In last year’s NC TraCS Biostatistics Seminar Series, we held an introductory overview of power analyses and sample size. This year's Power analysis and sample size planning seminar is a continuation on the topic of statistical power that provides more, and more varied, information about sample size planning.

In this seminar, Jeff Laux, PhD, will provide a brief review of hypothesis testing and the basics of power. Emphasis will be given to different kinds of sample size estimation for different situations, the notion of effect size and how to estimate it, and some strategies to improve power. Please note: This seminar will be most helpful to those who have some knowledge of power and sample size.

The NC TraCS Biostatistics Seminar Series helps clinical and translational researchers collaborate more effectively with consulting biostatisticians by building deeper understanding of key statistical concepts and methods. Researchers then are better able to (1) evaluate relevance of the concept or method for research aim(s) definition and choice of study design; and (2) properly interpret the results of data analysis.

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Conventional, Complementary, and Integrative Pain Therapies in a Military Population With Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain: Results of a Pragmatic Clinical Trial Using SMART Design

This NIH Collaboratory Rethinking Clinical Trials Grand Rounds features:

Ardith Z. Doorenbos, PhD, RN, FAAN
Professor
Department of Biobehavioral Nursing Science
College of Nursing
University of Illinois, Chicago

Diane M. Flynn, MD, MPH, FAAFP
Primary Care Pain Management Advisor
Interdisciplinary Pain Management Center
Madigan Army Medical Center
Tacoma, WA

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This online training session will provide an introduction to qualitative research methods. Participants will have the opportunity to ask questions and share experiences conducting qualitative research.

Topics:

• Differences between quantitative and qualitative research
• Qualitative research methodologies
• Strategies for qualitative data collection
• Methods of qualitative data analysis

Presenters:
MaryBeth Grewe, MPH
Program Manager, Qualitative Research Service
Research Specialist, Patient and Community Engagement in Research (PaCER) Program
NC TraCS Institute

Simone Frank, MPH
Senior Project Manager, Patient and Community Engagement in Research (PaCER) Program
Research Specialist, Qualitative Research Service
NC TraCS Institute

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Join a live training to learn how to add a study to ResearchMatch, search for volunteers, send a contact message, and manage your enrollment continuum. The ResearchMatch team have extended their training an additional 30 minutes for “office hours.” Anyone is welcome to stop in to ask questions about their specific study on ResearchMatch. Office hours are held on the second Thursday of every month at 2 p.m. ET right after the monthly Researcher Training.

Learn more about ResearchMatch at researchmatch.org.

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The HARMONIE Trial: Re-imagining How to Design and Deliver Contract Commercial Clinical Trials

This NIH Collaboratory Rethinking Clinical Trials Grand Rounds features:

Saul N. Faust, FRCPCH, PhD
Professor
University of Southampton
Southampton, UK

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Please join us for an information session about the NC TraCS Clinical and Translational Science (CTS) Research Program and our Innovation to Impact Awards. This session will cover key details about the program and will include an overview of the funding opportunity, eligibility requirements, and the application process. Attendees will have the chance to ask questions at the end.

Presenters
Kaitlin Zalcikova, PhD
Program Manager, CTS Research Program
NC TraCS Institute

Darren DeWalt, MD, MPH
Deputy Director, Implementation and Integration
NC TraCS Institute

David Carroll, PhD
Director, Research Funding Development
NC TraCS Institute

Leah Gardner, MIS
Project Manager, CTS Research Program
NC TraCS Institute

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This 2.5-hour course will be offered via Zoom. Attendance is required as the course will not be recorded.

Quarto is a new computational document authoring system. Quarto allows you to create dynamic documents combining text, R/Python/Julia code, plots, and analysis outputs. These documents are “live”, so any changes to your data or code result in automatic updates to the results. Quarto is useful for scientific document preparation, automated report generation, and presentation preparation.

In this course, participants will learn how to use Quarto to prepare documents, reports, and presentations. Participants will embed R code in their Quarto documents; skills will be transferable to embedding Python or Julia, and no previous R experience is required.

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This 5-hour (9/17/24 and 9/19/24; 12pm – 2:30pm each day) course will be offered online only. Attendance is required – this course will not be recorded.

This course introduces students to Stata and data management. It is tailored for beginners and researchers who want to learn how to manage data more effectively. Each day, the class will demonstrate how to use the commands, followed by hands-on exercises using sample datasets.

