A Virtual Center for Collaborative Research in Complementary and Integrative Health Institutions

PROJECT SUMMARY / ABSTRACT CIH institutions often lack the essential research resources and critical infrastructure necessary to support clinical research, including the development of aspiring clinician-scientists. These resources include administrative support, training in research design and grants administration, access to specialized methodologic cores, and the ability to facilitate interdisciplinary partnerships. The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is uniquely positioned to address this critical gap by providing these and other key resources through ENcouraging Research In Complementary and integrative Health institutions (ENRICH), a REACH Virtual Resource Center. Housed at Pitt’s Institute for Clinical Research Education (ICRE), ENRICH will offer individualized resources and support to CIH institutions. It will leverage the ICRE’s array of innovative, asynchronous, online educational modules on topics pertinent to clinical trials and research in CIH, as well as its hands-on training opportunities in grant writing, to enhance the career development and productivity of aspiring clinician-scientists. The ICRE’s resources will be further strengthened by mentorship from experienced researchers at Pitt’s School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences (SHRS), which has a record of successful collaboration with CIH institutions. Our team of experienced investigators with CIH expertise has a proven record of working with under-resourced institutions. Through ENRICH, we will create a virtual scientific hub of research resources for CIH institutions, facilitate multidisciplinary research through an online collaboratory, and provide pilot funding for clinician-scientists to execute their research. Our Specific Aims are: 1) Strengthen the research environment at CIH institutions through targeted support for administrative staff; 2) Provide mentorship, research training, and grantsmanship support to clinician- scientists from partnering CIH institutions to increase the quality and quantity of their grant applications; 3) Foster multi- and interdisciplinary research partnerships across partnering CIH institutions through the creation of a virtual collaboratory and an annual virtual summit; and 4) Provide opportunities for CIH clinician-scientists to cultivate expertise in designing and implementing rigorous scientific studies and to obtain pilot funding to generate preliminary data for future NIH grants. By leveraging Pitt’s comprehensive resources and rich network of mentors in CIH, ENRICH will address a key unmet need, enabling CIH institutions to improve their research infrastructure and providing a pathway to build the next generation of CIH clinician-scientists' research careers. This study is responsive to RFA-AT-23-009 and aligns with the NCCIH’s key strategic goals of supporting the research training and career development of CIH clinician- scientists and fostering interdisciplinary collaborations.