Program outline

Overarching Goal: To identify and advance the role of RCMI institutions in supporting mission-driven networks that intersect with community health by integrating partner perspectives, community-informed insights, and demonstrated engagement models to strengthen prevention, screening, and participation in clinical and translational research.

Specific Aims/Objectives

Elicit perspectives from mission-driven networks on how RCMI can add value to existing community health efforts through a panel of invited speakers representing nonprofit, clinical, service, and public health frameworks, highlighting opportunities for alignment in prevention, screening, and research participation.

Center community partner experiences identifying facilitators, challenges, and opportunities for stronger alignment with academic research through curated video testimonials and a guided discussion that surfaces cross-cutting themes across RCMI sites.

Showcase and exchange effective models of community-engaged research and partnership through an interactive poster session highlighting RCMI CEC activities, outcomes, and strategies that demonstrate how alignment with existing networks enhances reach, trust, and impact.

Enhance the translation of the RCMI Program's scientific contributions into impactful and beneficial health solutions for society.

Co-Organizers: Muhammed Y. Idris, PhD; Mohamed Mubasher, PhD, Morehouse School of Medicine We will host a two-part pre-conference workshop that combines training on the All of Us Researcher Workbench with applied causal inference methods for observational health research. The workshop is specifically designed to address the program’s ongoing transition from the legacy Workbench environment to Researcher Workbench 2.0, powered by Verily, which introduces a new user interface, expanded cloud-based analysis capabilities, and new tools for cohort exploration and data analysis, including integration with external code repositories.

The first session will provide an overview of the evolving Workbench ecosystem, including how researchers access the platform, create workspaces, build cohorts, and navigate the new tools available in Researcher Workbench 2.0. The session will also discuss practical considerations during the migration period, as researchers transition existing projects and workflows from the legacy environment to the updated Verily based platform.

The second session participants will learn how to apply Propensity Score Matching (PSM) to generate balanced comparison, treated - control groups and estimating treatment effects in observational biomedical datasets Hands-on demonstrations will use example cohorts derived from the All of Us Researcher Workbench environment and illustrate implementation in R using packages such as MatchIt and WeightIt.

Learning Objectives

Introduce participants to the structure, data resources, and analytic workflows within the All of Us Researcher Workbench.

Explain key changes associated with the transition to Researcher Workbench 2.0, including the updated user interface, enhanced cloud computing environment, and new tools such as the Data Explorer and JupyterLab.

Demonstrate approaches for building research cohorts and datasets within the updated Workbench environment.

Explain the conceptual framework and assumptions underlying Propensity Score Matching in observational research.

Provide practical guidance on implementing propensity score matching and weighting methods in R using MatchIt and WeightIt.

Illustrate how large-scale biomedical datasets available through the Workbench can be combined with causal inference methods to address clinical, policy, and population health research questions.

This session will provide a platform for new Early-Stage Investigators to gain insights into successfully navigating the path to becoming an independent scientist and explore the opportunities and approaches to mentoring support as an ESI.

This workshop will feature presentations by Early-Stage Investigator (ESI) RCMI Scholars and a breakout session to discuss current challenges faced by ESIs. ESI RCMI Scholars will discuss their scientific accomplishments in pilot projects sponsored by their institutional RCMI program or by the RCMI-CC Clinical Research Pilot Project program. They will also discuss how RCMI resources advanced their research and academic careers. The breakout discussions will focus on ESI challenges and approaches to address these challenges. The objectives of this workshop are to

Learn about the scientific achievements of ESI RCMI Scholars supported by the RCMI Pilot Project programs and the RCMI-CC Clinical Research Pilot Project program.

Discuss challenges faced by ESIs and potential solutions to advance their career development and research competitiveness.

RCMI Coordinating Center and CRN UH3 Sites will discuss and formalize approaches to implementing and putting into practice: common data elements, data collection SOPs, data sharing, and data transfer protocols.

Health disparities remain a persistent and pressing challenge in the United States and globally, disproportionately affecting underserved and vulnerable populations. Emerging advances in Artificial Intelligence (AI), Organ-on-a-Chip systems, and multi-Omics technologies offer transformative opportunities to better understand the biological, environmental, and social determinants of health associated with these disparities.

