

We recently asked Dr. Kevin Weinfurt, Chair of the Patient-Reported Outcomes (PRO) Core, to reflect on the first 5 years of the Core’s work and the challenges ahead. He says the biggest impact of the Core has been working with national initiatives to improve inclusion of PROs in the electronic health record (EHR). Further, Core members have contributed to new knowledge through white papers and chapters in the Living Textbook. In the coming years, he’s hoping the Core will be able to identify the value proposition of PROs.

“Because there are costs associated with collecting PROs, we need to determine when PROS are essential, supporting, or not at all informative for the clinical questions. This gets at the value proposition: When are they of value and to whom?” —Dr. Kevin Weinfurt.

Read more from Dr. Weinfurt in the full interview (pdf).

December 7, 2017: Dr. Greg Simon Explains Individual, Cluster, and Stepped-Wedge Randomization in a New Prop Video

In a new video in the Living Textbook, Dr. Greg Simon describes the differences between individual, cluster, and stepped-wedge randomization using props, including marbles, Play-Doh, and glassware.

“In the end, it’s all about randomly assigning who gets which treatment, or who gets which treatment when, so that we’re able to make some un-biased judgement about which treatment is really better.” —Greg Simon, MD

December 5, 2017: Dr. Greg Simon Answers the Question: What is a Pragmatic Trial?

In a new video for the Living Textbook, Dr. Greg Simon uses props—including Play-Doh and toys—to define pragmatic trials and their importance in clinical research.

“Pragmatic clinical trials are about helping doctors make better decisions to take care of their patients.” —Greg Simon, MD

November 27, 2017: New “Moderators’ Edition” Podcast Episode is Live

The NIH Collaboratory is pleased to announce that the next episode of the Grand Rounds podcast is posted, featuring podcast moderators Dr. Adrian Hernandez and Dr. Kevin Weinfurt. In this episode, Drs. Hernandez and Weinfurt discuss their visions for the future of the NIH Collaboratory, and specifically how past NIH Collaboratory Trials might inform future pragmatic trials.

Listen to the episode here:

There is also a blog to accompany this podcast.

At least once a month, we will release interviews with Grand Rounds speakers that delve into their topic of interest and give listeners bonus time with these featured experts.

Please let us know what you think by providing your feedback through the podcast page. We also encourage you to listen and share the recordings with your colleagues!

November 20, 2017: NIH Collaboratory Core Working Group Interviews: Reflections from the Ethics and Regulatory Core

We recently asked Drs. Jeremy Sugarman and Kevin Weinfurt, Co-chairs of the Ethics and Regulatory Core, to reflect on the first 5 years of the Core as well as on the challenges ahead. The regulatory and ethical landscape for pragmatic clinical trials was not well defined when the Core began 5 years ago, and the Core helped to map and navigate the emerging landscape to enable the implementation of NIH Collaboratory Trials in ways that satisfied ethical and regulatory criteria.

“The Core’s work has led to the creation of a substantial body of scholarship contributing to the ongoing policy and ethics debates about pragmatic clinical trials.” – Drs. Sugarman and Weinfurt

Download the interview (PDF).

November 17, 2017: New Video in Living Textbook Explores Data Sharing and Embedded Research

As part of an article published in Annals of Internal Medicine, Dr. Greg Simon created a short video in which he describes concerns related to data sharing and embedded research, as well as potential solutions for those concerns. We recently added this video to the Living Textbook chapter on Data Sharing and Embedded Research. In the chapter, the authors expand on the ideas presented in the Annals article and fame them using lessons learned from the NIH Collaboratory Trials. Data collected as part of research embedded in a health system comes from a fundamentally different context than stand-alone explanatory trials. When they are taken out of context or used for comparisons, they have the potential to do harm—something that can potentially discourage health systems from volunteering to participate in embedded research. The authors suggest that data sharing plans for embedded research be developed in partnership with health system leaders in ways that maximize the amount of data that can be shared while protecting patient privacy and healthcare system interests.

“Ultimately, it’s a practical question: if we want healthcare providers and healthcare systems to participate in research, we shouldn’t expect them to bear extra risk. In an ideal world, all information about the quality of health care and healthcare outcomes across the country would be completely open to everyone, but we don’t live in that world now. So if we are asking healthcare providers and healthcare systems to open up and be more transparent by participating in research, we certainly would not want to punish those who volunteer.” — Simon et al. in video for Ann Intern Med

 

Simon G, Coronado G, DeBar L, et al. Data Sharing and Embedded Research: Introduction. In: Rethinking Clinical Trials: A Living Textbook of Pragmatic Clinical Trials. Bethesda, MD: NIH Health Care Systems Research Collaboratory. Available at: https://rethinkingclinicaltrials.org/data-share-top/data-sharing-and-embedded-research-introduction/. Updated November 13, 2017.

November 16, 2017: Dr. Eric Larson Discusses the Role of the Health Care System in Successful Pragmatic Trials

In this interview, Dr. Eric Larson, Executive Director of Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute, and Chair of the NIH Collaboratory Health Care Systems Interactions Core, discusses how working effectively with a health care system can maximize the chances of running a successful pragmatic trial. He also notes that creating a research question that aligns with the values and priorities of that health care system can help build a strong foundation for any trial.