Introduction to focus groups (online)

This course will be offered over two days (1/30 and 2/1 from 10am – 2pm US Eastern) via Zoom only. Attendance is required as the course will not be recorded.

Course Summary:

Focus groups are commonly used to capture rich information about attitudes and beliefs. This class will prepare prospective students to organize and moderate focus groups. Students will learn the most appropriate uses of focus groups, how to segment and recruit audiences, how to develop a moderator’s guide, and how to moderate focus groups. The class will be supplemented with real-life examples and hands-on exercises.

Instructor: Peyton Williams, MPH

Peyton Williams, MPH, is a research associate at RTI International in the Center for Communication Science. He has over 15 years’ experience as a focus group moderator, and is involved with all facets of qualitative data collection from moderator guide and screener generation, to conducting groups, and analyzing and reporting on findings. He has conducted focus groups with an array of audiences, such as physicians, youth, and vulnerable populations, and around a variety of topics including HIV, opioids, and nutrition. Clients he has worked for include the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and state health departments.

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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
Engagement and Qualitative Research Specialist
NC TraCS Institute
Simone Frank, MPH
Community Engagement and Outreach Specialist
NC TraCS Institute

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This course will be offered over three mornings (2/6, 2/8, and 2/10), 2.5 hours per morning, via Zoom. Attendance is required as the course will not be recorded.

Course Summary:
This course will expand upon the Introduction to Python course from Fall 2022. It will include more hands-on activities and with a greater focus on tabular data analysis, machine learning, and general-purpose Python skills.

Instructor: Matthew Wigginton Bhagat-Conway, PhD
Matthew Wigginton Bhagat-Conway, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of City and Regional Planning and a consultant in the Odum Institute for Research in Social Science. His research interests are in travel behavior, urban transportation, and statistical methods for transportation data analysis. He is available to assist researchers with statistics and data analysis.

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This course will be offered over three afternoons (2/6, 2/8, and 2/10), 2.5 hours per afternoon, via Zoom. Attendance is required as the course will not be recorded.

Course Summary:
Natural Language Processing (NLP) is the art and science of extracting insights from large amounts of text. The course topics will help students add NLP methods to their research, and data science toolset. As a technical course with some machine learning elements, limited exposure to programming, and graduate-level statistics is needed but the vast majority of the course content will be focused on applications and examples. Students will learn how to implement a variety of popular text mining methods in R (a free and open-source software) to organize, and process text aimed at identifying insights, extracting frequent terms and assessing sentiment analysis.

Instructor: Ted Kwartler
Ted Kwartler is the Field CTO at DataRobot. Ted sets product strategy for explainable and ethical uses of data technology. Ted brings unique insights and experience utilizing data, business acumen and ethics to his current and previous positions at Liberty Mutual Insurance and Amazon. In addition to having 4 DataCamp courses, he teaches graduate courses at the Harvard Extension School and is the author of “Text Mining in Practice with R.” Ted is an advisor to the US Government Bureau of Economic Affairs, sitting on a Congressionally mandated committee called the “Advisory Committee for Data for Evidence Building” advocating for data-driven policies.

Register

This course will be offered over three mornings (2/6, 2/8, and 2/10), 2.5 hours per morning, via Zoom. Attendance is required as the course will not be recorded.

Course Summary:
This course will expand upon the Introduction to Python course from Fall 2022. It will include more hands-on activities and with a greater focus on tabular data analysis, machine learning, and general-purpose Python skills.

Instructor: Matthew Wigginton Bhagat-Conway, PhD
Matthew Wigginton Bhagat-Conway, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of City and Regional Planning and a consultant in the Odum Institute for Research in Social Science. His research interests are in travel behavior, urban transportation, and statistical methods for transportation data analysis. He is available to assist researchers with statistics and data analysis.

Register

This course will be offered over three afternoons (2/6, 2/8, and 2/10), 2.5 hours per afternoon, via Zoom. Attendance is required as the course will not be recorded.

Course Summary:
Natural Language Processing (NLP) is the art and science of extracting insights from large amounts of text. The course topics will help students add NLP methods to their research, and data science toolset. As a technical course with some machine learning elements, limited exposure to programming, and graduate-level statistics is needed but the vast majority of the course content will be focused on applications and examples. Students will learn how to implement a variety of popular text mining methods in R (a free and open-source software) to organize, and process text aimed at identifying insights, extracting frequent terms and assessing sentiment analysis.

