HEAL Data2Action (HD2A)
Research Adoption Support Center (RASC)
Our Goal
Despite unprecedented federal investment to address the US opioid epidemic, a tragic gap persists between proven prevention, harm reduction, and treatment interventions for opioid addiction and pain, and equitable access to these interventions by the people who need them the most.
The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)-funded HEAL Data2Action (HD2A) Program includes a group of Innovation Projects and three centers of scientific and practice-based expertise that are embarking on a coordinated effort to synthesize and extend the real-world application of data to guide and monitor improvements in service delivery to prevent or treat opioid use disorder and pain.
Funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (U2CDA057717), the Research Adoption Support Center (RASC) will enhance the dissemination and implementation (D&I) research capability of the HD2A Innovation Projects and two other centers: Modeling and Economic Resource Center and Data Infrastructure Support Center.
Our overarching goal is to improve dissemination and implementation (D&I) research capacity of not only the HD2A Innovation Projects but to leverage this work to enhance the impact of D&I in research beyond HD2A. Thus, we strive to increase the chances for anyone anywhere to receive the best possible treatment for addiction and pain-related conditions.
Our Team
The RASC is composed of four synergistic, interrelated cores: Administrative, Substance Use Disorder (SUD) Implementation Support, Pain Implementation Support, and Research & Evaluation.
Mark McGovern
Stanford University School of Medicine
MPI, Administrative Core Director
Dr. Mark McGovern is a Professor of Psychiatry and of Medicine at Stanford University School of Medicine. In 2017, he founded the Center for Dissemination and Implementation (CDI). After 20 years as a practicing clinician, Dr. McGovern is now focused on scaling up equitable access to evidence-based health care, improving the science of implementation and sustainment of evidence-based care in public and private health care organizations and systems, and training and mentoring the next generation of implementation scientists. Within the hub of CDI, he is the Principal Investigator of three federally funded national centers for dissemination and implementation: the Center for Dissemination and Implementation At Stanford (C-DIAS)(P50DA05402); Research Adoption Support Center (RASC)(U2CDA057717), and the National Coordinating Office of the SAMHSA Mental Health Technology Transfer Center (H79SM081726).
Heather Gotham
Stanford University School of Medicine
Administrative Core Co-Director
Dr. Heather Gotham is a Clinical Associate Professor and clinical psychologist who joined Stanford in August 2018. Her work focuses on increasing the capability of behavioral health and health care providers to implement evidence-based practices that more effectively help people with mental health and substance use disorders. Dr. Gotham directs the SAMHSA-funded Mental Health Technology Transfer Center (MHTTC) Network Coordinating Office and is Co-Director of the Administrative Core of the NIDA-funded HEAL Data2Action Research Adoption Support Center. She is also a co-investigator on NIH-funded projects studying the implementation of substance use disorder screening and treatment approaches in HIV care settings and in women’s health settings.
Sara Becker
Northwestern University
MPI, Director, SUD Implementation Support Core
Bryan Garner
The Ohio State University
Co-Director, SUD Implementation Support Core
William Becker
Yale University
MPI, Director, Pain Implementation Support Core
Briana Patrick, MS
Stanford University School of Medicine
Project Coordinator
Briana Patrick, MS, joined the Center for Dissemination and Implementation (CDI) in 2023 as the Project Coordinator for the Center for Dissemination and Implementation at Stanford (C-DIAS) and the Health Data2Action Research Adoption Support Center (RASC). She focuses on technical and pragmatic assistance utilizing a DEIA (diversity, equity, inclusion, and access) lens at all system levels to improve healthcare outcomes, comprehension, and delivery. Briana received her BA in Sociology from the University of Nevada Las Vegas and her MS in Educational Psychology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
C. Hendricks Brown
Northwestern University
MPI, Director, Research and Evaluation Core
Cecelia Calhoun
Yale University
Co-Director, Pain Implementation Support Core
Lia Chin-Purcell, MS
Stanford University School of Medicine
Data Analyst
Lia Chin-Purcell, MS is a research data analyst at CDI sporting C-DIAS and the RASC. She holds a Master's degree from the University of California, Berkeley, where she studied Information Management and Systems with a focus on data science. At CDI, she applies her expertise in machine learning and data analysis to help researchers and clinicians effectively implement evidence-based practices and interventions that improve healthcare outcomes.
Beth McGinty
Weill Cornell Medicine
Co-Director, Research and Evaluation Core
Praise Olatunde, MSPH
Stanford University School of Medicine
Project Coordinator
Praise Olatunde, MSPH (they/she) is the Project Coordinator for the Health Data2Action Research Adoption Support Center (RASC) at the Center for Dissemination and Implementation. Praise received their BA in Global Development Studies and BS in Biology from Calvin University and their Masters of Science in Public Health from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Through their role they manage technical assistance and implementation support for several projects to improve service delivery to prevent or treat opioid use disorder and pain.
Our Work
Effectively translating research findings into practice is the domain of D&I science. We integrate established D&I scientists and addiction researchers—with the proximal goal of elevating D&I methodology in the Innovation Projects, toward the ultimate goal of ubiquitous access to life-saving interventions.
RASC has 3 overarching objectives:
- To ASSESS the Innovation Projects’ D&I capability on 5 key dimensions, to conduct a formative evaluation of the overall HD2A program, and to perform 5 rapid turnaround research projects addressing translational barriers identified by the Innovation Projects.
- To ASSIST the Innovation Projects, guided by a D&I capability assessment, to:
- Generate enthusiasm to “make the project more D&I”;
- Create an Implementation Support Plan for each project on key D&I dimensions, and offer on-demand technical assistance;
- Organize a learning collaborative among project teams and RASC core faculty; and
- Design and maintain online D&I tools and resources.
- To ADVANCE the exponential impact of the HD2A projects beyond singular or even cumulative findings by:
- Combining and/or harmonizing D&I data across projects for greater comparability, generalizability, and modeling;
- Synergizing influence via expanding networks of collaborations, conferences, publications, and online resources; and
- Leveraging research and stakeholder social capital for scientifically informed policies and financing that ensure sustainable and equitable access to proven interventions.
The RASC is organized into four cores:
Administrative Core: This Core will provide scientific leadership and host an efficient centralized home for the HD2A Program, delivering necessary infrastructure, operational, and logistical support, and fostering welcoming, productive, and positive relationships throughout the program.
SUD Implementation Support Core (SUD-IS): This Core will promote the adoption of research-supported interventions by the Innovation Projects to address data-derived gaps in substance use prevention and treatment services, including by curating a catalog of evidence-based and emerging practices and developing an SUD Intervention D&I Resource Guide.
Pain Implementation Support Core (Pain-IS): This Core will promote the adoption of research-supported interventions by the Innovation Projects to address data-derived gaps in pain management services (e.g., appropriate opioid prescribing for pain), including by curating a catalog of evidence-based and emerging practices and developing a Pain Intervention D&I Resource Guide.
Research & Evaluation Core (R&E): This Core will lead an assessment of the D&I capability of the Innovation Projects, collect standardized, harmonized D&I data across projects, and capitalize on combined data for higher impact analyses and modeling. The Core also will conduct 5 rapid turnaround research projects to address implementation barriers, and a formative evaluation of the overall HD2A Program.