Mobilizing Patient and Public Involvement in the Development of Real-World Digital Technology Solutions: Tutorial

Although the value of patient and public involvement and engagement (PPIE) activities in the development of new interventions and tools is well known, little guidance exists on how to perform these activities in a meaningful way. This is particularly true within large research consortia that target multiple objectives, include multiple patient groups, and work across many countries. Without clear guidance, there is a risk that PPIE may not capture patient opinions and needs correctly, thereby reducing the usefulness and effectiveness of new tools. Mobilise-D is an example of a large research consortium that aims to develop new digital outcome measures for real-world walking in 4 patient cohorts. Mobility is an important indicator of physical health. As such, there is potential clinical value in being able to accurately measure a person's mobility in their daily life environment to help researchers and clinicians better track changes and patterns in a person's daily life and activities. To achieve this, there is a need to create new ways of measuring walking. Recent advancements in digital technology help researchers meet this need. However, before any new measure can be used, researchers, health care professionals, and regulators need to know that the digital method is accurate and both accepted by and produces meaningful outcomes for patients and clinicians. Therefore, this paper outlines how PPIE structures were developed in the Mobilise-D consortium, providing details about the steps taken to implement PPIE, the experiences PPIE contributors had within this process, the lessons learned from the experiences, and recommendations for others who may want to do similar work in the future. The work outlined in this paper provided the Mobilise-D consortium with a foundation from which future PPIE tasks can be created and managed with clearly defined collaboration between researchers and patient representatives across Europe. This paper provides guidance on the work required to set up PPIE structures within a large consortium to promote and support the creation of meaningful and efficient PPIE related to the development of digital mobility outcomes.

A Program Evaluation of a Dietary Sodium Reduction Research Consortium of Five Low- and Middle-Income Countries in Latin America

Excess dietary sodium is a global public health priority, particularly in low- and middle-income countries where rates of hypertension and cardiovascular disease are high. The International Development Research Centre funded a research consortium of five Latin American countries (LAC) to inform public health policy for dietary sodium reduction (2016-2020). The objective of this study was to determine the outcomes of this funding on short-term (e.g., research, capacity building) and intermediary outcomes (e.g., policies). A summative program evaluation was conducted, using a logic model and multiple data sources including document review, surveys and interviews. Researchers from Argentina, Costa Rica, Brazil, Peru and Paraguay produced a significant amount of scientific evidence to guide decision making on sodium policy related to its content in foods, consumer behaviors (social marketing), and the health and economic benefits of dietary reduction. A substantive number of knowledge translation products were produced. The funding enabled training opportunities for researchers who developed skills that can be scaled-up to other critical nutrients and health issues. It was unexpected that intermediary policy changes would occur, however several countries demonstrated early policy improvements derived from this research. A funded research consortium of LAC is a practical approach to invoke policy innovations.

Consortium for the study of chronic pancreatitis, diabetes, and pancreatic cancer: achievements and future directions

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

To answer several important clinical questions, the Consortium for the study of Chronic Pancreatitis, Diabetes, and Pancreatic Cancer (CPDPC) research consortium has established several ongoing clinical cohort studies focused on pancreatitis in adults and children, pancreatic cancer, and diabetes associated with pancreatic disease. These will provide a unique resource for clinical and basic science research into these hard-to-treat diseases.

RECENT FINDINGS

The cause, natural history, and prognosis of acute relapsing and chronic pancreatitis in adults and children are being delineated. The mechanisms of diabetes associated with chronic pancreatitis, acute pancreatitis, and pancreatic cancer are being defined. The ability to predict the presence of early-stage pancreatic cancer, thought the presence of new-onset diabetes, is being explored as a strategy to improve survival. The CPDPC is now also turning to developing clinically useful biomarkers, and initiating clinical trials in these difficult to treat pancreatic diseases.

SUMMARY

These large prospective patient cohorts, established and followed up by the CPDPC, provide a unique resource to improve the care of patients of all ages with pancreatitis, and to allow earlier diagnosis of pancreatic cancer.

