Implementation Science Core

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT The newly established JHU Implementation Science Core seeks to build upon the implementation science service, mentorship and collaboration successes promoted through the JHU CFAR in recent years. Our goal is to promote the generation of rigorous and relevant science to end the HIV epidemic, while advancing the development of emerging leaders in the implementation research space. Through leveraging the success of the JHU-led Mid-Atlantic CFAR Consortium (MACC+) Implementation Science Technical Hub and the HIV & Implementation Science Fellowship for early-stage investigators - both CFAR funded supplements, we aim to expand opportunities within the JHU CFAR and promote inter-CFAR engagement. Specifically, we aim to deliver: Aim 1: Service. Provide state-of-the-art implementation science technical support and services to the JHU CFAR community and beyond. Services will be broadly organized around three branches, including the Implementation Strategies and Frameworks Branch, Implementation Science Study Designs and Methods Branch, and a Translation Branch. Aim 2: Mentorship. Mentor the next generation of scholars in implementation science and provide opportunities for hands-on, guided implementation science application and research. Aim 3: Collaboration. Increase networking and research collaborations across CFAR investigators that will enhance the generalizability of scientific discovery and create new opportunities for early- stage investigators to lead the charge to End the HIV Epidemic in Baltimore, the US and globally. Overall, the IS Core will intentionally seek to promote the IS leadership base at JHU and nationally. We will achieve this through promoting training opportunities through the Fellowship, but also through incorporation of these principles into our leadership plan. We will routinely monitor process indicators, qualitative input and impact indicators to track Core success. Based on the historical contributions of the implementation science Core faculty and the future plans laid out, as well as the increasingly relevant funding opportunities for implementation research work, we are confident in our ability to positively impact the development of faculty and the advancement of science in the HIV and implementation science areas within and across the CFAR network.