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NC TraCS Data Science Seminar Series: Landscape of data and data groups at UNC

Peter Leese, MSPH, program director & lead scientist at the TraCS Data Science Lab, will give an overview of the datasets and data-focused groups at UNC-Chapel Hill. The goal of this seminar is to give attendees an introduction to the broad landscape of data and data-relevant groups that can be helpful or supportive in the healthcare data science space.

Seminars in the NC TraCS Data Science Seminar Series will cover a range of topics related to health care data science, clinical data, data engineering, and working in these areas at UNC-Chapel Hill. These hybrid seminars will be held on the third Tuesday of each month from 12:30-1:30 p.m. in the NC TraCS suite on the 2nd floor of Brinkhous-Bullitt or via Zoom.

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Engagement in Research 101: Introduction to Engaging Patient & Community Partners in Research

Are you interested in learning about patient and community engagement and how it can benefit your research? Excited by the idea of engaging patient, community, or other partners in your research, but unsure about where to start? Want to know more about how to engage partners at different points throughout your study?

Engaging with patient and community partners who are impacted by your research can be instrumental to the success of your study. This online training will provide an overview of engagement in research, highlighting that engagement is not "all or nothing" or "one-size-fits-all", but instead encompasses a wide variety of low touch to high touch approaches that could be right for your study.

The session will cover common myths/misconceptions about engagement in research, benefits of and key considerations for engaging patient and community partners in research, and initial steps/existing resources you can leverage to begin engaging partners in your research.

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Engaging Patient, Community, and Other Partners in Your Research is a multi-part online training series. You may register for the entire series OR any single training session.

Part 1 will focus on the basics of research engagement, providing an overview of patient and community engagement and its benefits, debunking common myths and misconceptions, and providing considerations and next steps for incorporating engagement approaches into your research.

Part 2 will cover specific engagement methods, including consultative community feedback sessions, advisory boards, and working with patient and community partners as members of a research team.

Part 3 will focus on the nuances of building and maintaining partnerships, outlining best practices for developing and strengthening mutually beneficial partnerships and discussing common partnership challenges and solutions.

This training series was developed collaboratively with patient, community, and researcher partners and is co-sponsored by the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center and NC TraCS Institute.

New Frontiers in Health Sciences Research

Please join the Department of Health Sciences Office of Research & Scholarship for their September research forum where faculty will present their research in speech sound disorders, lower extremity injuries in military populations and autism.

The hybrid forum will take place in person (MacNider 321, LUNCH provided) and via Zoom. Please register to attend.

Questions? Contact the Department of Health Sciences Office of Research & Scholarship at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

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UNC NRP September Education Session: Navigating Clinical Spaces and Responding to Emergencies in Clinical Research

In this NRP Education session, you'll hear from experienced research staff who regularly encounter clinical areas. They will share valuable insights on how to effectively navigate your research in these environments, including emergency response protocols and proper etiquette when sharing these spaces. Even if you work with healthy volunteers, or outside a clinical environment, you will still find the presentation informative so you are prepared for those unexpected scenarios you may encounter in human subjects research.

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This interactive online workshop will focus on semi-structured interviewing, a data collection method used in qualitative research. Participants will have the opportunity to practice developing interview questions and using interviewing skills.

Topics:

• Basics of semi-structured interviews
• Development of interview questions and probes
• Interviewing skills
• Considerations for conducting virtual interviews.

Presenters:
MaryBeth Grewe, MPH
Program Manager, Qualitative Research Service
Research Specialist, Patient and Community Engagement in Research (PaCER) Program
NC TraCS Institute

Simone Frank, MPH
Senior Project Manager, Patient and Community Engagement in Research (PaCER) Program
Research Specialist, Qualitative Research Service
NC TraCS Institute

Register

This 5-hour (9/17/24 and 9/19/24; 12pm – 2:30pm each day) course will be offered online only. Attendance is required – this course will not be recorded.

This course introduces students to Stata and data management. It is tailored for beginners and researchers who want to learn how to manage data more effectively. Each day, the class will demonstrate how to use the commands, followed by hands-on exercises using sample datasets.

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Similarities and Differences Between Pragmatic Trials and Hybrid Effectiveness-Implementation Trials

This NIH Collaboratory Rethinking Clinical Trials Grand Rounds features:

John Fortney, PhD
Professor
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
University of Washington
Senior Research Career Scientist
HSR Center of Innovation for Veteran-Centered and Value-Driven Care
VA Puget Sound Health Care System

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Engagement in Research Nuts & Bolts: Specific Approaches for Engaging Patient & Community Partners in Research

There is no "one-size-fits-all" approach to engaging patient, community, or other partners in your research. Rather, there are a variety of engagement methods to suit your study's needs, your research team's capacity, and your partners' interests.

