Angela Mendell, MS, CCRP; Elizabeth J. Kopras, Stephanie Schuckman, MA, CLC, IDI-QA; Laura Hildreth, MS; Jason T Blackard, PhD; Jennifer Molano, MD; John R. Kues, PhD Abstract: Clinical and translational science teams are often comprised of members from diverse disciplines that fill distinct yet complementary roles. Team science education and training is typically directed toward investigators and trainees on these teams. However, all team members would benefit from robust team science training. Expanding team science training to the entire team, including staff, could create a more cohesive team as well as a more inclusive environment. Our team has created team science and communication training specifically tailored to clinical research professionals (CRP), who are an integral part of clinical research teams. Until recently, the importance of well-trained CRPs to clinical research has been overlooked. However, very high turnover rates and recruitment and retention challenges have highlighted the value of better training, career development opportunities, and greater levels of job satisfaction among individuals in these roles. Core competencies for CRPs have been recognized for a decade (Sonstein et al, 2014). Communication and teamwork are a couple of the more critical areas of training that are essential for the roles that CRPs play in the clinical trials enterprise, but it is often given less attention than the many technical skills they must master. Team science training created with CRPs in mind can help CRPs better understand other team members, to work better in teams, and even to improve interactions with participants. This, in turn, may promote a feeling of inclusion and could encourage retention and help mitigate turnover.

John R. Kues, PhD; Angela Mendell, MS, CCRP; Laura Hildreth, MS; Stephanie Schuckman, MA, CLC, IDI-QA; Jennifer Molano, MD; Megan Johnstone, PhD; Jackie Knapke, PhD; MK Lamkin, PhD Abstract: The CCTST offers a semester-long graduate course in collaboration and team science. For the past 6 years, junior faculty, fellows, post-docs, graduate students, and K scholars have enrolled in this course to further their development as translational researchers primarily in the College of Medicine. The course is limited to 12-15 students and balances team science theory with practical application. Content closely parallels the national discussion around team science competencies and has evolved as competency-based models for team science education have been published. The 14-week course covers topics critical to collaboration within interdisciplinary teams. Students complete personal and team assessments as pre-work for these topics. Pre-work assessments are valuable educational tools that provide students with important insights into not only issues that are relevant to work teams, but also their own personal skills and preferences. We report the pre-work assessment scores (in aggregate) during class to personalize general concepts. These assessments raise the general level of engagement by students. Students report that this method provides them with insights into their own attitudes and behaviors as well as those of team members. Class exercises utilize the concepts at the foundation of these tools (and, sometimes, real data from the class) to demonstrate practical applications of the tools. These tools are usually available in the public domain and have been validated. Course evaluations underscore the value of the assessment tools in the students’ understanding and practical application of topics covered in the course. This poster will provide an overview of the graduate course and the specific tools currently being used as pre-work. It will also illustrate the links between the course topics, assessment tools, and current competencies for team science training. Space permitting, the poster will contain some course evaluation data as well as details about at least one tool and its use within the related course session.

A Community Based Approach to Understanding & Improving Adherence to CDC COVID-19 Guidelines is one of eight projects funded by the CCTST COVID-19 Critical Community Challenge Grant (C5G) Program. This program was developed to provide opportunities for investigators from the UC, CCHMC, and the Greater Cincinnati community to develop and implement proposals that would have a direct impact on COVID-19 in the Greater Cincinnati community of 14 counties in Southwest Ohio. The project is headed by co-investigators Jack Kues, PhD, and Melinda Butsch-Kovacic, PhD, and is funded by the CCTST. A brief summary of the project: Mask-wearing and social distancing are at rates less than 50% despite wide-spread requests and calls by community leaders and public health officials. It is imperative to better understand behavior and underlying motivation in order to design meaningful messaging in this area. We are conducting a broad-based community survey, as well as focus groups and personal interviews with respondents to better understand current behavior and motivation. The results of our study will serve as a foundation for developing new messaging and to help overcome current barriers to increasing mask-wearing and social distancing behavior that does not overtly challenge underlying beliefs or fears.