Administrative Core

The objectives of the Administrative Core of the proposed Penn Roybal Center are to provide infrastructure and governance in support of behavioral economics and health research at the University of Pennsylvania and among affiliated faculty at other universities. There are tremendous opportunities to apply insights from behavioral economics to health behavior change and delivery science, but significant challenges remain. Chief among these are the challenges of bringing promising interventions to scale. There are numerous places along the NIH Stage Model of Behavior Change where the path to scaling can be disrupted, from the generation of mechanistically well motivated ideas that are shown to be feasible and acceptable in Stage 1 studies to proof of efficacy in research or real-world settings (Stages 2 and 3), proof of effectiveness (Stage 4), and dissemination and implementation (Stage 5). A goal of our Roybal Center is to reduce `voltage drops' along this pathway by embedding user-center design, allowing for self-service customization to increase both initial efficacy and the ability to engage broader populations for effectiveness studies; incorporating use of scalable platforms in testing to support potential translation of research into dissemination and implementation; and by leveraging dynamic adaptation to increase efficacy and effectiveness. In all of this we plan to work closely with testing and implementation partners who have wide reach, collectively with access to more than 100 million Americans including diverse populations. The Specific Aims of the Administrative Core of our Roybal Center are to: 1.) Provide central administrative support to plan, coordinate, and manage the Center's activities; 2.) Manage the External Advisory Committee that oversees the scientific direction of the Center; 3.) Oversee identification, review, development, and monitoring of pilot projects using the NIH Stage Model; 4.) Encourage and facilitate the development of networks among researchers; 5.) Build strategic collaborations with private and public sector entities to support testing of promising ideas