Minnesota Learning Health System Training Program
The Minnesota Learning Health System Mentored Career Development Program (MN-LHS) is a scholar training program that trains embedded researchers to conduct patient-centered research and improve healthcare within a learning health system.
The program is a collaboration between the University of Minnesota, M Health Fairview, Mayo Clinic, Hennepin Healthcare and six other collaborating clinical sites.
The MN-LHS program offers two tracks.
MN-LHS Tracks & Application
We are currently reviewing applications. Applicants please hold November 2nd, 2023, 3-5 pm for interviews
The University of Minnesota Office of Academic Clinical Affairs (OACA), in partnership with the School of Public Health, the Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI), and the Center for Learning Health System Sciences (CLHSS), supports up to two scholars annually. If you have a full-time appointment at the University of Minnesota as an Assistant Professor and are interested in pursuing a research career in learning health systems, you may be eligible for this program.
This program provides:
- Two years of protected time for mentored research career development, research development support funds, and training in patient-centered outcomes research and learning health systems science
- An opportunity to develop Learning Health System Research Core Competencies
- Real world research experience
- A dynamic environment for scholars to learn and apply Learning Health System tools, and make meaningful differences in healthcare contexts serving children, the elderly, underrepresented minorities, rural populations, veterans, and those with multimorbidity
- A community of scholars, patients, mentors, and faculty who have interests in Learning Health System research and improved care across the educational and experiential spectrum at partner organizations and beyond
Attendance Expectations
Participation in seminars, workshops, and Design Shop sessions is a top priority for the MN-LHS program. Participation fosters a cohort culture and builds scholar-faculty relationships, both of which are essential for an enriched learning experience.
| SEMINAR | REQUIRED ATTENDANCE |
| Design Shop | 100% |
| Kern Career Development Workshops | 50% |
| CTSI K Seminars | 75% |
Scholar Support
For the two-year award period, scholars will receive salary support for 50%-75% FTE up to a maximum of $90,000 per year (at 75% FTE) plus applicable fringe benefits (up to $32,400 per year), and $25,000 per year for research development support costs, such as supplies, research support, and travel. Scholars’ home departments must cover any salary or fringe benefits that exceed these limits. One of the Scholar’s mentors may be eligible to receive up to $5,000 total per year in salary and fringe benefits for the duration of that scholar’s appointment.
Support for a third year, if requested, is dependent upon approval and financial support from the scholar’s department.
Find out if you are eligible for this program and how to apply.
Eligibility
- Hold a clinical or research doctorate, including Ph.D., Sc.D, Dr.P.H., M.D., D.O., D.C., N.D., D.D.S., D.M.D., D.N.S., D.V.M., O.D., D.P.M, Eng.D., D.P.T., O.T.D., Pharm.D., D.S.W., Psy.D. or equivalent doctoral degree.
- Have a full-time appointment at the University of Minnesota as an Assistant Professor. Be able to commit 50%-75% full-time professional effort to conducting research career development activities for two years. The program will consider applications from early associate professors.
- Be able to demonstrate a commitment to conducting research within learning health systems focusing on rapid and continuous learning and translation of findings into patient-centered care.
- Research proposed must be appropriate to patient-centered learning health systems (consistent with published methods and AHRQ’s LHS core competencies (PDF)).
- Scholars must have more than one mentor, and mentors must represent different disciplines and should have experience mentoring other faculty to research independence.
Application Process
Research proposed must be appropriate to patient-centered learning health systems (consistent with published methods and AHRQ’s LHS core competencies (PDF)) and include a plan for patient and stakeholder engagement.
To Submit: To submit, please combine all of the following elements into one PDF and email to clhss@umn.edu.
If your application is approved for the next stage, you may be invited to interview with the leadership. Please contact clhss@umn.edu with any questions.
To Apply: Start with the application template.
Application must include, in order:
- Proposal (maximum 7 pages)
- Biosketch
If you have an existing NIH biosketch, you can submit it instead of filling out the provided template. - Chair/Director Letter
- Budget
Optional documents:
- Health System Letter
- Operations Mentor Agreement Letter
At this time we are not accepting applications for AHRQ-PCORI funded positions.
The MN-LHS scholar training program is one of 11 institutions funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) and the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) to support the next generation of Learning Health System researchers.
If you are an Assistant Professor, Research Scientist, Research Investigator, Clinician Investigator, Clinician Engaged In Research (CER), or at a higher equivalent level and are interested in pursuing a research career in learning health systems, you may be eligible. This program supports up to five scholars annually.
