Research Methods Core

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Project Summary To achieve the most impact on the HIV epidemic, interventions that address alcohol misuse in the context of HIV prevention and care must be evaluated and implemented with an emphasis on real-world effectiveness, scalability, and sustainability. Consistent with this, the central theme of this segment of support for the Brown University Alcohol Research Center on HIV (ARCH) involves evaluating novel methods of addressing alcohol use in HIV prevention and care contexts both domestically and globally, using technology-delivered interventions, telehealth, and state-of-the-art implementation strategies. The Research Methods Core (RMC) is a shared resource that will support the mutual needs of the ARCH’s constituent research components by providing assistance with (1) data collection, management, synergy, and analysis, (2) technology-assisted assessments and interventions, and (3) implementation science. With contributions from faculty in biostatistics, digital health, and implementation science, as well as experienced data management and programming staff, the RMC will directly support these needs by creating data collection instruments and intervention components, developing participant and data management systems, authoring scripts to compile and harmonize datasets across multiple sources, and facilitate data archiving. RMC personnel will also provide consultation on research design, assessment best-practices, and will lead primary statistical analyses proposed in each project. Finally, RMC personnel will provide ongoing guidance on implementation science methods for each project, compile resources on implementation science frameworks and methods, and offer education and training on implementation science topics. As such, the resources provided by the RMC core will enable the research components to utilize best-practices in the areas of study design and data analysis and ensure that the research they produce is rigorous and achieves the most impact. Providing general support for data management through the RMC can also ensure that consistent approaches are used in each project, that data are harmonized whenever possible, and that data are archived and shared efficiently. It also creates an economy of scale, where data management tasks used in one study can more easily be applied across others, obviating the need for each study to develop and support these methods themselves. Finally, providing a shared resource for training and guidance on implementation science issues will enable each project to utilize best practices in the field and ultimately help advance each toward its goal of integrating and sustaining alcohol interventions in practice settings.