When more data means better results: Abundance and scarcity in research collaborations in epigenetics

Drawing upon ethnographic findings from an epigenetics research laboratory in the United Kingdom, this paper explores practices of research collaborations in the field of epigenetics, and epigenomics research consortia in particular. I demonstrate that research consortia are key scientific infrastructures that enable the aggregation of masses of data deemed necessary for the production of results and the fostering of epistemic value. Building on STS scholarship on value production, and the concept of asset, I show that the production of valuable research within epigenomics research consortia rests on the active organisation and management of abundance and scarcity. It involves shaping and standardising the masses of data gathered in consortia, while it also entails research teams enclosing their data within their laboratories' walls. As they do so, research teams construct data into scarce and monopolised assets, which they can put to productive use in collaborative endeavours against a revenue. In addition to contributing empirical and critical insights into the ways epigenetics knowledge is formed and negotiated in specific research contexts, this paper offers conceptual tools to examine and problematise knowledge production practices in data-intensive research more broadly. In particular, it points out that while contemporary big biology is marked by the generalised imperative to 'share' data and 'open' science, collaborative endeavours within research consortia are built around forms of exclusions.

It takes a community: a landscape analysis of global health research consortia

BACKGROUND

The increased recognition of the core role of effective primary healthcare has identified large gaps in the knowledge of components of high-quality primary healthcare systems and the need for resources positioned to better understand them. Research consortia are an effective approach to generate evidence needed to address knowledge and evidence gaps and accelerate change. However, the optimal design of consortia and guidance on design decisions is not well studied. We report on a landscape analysis to understand global health research consortium models and major design decisions that inform model choice.

METHODS

We conducted a landscape analysis to identify health-related research consortia typologies and explore decision processes leading to their design and implementation. We identified and reviewed 195 research consortia, extracted data on organisation, characteristics and operations for 115 and conducted 14 key informant interviews representing 13 consortia. We analysed interviews using thematic content analysis using results to develop categories of major design choices and research consortia models, structures and processes.

RESULTS

Across a wide range of research consortia, the structure and function were determined by nine key design decisions that were mapped to three domains: scope: including mission and area of focus; organisational structure: including role and location of the core entity, choice of leader, governance and membership eligibility and responsibility; and funding decisions: including the funding source for research consortia operations and the funding sources and process for consortium research.

DISCUSSION

Research consortia showed important heterogeneity across the nine decision points studied and based on their goals, needs and resources. These decisions and the three emerging domains (scope, organisation and funding) offer a potential framework for new research consortia and inform the design of a proposed primary health care research consortium intended to accelerate research to improve primary health care in LMICs.

German Cancer Consortium (DKTK) - A national consortium for translational cancer research

The German Cancer Consortium (‘Deutsches Konsortium für Translationale Krebsforschung’, DKTK) is a long‐term cancer consortium, bringing together the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Germany's largest life science research center, and the leading University Medical Center‐based Comprehensive Cancer Centers (CCCs) at seven sites across Germany. DKTK was founded in 2012 following international peer review and has positioned itself since then as the leading network for translational cancer research in Germany. DKTK is long term funded by the German Ministry of Research and Education and the federal states of each DKTK partner site. DKTK acts at the interface between basic and clinical cancer research, one major focus being to generate suitable multisite cooperation structures and provide the basis for including higher numbers of patients and facilitate effective collaborative forward and reverse translational cancer research. The consortium addresses areas of high scientific and medical relevance and develops critical infrastructures, for example, for omics technologies, clinical and research big data exchange and analysis, imaging, and clinical grade drug manufacturing. Moreover, DKTK provides a very attractive environment for interdisciplinary and interinstitutional training and career development for clinician and medical scientists.

WHONDRS: a Community Resource for Studying Dynamic River Corridors

The Worldwide Hydrobiogeochemistry Observation Network for Dynamic River Systems (WHONDRS) aims to galvanize a global community to provide the scientific basis for improved management of dynamic river corridors. WHONDRS is a global research consortium working to understand connections among dynamic hydrology, biogeochemistry, and microbiology in river corridors from local to global scales. WHONDRS ascribes to the perspective that resources, knowledge, and data belong to the community as a whole and that science advances more rapidly and more robustly through community ownership. As such, WHONDRS provides free access to novel instrumentation, molecular analysis, and well-curated data associated with river corridor hydrology, biogeochemistry, and microbiology. There are a number of ways to be involved in WHONDRS, ranging from one-time surface water sampling to installation of WHONDRS-developed multiparameter sensors for continuous monitoring. WHONDRS hinges on broad involvement, and we encourage all interested parties to contact us and become part of the consortium.