RESEARCH METHODS CORE

The Research and Methods Core (RMC) for the Center for SOcial CApital (SoCa) will be critical for meeting the Center’s overall mission to reduce cancer health inequities in persistent poverty areas (PPAs) in the New York City (NYC) Region. The RMC will leverage the exceptional research expertise, training resources, and

infrastructure of Cornell University (CU), Columbia University Irving Medical Center (CUIMC), Downstate Health Sciences University (Downstate), and the regional healthcare systems and networks of New York-Presbyterian (NYP) Hospital System and the NYC Department of Health’s Center for Health Equity, Cancer Prevention and

Control, and Department of Education to conduct prevention, screening, treatment, and disease management interventions to alleviate cancer health inequities related to persistent poverty. The RMC will support and coordinate the research enterprise within the SoCa Center and facilitate data synergy in the Persistent Poverty Steering Committee. By bringing together a diverse cadre of PhD and clinician

scientists in biostatistics, epidemiology, social determinants of health, cultural humility, data harmonization, implementation science, and patient-reported outcomes, the RMC will support the Center’s transdisciplinary research teams, foster data synergy and integration of the research projects and pilot projects, support planning

and evaluation of the Center’s research productivity, and facilitate data connections with the Persistent Poverty Initiative Network. The RMC will provide research methodology support for Project investigators, trainees and all pilot projects focused on reducing cancer inequities in areas of persistent poverty.

The RMC will support the Center’s mission through the following aims: (1) Provide rigorous study design, methodologic expertise, biostatistics consultation, and data interpretation support to both projects and all pilot studies through the developmental core; (2) Build a Data Commons platform to ensure data

harmonization and facilitate connections across the SoCa Center, the NYC region and through the larger Persistent Poverty Initiative Network. Standardize data collection, storage, and incorporating data elements, surveys, and measures across projects and pilot studies to build data synergy across the network; and (3)

Monitor the SoCa Center’s research productivity and dissemination of findings and approaches using standardized metrics (e.g., number of consultations per month, support for trainees and faculty) and implementation science frameworks (e.g., The Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR))

and provide formal feedback (e.g., user satisfaction, methodology needs assessments) to the ADMIN, Development Core, and Career Enhancement Core to inform long-term sustainability. The RMC will support the mission of the SoCa Center by maintaining and facilitating the conduct of high-quality science, ensuring

data harmonization across all projects and pilots, sustaining rigorous standards of research, and promoting long-term sustainability and dissemination of novel and effective approaches.