ACHIEVE Investigator Development Core

Abstract The overarching goal of the Investigator Development Core (IDC) is to create a climate where collaborative and innovative research can thrive, leading to improved population health through sound research and implementation science. The IDC will provide opportunities for a diverse cohort of highly

skilled early-stage investigators (ESI) to develop and pilot innovative research studies by efficiently leveraging existing resources across three major research institutions in the proposed ACHIEVE GREATER. The IDC will provide training and consultation on study design and biostatistics, provide a seed funding program, and facilitate access to key infrastructure including banked biospecimens and

electronic health records, and an array of data located in the newly developed Wayne State University (WSU) Google-Cloud-based data warehouse, ingestion, and dissemination platform. The core function of the IDC is to promote the research careers of the pilot project awardees to become highly competitive applicants for competitive extramural support. The IDC will specifically encourage

early-stage investigators from different disciplines and backgrounds to focus on chronic disease disparities to enhance workforce diversity. The specific aims of the IDC are to plan each year's funding opportunity with input from our community advisors and ACHIEVE GREATER program leaders. This program will be available to the ACHIEVE GREATER membership and broader Wayne

State University (WSU), Henry Ford Health System (HFHS) and Case Western Reserve University (CWRU)/University Hospitals (UH) research communities. Interested applicants will submit a letter of intent (LOI) which will be reviewed by the Scientific Advisory Committee ( SAC). Applicants with highly meritorious LOIs will be invited to submit a full application and will receive assistance from the

administrative core on biostatistics, study design, IRB and other regulatory matters. The IDC will award six new pilot project grants each year of the 5-year ACHIEVE GREATER funding cycle with each award including funds of $40,000 over a 1-year period. In addition, we will provide awardees with programmatic support, which includes IRB as well as statistical support at no cost to them. The

IDC Director (Dr. Safwan Badr – WSU) and Assistant Director (Dr. Sadeer Al-Kindi – CWRU) will oversee an advisory team that meets regularly with ACHIEVE GREATER pilot project recipients to review progress and provide guidance. Finally, we will track success measures including publications and competitive extramural awards. Overall, the IDC will nurture and support transformational

research on chronic disease prevention with favorable impact on population health.