Implementation Science Core

Modified Project Summary/Abstract Section Great progress has been made with regard to HIV prevention, care & treatment, yet a huge gap between knowledge and practice limits the real-world impact in preventing new infections and improving the lives of people with HIV. To address this gap, strategies to improve the implementation of HIV programs are needed. The new Penn CFAR Implementation Science Core (Core H) builds on the tremendous success of the CFAR’s “Implementation Science in Philadelphia to End the HIV Epidemic Regionally” (iSPHERE) Scientific Working Group (SWG), which catalyzed a growing community of investigators applying implementation science (IS) tenets to AIDS priorities. With the SWG now being retired, the Aims of the new Implementation Science Core are to: 1) provide technical assistance and consultation to investigators with an emphasis on IS designs, frameworks, strategies, measures, outcomes, community engaged approaches, and mechanisms of change; 2) build capacity by educating, training, and providing mentorship to develop a robust generation of AIDS/IS researchers, and; 3) develop synergy across campus entities, CFAR Cores and through inter-CFAR collaborations. The Penn CFAR Implementation Science Core is led by Core Director Florence Momplaisir, MD, MSHP and two Co-Directors, Meghan Lane-Fall, MD, MSHP and Katharine Rendle, PhD, MSW, MPH. These leaders will harness their unique and complementary expertise to advance IS HIV/AIDS research through consultation, community building, and capacity building. The Implementation Science Core’s ultimate goal is research that produces generalizable knowledge aligned with Ending the HIV Epidemic (EHE) and UNAIDS goals to reduce new HIV infections, and to improve outcomes for people with HIV. Core H activities will center on providing technical assistance and coaching on IS approaches, with a specific eye towards our unique expertise in behavioral economics and implementation mapping. The Implementation Science Core will leverage resources from the Penn Implementation Science Center at LDI (PISCE@LDI, of which Dr. Lane-Fall is Executive Direction, which has been offering technical assistance and support at Penn over the past five years and has been successful in growing IS research capacity at Penn and nationwide. Core H will also develop collaborations, synergy, and leverage expertise across other CFAR cores, in particular the International, Biostatistics & Data Science, and Community Research & Engagement Cores, the new HIV Communication & Policy SWG, and develop inter-CFAR collaborations to further capacity building for maximal impact. The iSPHERE SWG has had tremendous impact catalyzing an IS research community regionally, and the new Implementation Science Core will accelerate momentum developing research to advance knowledge around HIV prevention and treatment regionally, nationally, and internationally.