NUCATS-TRIP SERVICE
Northwestern University's Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute's Translational Research and Incubator Program
The NUCATS-TRIP service is specialized in that it combines statistical and epidemiology expertise. It is intended for NUCATS Institute's members who have received prior approval and funding. Applications for funding must be submitted via the NUCATS portal. There are 2 levels of service descibed in detail below.
Target Audience
The target audience for the TRIP collaborations would be:
1. NUCATS KL2 awardees
2. NUCATS Pilot Project awardees
3. K applicants
4. “K to R” applicants
Basic level
- Initial meetings to discuss project with biostatistician and epidemiologist
- Consultation on proposal development, including preliminary protocol evaluation:
- objectives (formulating research questions from clinical questions)
- study design (selecting optimal design for research question)
- population and setting (study participants selection methods)
- power and sample size estimates
- statistical analyses (selecting proper methods for analyses) - Discuss responses to reviewers if the proposal is a re-submission
- Maximum 4 hours biostatistician time; 4 hours epidemiologist time
- After the allotted time has been used investigators may : (1) with evidence of strong chances of proposal completion and success, re-apply for additional voucher funds; or (2) arrange for their departments to fund additional TRIP involvement
Intermediate level
All activities listed above, plus
- Work with the investigator to prepare and present research proposal at a Clinical and Translational Research Incubator Seminar (CTRIS):
- CTRIS seminars are approximately 1.5 hours long, and provide an intellectual venue for the discussion of research proposals
- CTRIS utilizes an interdisciplinary team of scientists (including MD and PhD epidemiologists, senior biostatisticians, content experts, and the junior investigator’s mentors) to develop the very best research methods for the specific proposed projects of each junior investigator.
- Specific CTRIS team members meet with the junior investigator two to four weeks prior to their presentation to provide initial guidance, advice, and mentorship.
- The entire CTRIS team then meets to preview the junior investigator’s proposed research project and confer regarding the project’s methodological strengths and weaknesses.
- During the seminar presentation, the junior investigator receives highly specialized and detailed recommendations during the real-time research project review.
- Each seminar is recorded (with Adobe Acrobat Connect Pro) to be reviewed again by the junior investigator.
- The major advantage of the CTRIS method is its team science synergistic approach that provides junior investigators with interdisciplinary consensus recommendations and corroborating guidance (as opposed to fragmented and potentially conflicting recommendations that junior investigators often receive with the more conventional one to one separate interactions with epidemiologists, biostatisticians, and mentors). - Maximum 8 hours biostatistician time; 8 hours epidemiologist time
- After the time has been used up investigators may: (1) with evidence of strong chances of proposal completion and success, re-apply to NUCATS for additional voucher funds; or (2) arrange for their departments to fund additional TRIP involvement.
