Dissemination and Outreach Core

Modified Project Summary/Abstract Section Effective dissemination of public health research involves a range of products, methods, and strategies tailored to stakeholder audiences at the community, academic, practice, and policy levels. The Dissemination and Outreach Core of the AJ Drexel Autism Institute (AJDAI) Autism Centers of Excellence (ACE), ‘Public Health and Autism Science advancing Effectual Strategies across the life course (PHASES)’, integrates stakeholder engagement, training, and outreach across three Projects to facilitate bidirectional communication between Center investigators and members of the community. Dissemination and implementation strategies are embedded as core components of the public health research process in PHASES from designing studies and developing research questions through data collection, interpretation of research findings, and disseminating findings to scientific and lay audiences. This will be accomplished through addressing the following aims: (1) Identify and execute multiple dissemination approaches, including innovative policy outreach and community-driven dissemination to expand the translation and dissemination of research-based findings to the broader scientific, policy, and stakeholder communities. (2) Develop a proven community engagement model, called the Community Partnered Participatory Research (CPPR) model, to establish two-way power sharing communication between investigators and community stakeholders from various communities and organizations. (3) Implement rigorous, evidence-based training strategies to engage undergraduate, graduate students, post-doctoral fellows, and early-stage investigators in different aspects of research and community stakeholder engagement. The AJDAI, as the first public health-focused autism research center in the country, is uniquely positioned to conduct the work of the PHASES ACE Center. The Dissemination and Outreach Core will capitalize on existing infrastructure at the AJDAI to support PHASES Center activities and align with the cross-cutting theme in the NIH strategic plan to address public health challenges across the lifespan.