The Penn State Coordinating Center (CC) for the Multi-Sectoral Preventive Interventions (MSPI) Research Network

ABSTRACT A research gap exists for projects focusing on the leading risk factors for death and disability, especially within populations affected by health disparities. To address this gap, The Office of Disease Prevention (ODP), the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD), and the Office of Data Science Strategy (ODSS) at the National Institutes of Health announced their intention to establish the Multi-Sectoral Preventive Interventions (MSPI) Research Network. The ODP has initiated a new trans-NIH research effort, titled ADVANCE (ADvancing preVentive intervention reseArch in populatioNs that experienCe health disparitiEs) Initiative, of which the MSPI Research Network will be a component. The Multi-Sectoral Preventive Interventions (MSPI) Research Network, including the Coordinating Center (CC) and up to 10 Research Projects, will work collaboratively with the NIH to test preventive interventions addressing social determinants of health (SDOH) and risk factors for chronic or acute health conditions, especially in populations that experience health disparities. The Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine (PSUCOM) proposes to serve as the CC for the MSPI Research Network. The CC will provide overarching support and guidance to the Network through three specific aims: 1) Administration, coordination, and communication 2) Methodology, data, and analytic support and consultation 3) Community and other collaborator engagement and dissemination. Our investigative team is highly experienced in biostatistics and leading coordinating centers, health disparities, prevention research, diabetes, obesity, cancer prevention, implementation and team science, community engagement, family-level interventions, community-level interventions, and other expertise across the NIMHD research framework levels and domains of influence. The investigative team will provide innovative support and guidance to the Network. Throughout all specific aims, the CC will focus the Network’s efforts around community engagement and team science best practices to ensure community members are full partners in the research projects. The CC will schedule and document all Network activities, establish and facilitate the Network Steering Committee and working groups, develop governing policies, and build communication platforms and public and private websites to support collaboration; all while considering ease of use for community partners. To ensure the utmost data integrity, the CC will provide methodological and statistical consultation to the Research Projects, provide consultation on SDOH measures, assist with compilation of publicly available data, support data harmonization and archival, and provide all technical assistance needed. The CC will create and support Network-wide community advisory boards, lead information sharing sessions and develop tool kits to exchange best practices for engagement and dissemination across all communities. Further, we will create public-facing communication materials such as social media posts, videos, newsletters, and lay briefs that will both promote the Network and share key research findings for translation into the community to address health disparities.