Dissemination and Training Core

PROJECT SUMMARY: DISSEMINATION AND TRAINING CORE The experimental design and data analytic methods to optimize adaptive interventions that will be developed in the Center for Methodologies for Adapting and Personalizing Prevention, Treatment, and Recovery Services for SUD and HIV (MAPS Center) are highly novel. These methods will reach their true potential and impact only if they are disseminated in ways that ignite sustainable, long-term interest in their adoption by scientists focused on substance use disorders (SUD) and HIV. This requires dissemination and training initiatives that are timely, effective, and efficient so that the methods can be adopted rapidly. Critically, it also requires growing and nurturing an interdisciplinary, scientific community that investigators can draw upon for guidance and collaboration as they leverage new methodologies for optimizing adaptive services for SUD and HIV. The Dissemination and Training Core (DTC) will support the MAPS Center in four critical domains: dissemination of the Center's novel methods to SUD/HIV scientists; creation and dissemination of software via a new, online code repository; administration of a pilot grant program to engage methodologists and SUD/HIV scientists; and mentorship of scientists at all career stages and across the full spectrum of interest and expertise in quantitative methods, to build capacity and community. A multifaceted plan targeting a variety of audiences and including a diverse set of resources will be used to address four Specific Aims: (Aim 1) To disseminate the methodological innovations developed in the Center to SUD/HIV scientists to facilitate rapid adoption; (Aim 2) To support software development critical to the success of Center research and build a new, online repository of software and related resources to facilitate the optimization of adaptive interventions by SUD/HIV scientists; (Aim 3) To cultivate new, innovative, collaborative projects via a pilot grant program; and (Aim 4) To foster the next generation of SUD/HIV scientists and methodologists equipped to optimize adaptive interventions. Methods developed in a vacuum do not further SUD/HIV intervention science. By empowering SUD/HIV scientists to adopt the MAPS Center's innovative methods and by building the scientific community needed for sustainable adoption, the DTC will magnify the impact of the MAPS Center, expanding the development of high-impact, adaptive interventions to combat SUD and HIV.