Join a live training session for the N3C Data Enclave. Users of all types can learn how to navigate the N3C, utilize the Enclave and resources it provides, and learn how to better achieve their analytical goals. This orientation is split into 2 sessions – Session A and Session B. These orientations are ongoing and will alternate week by week. Session A is recommended before attending Session B

Session B is for analysts, statisticians, data scientists, or anyone who wants to gain a broader understanding of the tools needed to work with the data.

Topics include:

• Focus on technical aspects of working with data in the secure N3C Enclave, including use of OMOP concept sets and N3C-specific tooling, such as the Concept Set Browser.
• Introduce commonly used analysis tools, such as Contour and Code Workbooks and corresponding workflows for simple analyses.
• Introduce the Enclave Knowledge Store, a mechanism for sharing and using community-developed code and data across projects.

Note: This orientation is held alternating Tuesdays | 8-9:30am PT/11am-12:30pm ET

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As researchers, we are trained to evaluate a study and protocol for scientific value, feasibility of execution, and risk/benefit ratio.  However, when it comes to recruitment, we must view our study through the lens of a potential participant.  Why should they care about this study? What have you done to make it easy for them to participate, and why should they take time out of their day? These "sales" skills are also critically valuable in the development and design of future protocols.  It will always be easier to recruit for a study that has taken the motivations and abilities of its target population into consideration. 

Join the NC TraCS Research Recruitment and Retention Program to learn how to critically evaluate your study from the perspective of the individuals you'll be approaching.  Identify the facilitators, barriers, gains, and pains that might influence someone's willingness to join your study - then, learn how to highlight your strengths when pitching the study to a potential participant.

Recruitment Series Sessions

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The NC TraCS Recruitment and Retention Program is a 4-part recruitment series culminating in a hands-on material design workshop. In this series, you will learn how to effectively pitch your study, communicate your study to a broad audience, and create eye-catching recruitment materials.

This course will be offered via Zoom only. However, this course will not be recorded.

Structural equation modeling (SEM) is a general statistical method that can be employed to test theoretically derived models. In this introductory short course, we cover the fundamental concepts and skills to conduct SEM using R/lavaan and Mplus. Specifically, we will use real data with a step-by-step implementation in R/lavaan and mplus:

1. to conduct confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to evaluate measurement validity,
2. to conduct structural equation modeling with latent variables to test/confirm a theoretically derived model,
3. to understand statistical indices measuring the goodness-of-fit of a model.

Instructor Bio:
Professor Din Chen is the Wallace H. Kuralt Distinguished Professor at the School of Social Work and a professor in biostatistics, Department of Biostatistics, Gillings School of Global Public Health. He has been teaching a graduate-level SEM class at the School of Social Work since 2015. Professor Chen is an elected fellow of the American Statistical Association, an elected member of the International Statistical Institute, and a fellow of the Society of Social Work and Research. He has written more than 200 refereed publications and has co-authored/co-edited 33 books on statistics and biostatistics.

Registration fees

• $20 deposit required to hold your spot (deposit is refundable upon your attendance for at least 66% of the course)

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This class will be offered via Zoom ONLY. Registration closes at 12:01am on 9/19/2021.

NCBiotech and FastTraCS are collaborating with health systems across North Carolina to provide a foundation for clinician innovation. This two-day virtual event puts an emphasis on action, connecting attendees with the people, insights, and strategies needed to systematically tackle the innovation process from ideation through execution.

Questions to be addressed include:

• How do I identify significant unmet needs in health care?
• How do I translate a concept into a new product?
• How do I implement, integrate, and commercialize new technology?
• What funding mechanisms and other resources are available to support my innovation endeavors?
• Should I start a company around my new technology?

This event is perfect for health care providers including physicians, nurses, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, allied health professionals (e.g., physical therapy, respiratory therapy), EMTs and paramedics.

If you're interested in dipping your toe in the world of health care innovation or have a solution you'd like to develop yet are unsure of next steps, we encourage you to join us and hope you will leave inspired with a clearer picture of how to accelerate your future innovations.

Date: September 23-24, 2021
Time: 11:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.
Cost: $25

View the agenda and learn more at ncbiotech.org/events.

While Big Data offers a potentially less expensive, less burdensome, and more timely alternative to survey data for producing a variety of statistics, it is not without error. But, the construction of, access to, and overall data structure of Big Data make it difficult to know where to start looking for errors and even more difficult to account or correct for them.

In this course, we will walk through the Total Error Framework, an extension of the Total Survey Error framework, which can be applied to all types of Big Data and can serve as a template for researchers to investigate error in Big Data. We will walk through several examples of error and map it onto the framework and provide exercises for participants to come up with their own examples.