This online training will describe three common approaches for working with patient, community, and other partners in your research: 1) consultative community feedback sessions; 2) advisory boards; and 3) sustained collaboration with partners as members of the research team.

The session will cover considerations for choosing these specific engagement methods, as well as concrete processes and steps for implementing each approach. Participation in our Engagement in Research 101 training is not required to attend this session; however, some knowledge of engagement, whether from prior training(s) or personal experience, may foster deeper understanding of the material in this session.

Register

Engaging Patient, Community, and Other Partners in Your Research is a multi-part online training series. You may register for the entire series OR any single training session.

Part 1 will focus on the basics of research engagement, providing an overview of patient and community engagement and its benefits, debunking common myths and misconceptions, and providing considerations and next steps for incorporating engagement approaches into your research.

Part 2 will cover specific engagement methods, including consultative community feedback sessions, advisory boards, and working with patient and community partners as members of a research team.

Part 3 will focus on the nuances of building and maintaining partnerships, outlining best practices for developing and strengthening mutually beneficial partnerships and discussing common partnership challenges and solutions.

This training series was developed collaboratively with patient, community, and researcher partners and is co-sponsored by the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center and NC TraCS Institute.

Join the School of Data Science & Society for their second annual Data Science Day. This year’s theme is Data Science for Science and Society. They invite the Carolina community to showcase their work and the transformative impact of data science on scientific endeavors and societal well-being. This campus-wide conference aims to foster cross-disciplinary collaborations within and across theoretical advances and real-world applications.

The event is free, but registration is required. Please register for the event which will be held at the Carolina Union. All Carolina faculty, staff, and students are invited to attend a portion of the event or the whole day.

For more information and the day's agenda, visit datascience.unc.edu.

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This interactive online workshop will provide an introduction to focus groups, a data collection method used in qualitative research. Attendees will also observe or participate in a mini "mock" virtual focus group session.

Topics:

• Focus group methodology
• Considerations for planning a focus group
• Development of focus group discussion guides
• Focus group facilitation skills
• Tips for conducting virtual focus groups

Presenters:
MaryBeth Grewe, MPH
Program Manager, Qualitative Research Service
Research Specialist, Patient and Community Engagement in Research (PaCER) Program
NC TraCS Institute

Simone Frank, MPH
Senior Project Manager, Patient and Community Engagement in Research (PaCER) Program
Research Specialist, Qualitative Research Service
NC TraCS Institute

Register

Azithromycin for Childhood Mortality: Randomizing Entire Countries

This NIH Collaboratory Rethinking Clinical Trials Grand Rounds features:

Tom Lietman, MD
Director, Francis I. Proctor Foundation
University of California, San Francisco

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This course will take place over three mornings (9/30/24, 10/2/24, and 10/4/24), 2.5 hours per morning, and will be offered via Zoom. Attendance is required as the course will not be recorded.

This course introduces participants to constructivist grounded theory (CGT). Grounded theory (GT) methods consist of flexible guidelines to fit particular research problems, not to apply mechanically. With these guidelines, you expedite and systematize data collection and analysis. GT methods can assist researchers in making their work more analytic, precise, and compelling.

In this course, following an exploration of the history and development of GT, we examine GT basic guidelines and major strategies, including initial line-by-line and focused coding, the use of gerunds, memoing, diagramming, theoretical sampling, and categorising. Throughout the sessions, there is an emphasis on CGT’s epistemological foundation and resultant adaptations to the research process, including regarding the literature review, researcher positionality/ies and reflexivity, and participant involvement.

The course will include a number of hands-on exercises to exemplify, and give participants an opportunity to practice, the strategies being discussed. For the coding exercise, you may bring and use some of your own qualitative data, or if you do not have data yet, some will be supplied. Clear guidelines and support are provided to course participants with regard to all aspects of CGT.

The sessions will utilise CGT readings and resources from Kathy Charmaz, Robert Thornberg, Adele Clarke, and course instructor, and will draw on the extensive scholarship of Barney Glaser and Anselm Strauss. A pack of materials will be shared with participants in advance of the course. This course will be of interest to those doing full CGT studies but also to those who may be interested in learning about and potentially using some of the powerful GT strategies (such as coding) in studies with a different overall methodological approach.

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