Abstract
Background:The Ending the HIV Epidemic (EHE) initiative sets a goal to virtually eliminate new HIV infections in the United States by 2030. The plan is predicated on the fact that tools exist for diagnosis, prevention, and treatment, and the current scientific challenge is how to implement them effectively and with equity. Implementation research (IR) can help identify strategies that support effective implementation of HIV services.Setting:NIH funded the Implementation Science Coordination Initiative (ISCI) to support rigorous and actionable IR by providing technical assistance to NIH-funded projects and supporting local implementation knowledge becoming generalizable knowledge.Methods:We describe the formation of ISCI, the services it provided to the HIV field, and data it collected from 147 NIH-funded studies. We also provide an overview of this supplement issue as a dissemination strategy for HIV IR.Conclusion:Our ability to reach EHE 2030 goals is strengthened by the knowledge compiled in this supplement, the services of ISCI and connected hubs, and a myriad of investigators and implementation partners collaborating to better understand what is needed to effectively implement the many evidence-based HIV interventions at our disposal.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | S1-S8 |
| Journal | Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes |
| Volume | 90 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jul 1 2022 |
Funding
Along with the expected growth in the emphasis on IR in the field of HIV comes a need to develop the workforce. On the heels of the NIH sunsetting the Training Institute in Dissemination and Implementation Research in Health (TIDIRH), where many HIV investigators received training in IR, an inter-CFAR IS Fellowship for early-stage investigators housed at Johns Hopkins University was launched in 2019 with support from the EHE initiative. Across the first 2 years of the fellowship, 51 of 108 applicants were admitted to the program. Within 1 year of Cohort 1 finishing the fellowship, 22 of the 27 fellows (81%) had submitted a HIV IR grant, 13 of which were awarded to 10 different fellows. ISCI provided formal training to supplement awardees beginning with a 2-day workshop in Chicago in 2019 and followed by webinars and individual consultation sessions in the years since. Preliminary evaluation data about ISCI and hub services suggest that they are effective in improving the quality of IR proposed. For every unit increase in engagement in ISCI activities (coaching, webinars, peer groups, etc), FY19 projects were twice as likely to receive additional NIH funding in FY20 (P = 0.047). Informed by a National Advisory Panel of HIV service providers and community representatives, ISCI is currently in the process of deploying compendiums of training materials and live workshops on HIV IR designed specifically for HIV service providers and funders so that they can effectively partner with researchers and consume findings from high-quality HIV IR. This work was made possible through a supplement grant to the Third Coast Center for AIDS Research (CFAR), an NIH-funded center (P30 AI117943). We acknowledge the support of all the staff of the Implementation Science Coordination Initiatives, the collaboration with all the implementation research hubs and federal agency staff involved in the EHE initiatives, and for all the implementation research projects that we had the opportunity to work with.
Keywords
- Ending the HIV Epidemic
- implementation research
- implementation science
- research coordination
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Infectious Diseases
- Pharmacology (medical)
