Vietnam Implementation Science Advancement: A Training Program to Improve HIV Prevention and Care

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Project Summary The expansion of effective interventions for HIV infection necessitates translation of these interventions to practice. Without careful scale-up, evidence-based interventions (EBIs) may not achieve their promise. Implementation science is the study of methods to promote the systematic uptake of research findings into routine practice. This D43 proposal is designed to expand HIV-related implementation science (IS) in Vietnam, a country that has been the focus of many NIH-funded intervention studies but has little IS capacity. The training program, referred to as Vietnam Implementation Science Advancement (VISA), uses a depth and diffusion model to achieve the following long-term goals: 1) to expand the capacity of Vietnamese researchers to conduct IS research and 2) to ensure that researchers, policymakers, and program leaders understand IS principles. These long-term goals will be achieved by addressing the following aims: 1) Initiate the Hanoi Medical University Implementation Science Program (HMU-ISP); 2) Develop IS knowledge and research capacity among four health science universities in Vietnam; 3) Develop IS capacity among Vietnamese policymakers and health program leaders to foster translation of HIV research into practice. We will build depth by establishing the HMU- ISP, which will serve as the home for in-person training in Aims 2 and 3. By completion of this D43, the HMU- ISP will have 9 faculty members, including the director (Dr. Giang, co-I), two VISA Senior Faculty who will receive 3-month immersion training in implementation science at UNC; two VISA PhD Fellows who will obtain their PhD in implementation science at UNC; and four VISA Faculty Trainees who will participate in our training program (Aim 2). To diffuse IS knowledge throughout Vietnam, we will train 12 VISA Faculty Trainees from four Vietnamese universities (including HMU) and 12 VISA Policy/Program Trainees, who will be selected from HIV- focused governmental and non-governmental agencies. The curriculum for the VISA Faculty and Policy/Program Trainees will focus on HIV-related IS knowledge and skills and research training. VISA Faculty Trainees will also develop an IS-focused course to expand implementation science training in their home institutions. VISA Faculty and Policy/Program Trainees will gain IS knowledge through in-person and virtual short courses and a series of webinars led by leaders in implementation science. Research training will include courses in grant writing and manuscript writing focusing on an HIV-related IS pilot project, which will be completed in the second year of training. The pilot projects will be led by an interdisciplinary team including one VISA Faculty and one VISA Policy/Program Trainee and will be supervised by a team of exceptional faculty, from both the United States and Vietnam. This innovative D43 brings together a strong team to expand HIV-related implementation science in Vietnam. By engaging both academia and public health policymakers in IS training, the potential for future translation of EBIs into practice will be maximized.