This workshop is designed to introduce participants to cutting-edge tools and innovative methodologies that can strengthen research capacity, enhance data-driven decision-making, and accelerate progress toward the reduction and ultimate elimination of health disparities. By bridging technology with population health research, the workshop will highlight pathways for developing more precise, equitable, and impactful interventions

Overarching Goal: To equip participants with the knowledge, skills, and practical strategies needed to effectively integrate advanced technologies into health disparities research and to foster innovative, collaborative solutions.

Specific Objectives

Highlight Transformative Technologies: Provide insights into the potential of AI and Machine Learning (AI/ML), Organ-on-a-Chip platforms, and Omics technologies in advancing health disparities research, with an emphasis on improving health outcomes for minority and underrepresented populations and promoting equitable healthcare solutions.

Address Ethical and Data Integrity Challenges: Examine ethical considerations associated with the use of AI in health disparities research, including algorithmic bias, transparency, and issues such as AI hallucination and its implications for data accuracy, reliability, and integrity.

Foster Translational and Community-Engaged Research: Discuss strategies for translating technological innovations into real-world applications, including community-engaged approaches that ensure research is culturally responsive, inclusive, and aligned with the needs of affected populations.

Clinical Trials Access Collaborative (CTAC), formerly known as EQBMED, is a non-profit organization committed to making medical research more accessible by ensuring that those who wish to participate in clinical trials have opportunities to do so. CTAC is a scalable model that connects clinical trial sponsors, healthcare institutions, community organizations, and the research ecosystem to accelerate trial participation in communities with access gaps. Improving access can ultimately advance health outcomes across generations and unlock greater economic mobility. CTAC’s overarching goal is to create a network of connected, community-based clinical care sites equipped with the tools and resources for sustainable participation in clinical research. The objectives of this workshop are to

Introduce the RCMI Consortium to CTAC, and its unparalleled ecosystem of 50+ partners, including top scientists, physicians, community leaders, former FDA leaders, and industry executives who are leading thinkers in clinical research and access.

Provide an update on CTAC’s network of connected, community-based clinical care sites equipped with the tools and resources for sustainable participation in clinical research.

Invite current RCMI CTAC sites at Morehouse School of Medicine, Meharry Medical College and Texas Southern University to share their experience

Invite participation by interested RCMI U54 Centers.

Overarching Goal: Engage Consortium-wide RCMI U54 Center Administrators to share best practices on effective research administration and research compliance. Optimize data collection for reporting and evaluation of U54 Centers.

Session Objectives

Optimize data collection for reporting and evaluation of U54 Centers

Provide fiscal and administrative sessions for program managers and research administrators of the RCMI Consortium.

Introduce participants to the key components of the BIDS cluster and highlight how they integrate with the RCMI Research Infrastructure Core (RIC) and existing RCMI U54 Centers BIDS resources.

Explain the organizational structure, core functions, and mechanisms through which the BIDS cluster will provide support to the RCMI research community.

Present concrete examples of deliverables from each BIDS cluster component to illustrate their roles and impact.

This interactive workshop provides a foundational orientation to the alignment between qualitative research design and rigorous analytic execution. Participants will engage in a guided, hands-on application of a qualitative analysis method using a public dataset to transform raw data into thematic insights. The objectives of this session are to

Explain how to align a research question with a rigorous analytic qualitative approach.

Apply iterative coding techniques to a public dataset to identify emerging patterns, categories, and core themes.

Evaluate strategies for ensuring rigor and trustworthiness in the transition from initial data immersion to the synthesis of qualitative findings.

Community Engagement: Collaborative Strategies for Impact and Evaluation

Overarching Goal: Promote and strengthen academic and community partnerships in effectively supporting clinical and translational research that addresses diseases that disproportionately affect RCMI communities, and exchange knowledge, skills, and resources.

Specific Aims/Objectives

Discuss methodologies and metrics for assessing the long-term impact of community-engaged research projects on health outcomes, knowledge dissemination, and community empowerment.

Facilitate discussion among community members and researchers to co-design community engagement strategies that reflect the values, priorities, and needs of all involved parties.

Showcase success stories and tangible outcomes, demonstrating how robust community engagement science has led to measurable improvements in community health, scientific advancement, and collaborative partnerships.