Finally, we will walk through some best practices in determining whether the use of Big Data is a ‘good’ choice for various research objectives, how to correct or avoid errors in Big Data, and documenting the strengths and weaknesses of your Big Data source.

Instructor: Ashley Amaya

Dr. Ashley Amaya is a Senior Survey Methodologist at the Pew Research Center. She has a PhD in survey methodology from the Joint Program in Survey Methodology at the University of Maryland. Dr. Amaya has published several articles and book chapters on the Total Survey Error Framework, it’s adaptation to Big Data, and the synthesis of survey and Big Data.
 
Registration Fees:
This is part of the RTI/Odum series of short courses. There are no registration fees associated with this course, but registration is required to secure your spot.

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Additional course information:

• This class will be offered via Zoom ONLY. Registration closes at 12:01am, September 21, 2021. Once registration closes, no late registrations will be accepted, no exceptions.
• Zoom link for this course will be sent prior to the course. Registration must be made at least 3 days prior to the course date to receive the Zoom link.

UNC Health and the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research are hosting a virtual seminar on properly advancing health equity. This speaker series will mainly go over five key strategies for health care researchers to consider. 

Registration is required to attend this event. This session will also be recorded and distributed to all who registered.  

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Presenters: 
Angela R. Bryant, JD
Senior Consultant, VISIONS Inc.
She is a co-founder of VISIONS Inc. (www.visions-inc.org) a non-profit educational organizational that has provided diversity and inclusion services to over 100,000 individuals and 600 organizations since 1984. She has extensive experience consulting with and training individuals and organizations in applying principles of justice to interpersonal problem-solving and organizational development. She is also the co-founder of VISIONS’ award winning community development project – The Wright’s Center – providing adult day health care services to elders and disabled adults for over 30 years. She has been involved with Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR) for over 15 years as a community consultant with Project Grace and UNC School of Public Health on HIV and CVD prevention in Nash and Edgecombe Counties. She recently co-founded the Nash-Edgecombe Black Community Vaccine Equity Collaborative and serves on the Advisory Boards for the UNC Office of Health Equity and the Covid Vaccine Equity Reimagined for NC (COVER NC). She has consulted for several years with the UNC Center for Health Equity Research and the RWJF Clinical Scholars Leadership Program.

Crystal Cené, MD, MPH, FAHA
System Executive Director for Health Equity (UNC Health); Associate Professor of Medicine (UNC SOM – General Medicine & Clinical Epidemiology); Deputy Director of Research (Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research); Director of the Program in Health Disparities Research (PriHD)
Dr. Cené is an accomplished, nationally, and internationally recognized health services and health disparities researcher. Her work has focused on the contribution of social determinants of risk and outcomes - particularly race, ethnicity, and social networks - to health. Her observational research has been conducted in populations with or at risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD), including older women. Trained in implementation science, her research focuses on implementing and evaluating interventions to enhance patient- and family-centered care and interventions to reduce disparities in care and outcomes by race and socio-economic status. Her research draws on social science theories and methods (e.g., social network analysis) and uses stakeholder engagement as both an object of study and a methodological tool.

NCBiotech and FastTraCS are collaborating with health systems across North Carolina to provide a foundation for clinician innovation. This two-day virtual event puts an emphasis on action, connecting attendees with the people, insights, and strategies needed to systematically tackle the innovation process from ideation through execution.

Questions to be addressed include:

• How do I identify significant unmet needs in health care?
• How do I translate a concept into a new product?
• How do I implement, integrate, and commercialize new technology?
• What funding mechanisms and other resources are available to support my innovation endeavors?
• Should I start a company around my new technology?

This event is perfect for health care providers including physicians, nurses, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, allied health professionals (e.g., physical therapy, respiratory therapy), EMTs and paramedics.

If you're interested in dipping your toe in the world of health care innovation or have a solution you'd like to develop yet are unsure of next steps, we encourage you to join us and hope you will leave inspired with a clearer picture of how to accelerate your future innovations.

Date: September 23-24, 2021
Time: 11:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.
Cost: $25

View the agenda and learn more at ncbiotech.org/events.

Registration is open for the 2021-2022 TraCS Professional Development Seminar series. This seminar series is aimed at research professionals, graduate students, postdocs and early stage faculty researchers. In this series, we cover foundational skills useful for career development in clinical/translational research.

The TraCS Professional Development Seminar series is split into 4 modules: Finding Funding, Communication Skills, Mentor-Mentee Training, and Rigor and Reproducibility.

Finding Funding

Through the UNC Event Registration system, you will be able to select which sessions you would like to attend. Please note: the Zoom link that you receive upon registration will work for all sessions within the Finding Funding module. Each session will be held in-person and/or via Zoom on Fridays.

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