Technical assistance and direction for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Practice-Based Research Network in Public Health program

The Foundation's initiative, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Practice-Based Research Network in Public Health (PBRN), was designed to develop a practice-based research network for public health to help stakeholders understand how public health systems research can be used to improve public health performance and impact.The evidence base on how best to organize, finance, and deliver public health services across U.S. communities remains thin, leaving policy makers and administrators with limited empirical guidance for establishing public health programs, laws, and budgets. Key activities to accomplish in Year Three of the PBRN include: (1) maintaining the PBRN Coordinating Center that disseminates information and assistance to all interested stakeholders about developing and operating public health PBRNs; (2) guiding the development of a second cohort of up to 10 PBRN grantees and supporting the initial cohort of five PBRN grantees; (3) coordinating the development and implementation of full-scale research projects that will be supported through Research Implementation Awards (RIAs) granted on a competitive basis to operating public health PBRNs beginning in February 2010; (4) developing a multi-network comparative study as part of the RIAs that provides evidence on practice variation and outcomes on a national level; (5) implementing short-term, time-sensitive research projects on priority issues in public health practice through the use of Quick Strike Research Funds granted to operating PBRNs; and (6) developing new research partners and sources of support for PBRNs at federal, state, and nongovernmental levels that will assure the long-term sustainability and growth of PBRNs nationally. Collectively, these activities will accelerate the production and translation of research that directly informs policy and practice decision-making in public health.

Grant Details

Amount Awarded $612,767.00

Awarded on: 10/15/2009

Time frame: 11/1/2009 - 10/31/2010

Grant Number: 66151