AMETHIST@Penn: Achieving Maternal Empowerment and Transforming Health through Implementation Science and Training

The NIH Implementing a Maternal Health and PRegnancy Outcomes Vision for Everyone (IMPROVE) initiative aims to reduce maternal mortality and improve pregnancy, perinatal and postpartum care with a focus on community engagement. The University of Pennsylvania (Penn) proposes creating the Achieving Maternal Empowerment and Transforming Health through Implementation Science and Training (AMETHIST@Penn) Implementation Science Hub to support IMPROVE Maternal Health Research Centers of Excellence (CoEs) and other IMPROVE investigators, and to coordinate with NIH Staff Scientists, Project Staff, and the Data Innovation and Coordinating Hub. AMETHIST@Penn will be led by MPIs Meghan Lane Fall, MD, MSHP, and Rebecca Hamm, MD, MSCE, who bring complementary and necessary strengths in implementation science (IS) and maternal health. Dr. Lane-Fall is Executive Director of the Penn Implementation Science Center at the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics (PISCE@LDI). She is an internationally recognized acute care IS expert with an independent IS research program. She has 8 years of experience as a collaborator and consultant advising investigators on: selection of IS theories, models, and frameworks; implementation mapping and strategy selection; implementation outcome selection; data integration across multiple types and sources; and advanced analytic procedures to elucidate change mechanisms. Dr. Hamm is a maternal fetal medicine specialist who has established herself nationally as a researcher at the crossroads of obstetrics and IS. Together they will orchestrate the work of AMETHIST@Penn, leading an interdisciplinary, interprofessional group of more than 45 scientists and community partners. The AMETHIST@Penn Hub will comprise five Cores, each with two Co-Leads and 2-4 Core Investigators: 1) Administration, Leadership, and Evaluation; 2) Community and Stakeholder Engagement (with an Engagement Enhancement Collaborative designed to aid sites in accountability around community engagement); 3) Design, Methods, and Analysis (including a Consultant Panel with Methods, Community Engagement, and Clinical subpanels to meet the anticipated consultation and technical assistance needs of the CoEs); 4) Policy, Dissemination, and Communication (with skills building in messaging and media training); and 5) Training and Capacity Building (featuring an innovative academic- community partner training program and a comprehensive mentored research experience for both new and established investigators). In addition to establishing and administering the Hub, a research aim includes prospective mixed methods research on IS investigators, community partners, and institutions to characterize predictors of project-based implementation success and multilevel barriers to and facilitators of the conduct of maternal health IS research. The AMETHIST@Penn hub will advance public health and maternal health by facilitating rigorous implementation research that centers the needs and perspectives of patients, communities, and populations.