Instructor: Ted Kwartler
Ted Kwartler is the Field CTO at DataRobot. Ted sets product strategy for explainable and ethical uses of data technology. Ted brings unique insights and experience utilizing data, business acumen and ethics to his current and previous positions at Liberty Mutual Insurance and Amazon. In addition to having 4 DataCamp courses, he teaches graduate courses at the Harvard Extension School and is the author of “Text Mining in Practice with R.” Ted is an advisor to the US Government Bureau of Economic Affairs, sitting on a Congressionally mandated committee called the “Advisory Committee for Data for Evidence Building” advocating for data-driven policies.

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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
Engagement and Qualitative Research Specialist
NC TraCS Institute
Simone Frank, MPH
Community Engagement and Outreach Specialist
NC TraCS Institute

Register

This course will be offered over three mornings (2/6, 2/8, and 2/10), 2.5 hours per morning, via Zoom. Attendance is required as the course will not be recorded.

Course Summary:
This course will expand upon the Introduction to Python course from Fall 2022. It will include more hands-on activities and with a greater focus on tabular data analysis, machine learning, and general-purpose Python skills.

Instructor: Matthew Wigginton Bhagat-Conway, PhD
Matthew Wigginton Bhagat-Conway, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of City and Regional Planning and a consultant in the Odum Institute for Research in Social Science. His research interests are in travel behavior, urban transportation, and statistical methods for transportation data analysis. He is available to assist researchers with statistics and data analysis.

Register

This course will be offered over three afternoons (2/6, 2/8, and 2/10), 2.5 hours per afternoon, via Zoom. Attendance is required as the course will not be recorded.

Course Summary:
Natural Language Processing (NLP) is the art and science of extracting insights from large amounts of text. The course topics will help students add NLP methods to their research, and data science toolset. As a technical course with some machine learning elements, limited exposure to programming, and graduate-level statistics is needed but the vast majority of the course content will be focused on applications and examples. Students will learn how to implement a variety of popular text mining methods in R (a free and open-source software) to organize, and process text aimed at identifying insights, extracting frequent terms and assessing sentiment analysis.

Instructor: Ted Kwartler
Ted Kwartler is the Field CTO at DataRobot. Ted sets product strategy for explainable and ethical uses of data technology. Ted brings unique insights and experience utilizing data, business acumen and ethics to his current and previous positions at Liberty Mutual Insurance and Amazon. In addition to having 4 DataCamp courses, he teaches graduate courses at the Harvard Extension School and is the author of “Text Mining in Practice with R.” Ted is an advisor to the US Government Bureau of Economic Affairs, sitting on a Congressionally mandated committee called the “Advisory Committee for Data for Evidence Building” advocating for data-driven policies.

Register

Best Practices for the Preparation, Submission, and Maintenance of Sponsor-Investigator Investigational New Drugs (INDs)

The Duke University School of Medicine Office of Regulatory Affairs and Quality is conducting an IND Workshop.

This workshop will:

• Define an investigational drug, including off-label use of FDA approved drugs
• Provide guidance on determining when the IND regulations apply to research studies
• Discuss the preparation and submission of IND applications to FDA
• Review maintenance and safety reporting requirements
• Encourage participant discussion of case scenarios

Speakers: Rose Beci and Andrea Burns

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NC TraCS Regulatory Support is available to provide guidance and assistance with IND and IDE submissions and understanding the regulatory requirements for Federally-regulated studies. UNC Investigators and study teams with questions about regulatory submissions and pathways can submit a request to speak with an expert.

See also: IDE workshop February 17

Informing and Consenting: What Are the Goals?

This NIH Collaboratory Rethinking Clinical Trials Grand Rounds features:

P. Pearl O’Rourke, MD (retired)
Harvard Medical School

David S. Wendler, PhD, MA
Senior Researcher
Head, Section on Research Ethics
Department of Bioethics
NIH Clinical Center

Miguel Vazquez, MD
Professor of Internal Medicine
UT Southwestern Medical Center

P. Michael Ho, MD, PhD
Professor of Medicine
University of Colorado School of Medicine

Learn More

This one-day course will be offered via Zoom. Attendance is required as the course will not be recorded. The workshop begins at 9:00 a.m. and will conclude at 3:00 p.m., with a lunch break.

