Strengthening Child Health Research Capacity in Resource Constrained Settings

This competing renewal, “Strengthening Child Health Research Capacity in Resource Constrained Settings” training program (referred to hereafter as” the training program”) aims to advance and test state-of-the-art research methods training and “hands-on” research experience for advanced doctoral students and early career investigators, committed to addressing the serious threats to child health, as well as prevention and care differences in poverty-impacted contexts. The training program develops and supports a pipeline of new child health research investigators who are prepared to advance scientific knowledge about system and community-level structural interventions that can address the disproportionate health burdens experienced by poverty-impacted youth via enhancing protective family, neighborhood, system supports; reducing differences; and advancing health access and availability. The training program is guided by 4 Specific Aims: Aim 1. Recruit 5 cohorts of advanced doctoral students and early career investigators, committed to conducting child health and behavioral health prevention, intervention, services, implementation, and scale-up research within resource-constrained settings (Fellows; n=45 across 5 years); Aim 2. Deliver a summer research training program aimed at equipping Fellows with skills to address the challenges in resource-poor settings through didactic instruction, mentoring, “hands-on” immersion in child- and family-focused studies, individualized consultation, goal setting, monitoring, and ongoing support in resources over time; Aim 3. Advance academic/community/safety net system research partnerships on child health and well-being; and Aim 4. Examine the short-term and longitudinal impact of the training program (across 10 cohorts; n=90 RRT Fellows). Fellows participate in a 2-week, face-to-face training program at Washington University in St. Louis. Fellows then spend 4 to 6 weeks embedded across a set of existing child health-focused research studies. A rigorous mixed-methods evaluation tracks individual Fellow progress, as well as the impact of the training program on overall child health research partnerships.