A Career Development Program for Faculty Interested in Pediatric Learning Health Systems Science and Research

The PEDSnet Scholars Program is a K12 career development program funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) and the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI). The program is designed to prepare promising faculty to conduct learning health system (LHS) science and research that will improve the efficiency and quality of healthcare and health outcomes for children and their families. This may include junior faculty or individuals seeking to expand their methodological expertise into learning health system science and research. It builds upon prior efforts of a multidisciplinary faculty with decades of experience in research mentorship and the resources of nationally renowned pediatric academic medical centers that already collaborate in the PEDSnet clinical research network (pedsnet.org). PEDSnet scholars will learn and use new methods that leverage modern clinical data systems and test interventions in pragmatic child/family-centered outcomes research studies, embedded in diverse delivery systems and communities.

See the following article for more information on learning health systems research and its training competencies: Forrest CB, Chesley FD Jr, Tregear ML, Mistry KB. Health Serv Res. 2017 Aug 4. Development of the Learning Health System Researcher Core Competencies. doi: 10.1111/1475-6773.12751.

Program Aims

The program goals are to train the next generation of Pediatric Learning Health Systems researchers and provide value to PEDSnet healthcare organizations by conducting research that is meaningful to patients, clinicians, caregivers, and/or health system leaders. The Program Aims are to:

Community: Create a community of junior faculty who will progress to be leaders in their institutions and the nation in Learning Health System science and research for children;
Research: Support scholars in the conduct of patient-centered outcomes research in the context of their local Learning Health System;
Curriculum: Deliver a curriculum that builds core competencies in Learning Health System science; and,
Mentorship: Provide research, health system, and life course mentorship.

Administrative Details

Program start date: July 2022
Minimum of 2-year duration; some scholars may be offered an optional 3^rd year
Scholars must obtain commitment from their institutions for 75% protected time for the duration of the program. For institutional/other funded applicants only, up to 25% of that effort may include operations, QI, informatics, or other administrative responsibilities related to LHS activities
Funding options: (1) AHRQ PCORI funding (2-3 positions available); Up to $90,000 in salary support (plus fringe) per scholar per year; a minimum of $15,000 for training-related expenses; Scholars will use a portion of training-related funds to cover costs for patient and family partners, travel to in-person program meetings each year, and a scientific mentor stipend; or (2) Commitment from Institutional or other extramural funding to cover required salary effort and research expenses (No more than 9 positions available)

Eligibility Criteria

Individuals are eligible to apply if they:

Have a full-time faculty appointment at one of the following founding or onboarding PEDSnet (pedsnet.org) institutions by July 2022:

Boston Children’s Hospital;
Children’s Hospital Colorado;
Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia;
Children's National Hospital;
Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center;
Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago
Nationwide Children’s Hospital;
Nemours Children’s Health;
Seattle Children’s Hospital; and
Stanford Children's Health.

Are US citizens or non-citizen nationals;

Have earned a clinical (MD, DO, DDS, DMD, DPT, PharmD) or research (PhD, ScD, DrPH) doctoral degree; and

Can commit 75% effort to the program for the duration of the award.

For AHRQ K12 funding only, individuals are NOT eligible to apply if they:

Have simultaneously submitted or have an application pending peer review for any other Federal career development award, or a research project grant (R01). However, individuals may concurrently submit an application for an AHRQ or NIH Small Grant (R03) or Exploratory/Developmental Grants (R21);
Have simultaneously submitted or have an application pending peer review for any non-Federal research grant, contract, or cooperative agreement over $100,000 direct costs per year;
Have been or are currently a PD/PI on any other Federal mentored career development awards;
Have been or are currently supported on an institutional K12 grant or KL2 (or similar grant);
Have been or are currently a PD/PI on a Federal research grant (such as R01, R29, P01) or subproject leaders on Program Project (P01) and Center Grants (P50); and/or
Have been or are currently a PD/PI on peer-reviewed non-Federal research grants, contracts or cooperative agreements over $100,000 direct costs per year.

Please refer to the AHRQ program announcement (RFA-HS-17-012) for complete eligibility/exclusion details.

Application Process

The governance for the application process begins with the PEDSnet Scholars Program Executive Committee member at each PEDSnet institution, who may nominate up to 3 individuals. All nominations may be considered for AHRQ-PCORI funded slots. The Scholars Program Executive Committee member from each PEDSnet institution will manage the potential local candidates, and the timeline for internal selection. It is estimated that the internal selection process would occur sometime between February- March 2022 to allow preparation of the final application due to the coordinating center by Friday May 6, 2022.

The PEDSnet Scholars Executive Committee will review all applications, and two committee members will interview each candidate via videoconference. Final selection will be based on the review process and other programmatic factors as determined by the PEDSnet Scholars Executive Committee.