Course Summary:
This course provides training on evaluating public services and programs. At the end of the course, participants will understand and be able to describe program evaluation, and how it can help you understand the basics of assessing program impact. In addition, participants will be able to identify a variety of program evaluation tools, map out a basic evaluation plan that could be used in their office, and understand how to effectively present evaluation results. At the end of the course, participants will understand and be able to describe what program evaluation is, how it focuses on success understood as outcomes, short-term and long-term impact. Throughout the workshop, we will be referring to your own situation and you will be asked to apply the ideas to the program, policy, or process that you want to evaluate in your own organization. The goal of the workshop is to let you leave with a solid ‘takeaway’ of how to start your evaluation planning.

No prior experience is necessary. This course will not teach specific statistical or qualitative methods, but how to best determine which might be the best for measuring success as you have defined it.

Instructor: Maureen Berner
Maureen Berner first joined the School of Government in 1998. She teaches evaluation and analysis courses for MPA students and provides similar training and advising to state and local government officials throughout North Carolina. Her personal research focuses on the ability of local organizations to address food insecurity, poverty, and income inequality. She has worked with nonprofits, food banks, local governments, and state agencies. Berner was a 2014–2016 UNC Thorp Engaged Faculty Fellow, a Visiting Scholar with the University of Ghent in Belgium in the fall of 2017, and recipient of numerous academic awards. She began her career as an Evaluator for the U.S. Government Accountability Office, serving as a Presidential Management Fellow. She has conducted major evaluations for the Federal government, statewide agencies, non-profits and foundations over the past 30 years. She earned a PhD in public policy from the LBJ School of Public Affairs, the University of Texas at Austin; an MPP from Georgetown University; and a BA in global studies from the University of Iowa.

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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
Engagement and Qualitative Research Specialist
NC TraCS Institute
Simone Frank, MPH
Community Engagement and Outreach Specialist
NC TraCS Institute

Register

This one-day course will be offered via Zoom only. Attendance is required as it will not be recorded. Course schedule will be 9:00am – 4:00pm, with a 1-hour lunch and (3) 10-minute breaks.

There is a substantial gap between the development of innovations in medicine, public health, education, and other fields and their delivery in hospitals, communities, and schools. Implementation science is an emerging field that is dedicated to the study of closing this gap by scientifically identifying the factors that facilitate and impede the systematic uptake of knowledge and evidence. It includes the study of how individual, organizational and environmental behavior impact implementation effectiveness, and how to develop and test strategies to change these behaviors. This course will provide an overview of the core theories and methods in implementation research and practice. Students will have opportunities to apply these principles through a case study.

Learning Objectives:
- Define implementation science
- Describe how implementation science connects to allied fields such as quality improvement and design thinking
- Define implementation outcomes are how they are connected to and different from health outcomes
- Describe key implementation models, theories, and frameworks, their application in various settings, and how they can be used to guide implementation efforts
- Identify individual, organizational, and systems-level determinants affecting the quality of implementation
- Understand how to develop effective strategies for sustainable and scalable implementation
- Describe the most common research designs and evaluation approaches in implementation science

Instructor: Rohit Ramaswamy, PhD, MPH
Rohit Ramaswamy, PhD, MPH, is a Professor of Pediatrics at the James M. Anderson Center for Health Systems Excellence. Prior to joining Cincinnati Children’s, he was the Associate Director of the Public Health Leadership Program and a Professor in Maternal and Child Health at the Gillings School of Global Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Ramaswamy’s area of expertise is in Implementation and Improvement science, which deals with the development and evaluation of systematic methods and tools to sustainably implement and improve complex interventions. His work blends the tools of systems science, design thinking, implementation science and continuous quality improvement to build capacity for implementation. His global projects include the improvement of clinical and operational processes in tertiary maternity hospitals in Ghana, integrating mental health service delivery into the district primary health care system in India. He has developed and taught Implementation Science programs in South Africa and in Zambia. In the US, he has led the development of innovative methods to evaluate complex community transformation initiatives.

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Best Practices for the Preparation, Submission, and Maintenance of Sponsor-Investigator Investigational Device Exemptions (IDEs)

The Duke University School of Medicine Office of Regulatory Affairs and Quality is conducting an IDE Workshop.

This workshop will:

• Discuss FDA’s approach to regulation of devices in clinical studies and for marketing
• Provide guidance on when the IDE regulations apply and discuss possible exemptions
• Review significant risk and non-significant risk device studies
• Discuss the preparation, submission, and maintenance of IDE applications
• Encourage participant discussion of case scenarios

Speakers: Kylie Opel, JD and David Jensen, PhD, RAC

Register

NC TraCS Regulatory Support is available to provide guidance and assistance with IND and IDE submissions and understanding the regulatory requirements for Federally-regulated studies. UNC Investigators and study teams with questions about regulatory submissions and pathways can submit a request to speak with an expert.

See also: IND workshop February 10

The Heartline Trial: A New Paradigm in Conducting Virtual Clinical Trials

This NIH Collaboratory Rethinking Clinical Trials Grand Rounds features:

Michael Gibson, MS, MD
Professor of Medicine, Harvard
Interventional Cardiologist, BI Lahey
CEO & President, Baim Institute for Clinical Research & PERFUSE Study Group

Learn More

This course will be offered via Zoom only and will not be recorded. This is a 3 hour course. This course is only open to the UNC Chapel Hill community as you must have a UNC Qualtrics account to take this course.

Qualtrics is a powerful browser-based web-survey tool that the Odum Institute survey research team brought to campus in 2006. It is available to all UNC Chapel Hill faculty, staff, and students, for UNC-related projects. Qualtrics allows users to build complex surveys, distribute them, and analyze the responses all from one place. In this course, we will cover basic Qualtrics functions including creating multiple choice and text entry questions, programming display and skip logic, distributing surveys, creating and uploading contact lists, and sharing a survey. This is an introductory course and will not cover use of the online analysis tools within Qualtrics.

Instructor: Michelle Temple
With over 5 years of experience with Qualtrics, Michelle has worked with the Odum Institute in varying capacities since 2003. She is a UNC alum receiving her B.A. in Sociology. While working toward her degree, she was hired as a telephone interviewer at the Odum Institute and was later promoted to call center manager before accepting a full-time role as Program Administrator, Project Manager, and Consultant. During her time at Odum, she was involved in the initial creation of the administrative infrastructure and managed operational aspects of the Certificate Program in Survey Methodology (currently known as the Certificate in Survey Science). As a project manager, she applied social science research methods to manage data collection projects including telephone, mail, in-person, web surveys, and focus groups. Additionally, she has offered consultation services for questionnaire design, question writing, and Qualtrics programming. Currently, Michelle is focusing her time supporting Qualtrics-related needs across campus and is available to provide consultation and support with technical software questions, and programming services.

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This online training will provide an introduction to qualitative data analysis, focusing on content/thematic analysis. The session will cover the basics of qualitative data analysis and steps in the analysis process, including: transcribing, memoing, codebook development and coding, exploring content areas or themes, and interpreting and communicating findings. Participants will have the opportunity to practice developing and applying codes.

Please note: We will not be demonstrating how to use qualitative data analysis software during this session.

Presenters:

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This annual worldwide event was set up and is coordinated by EURORDIS and 65+ national alliance patient organization partners. It provides an energy and focal point to raise awareness among policymakers and the public about rare diseases and their impact on patients' lives.

Since 2011, NCATS and the NIH Clinical Center have sponsored Rare Disease Day at NIH as part of this global observance. Rare Disease Day at NIH aims to raise awareness about rare diseases, the people they affect, and NIH collaborations that address scientific challenges and advance research for new treatments.

The goals of Rare Disease Day at NIH are to:

• Demonstrate the NIH commitment to helping people with rare diseases through research.
• Highlight NIH-supported rare diseases research and the development of diagnostics and treatments.
• Initiate a mutually beneficial dialogue among the rare diseases community.
• Exchange the latest rare diseases information with stakeholders to advance research and therapeutic efforts.
• Shine a spotlight on stories told by people living with a rare disease, their families and their communities.
• Bring together a broad audience including patients, patient advocates, caregivers, health care providers, researchers, trainees, students, industry representatives, and government staff.

Rare Disease Day at NIH will be held in person at NIH Main Campus (Natcher Conference Center) and virtually via NIH VideoCast with the event archived for replay afterward. The agenda features panel discussions, rare diseases stories, exhibitors and scientific posters. The event is free and open to the public.

register

For more info, visit ncats.nih.gov/news/events/rdd.