This program provides:
- An opportunity to develop Learning Health System Research Core Competencies
- A dynamic environment for scholars to learn and apply Learning Health System tools, and make meaningful differences in health care contexts serving children, the elderly, underrepresented minorities, rural populations, veterans, and those with multimorbidity
- A community of scholars, patients, mentors, and faculty who have interests in Learning Health System research and improved care across the educational and experiential spectrum at partner organizations and beyond
Attendance Expectations
Face-to-face participation in seminars, workshops, and Design Shop sessions is a top priority for the MN-LHS program. Participation fosters a cohort culture and builds scholar-faculty relationships, both of which are essential for a successful experience.
| SEMINAR | REQUIRED ATTENDANCE |
| Design Shop first Tuesday | 75% |
| Design Shop third Tuesday | 100% |
| Kern Career Development Workshops | 50% |
| CTSI K Seminars | 75% with option to attend remotely |
Scholar Support
The program provides 75% salary support up to a maximum of $90,000 per year plus fringe benefits (up to $30,780 per year), and $25,000 per year in research funds for 2 years, and training in both patient-centered outcomes research and learning health system science. Extensions to a third year may be possible pending funding.
MN-LHS program applicants can propose two mentors from the following list.
Systems science
| Mentor Name | Institution/Department | Research Interests |
|---|---|---|
| Karyn Baum, MD, MHA | ESS | Quality improvement, interprofessional teamwork and education, machine learning/model building |
| Bjorn Berg, PhD | UMN | Healthcare operations, medical decision-making, stochastic optimization, simulation |
| Nico Pronk, PhD | HP | Application of systems science in health policy & organizational decision-making |
Research questions and standards of scientific evidence
| Mentor Name | Institution/Department | Research Interests |
|---|---|---|
| Mary Butler, PhD, MBA | UMN | Research design and systematic review methods, evidence-informed health care and standards |
| Wei Duan-Porter, MD, PhD | VA | Evidence-based chronic disease management, clinical practice guidelines |
Research methods
| Mentor Name | Institution/Department | Research Interests |
|---|---|---|
| Ezra Golberstein, PhD | UMN | Health economics, quantitative methods, practice-based studies/real-world evaluation |
| Joseph Koopmeiners, PhD | UMN | Biostatistics, pragmatic & classical clinical trial design, adaptive trials |
| Stephen Waring, DVM, PhD | ESS | Epidemiological methods, multi-site collaborations, retrospective and prospective study design |
Informatics
| Mentor Name | Institution/Department | Research Interests |
|---|---|---|
| Patrick O’Connor, MD, MPH | HP | Clinical decision support for primary care providers and patients, EHRs |
| Rui Zhang, PhD | UMN | Natural language processing, biomedical ontologies, machine learning & clinical AI |
| Julian Wolfson, PhD | UMN | Digital health, causal analysis, biostatistical & machine learning methods |
| Christopher Tignanelli, MD | UMN/MHF | Clinical AI, CDS systems to promote evidence-based practices, real world data to inform practice |
Ethics of research and implementation in health systems
| Mentor Name | Institution/Department | Research Interests |
|---|---|---|
| Richard Sharp, PhD | MC, HSR, BEP, CIM | Increasing public trust in biomedical research through community engagement and outreach, establishing best practices for clinical and research ethics consultation services |
| Jon Tilburt, MD | MC, BEP, DOM | Promoting ethical models of research partnerships with American Indian and Alaska Native communities |
| Sarah Gollust, PhD | UMN, SPH, HPM | Ethical challenges in public health practice, ethics of clinician communication |
| Brian Martinson, PhD | HPI | Systems science and simulation, research integrity and its relationship to the structural organization of science |
Improvement and implementation science
| Mentor Name | Institution/Department | Research Interests |
|---|---|---|
| Hildi Hagedorn, PhD | VA | Critical analysis of implementation theory, action-oriented implementation intervention design |
| Katie White, EdD, MBA | UMN | Implementation of team-based innovative approaches to health care delivery |
Engagement, leadership, and research management
| Mentor Name | Institution/Department | Research Interests |
|---|---|---|
| Tetyana Shippee, PhD | UMN | Aging, equity, quality of life, long-term care, community engaged research |
| Kate Diaz Vickery, MD, MSc | HENN | Social services, employment, education & other sector intersections to produce health, multidisciplinary teams |
Health disparities and equity
| Mentor Name | Institution/Department | Research Interests |
|---|---|---|
| Diana Burgess, PhD | VA | Pain and disparities, mindfulness-based interventions for chronic pain, provider unintentional or implicit bias |
| Elizabeth Rogers, MD | HENN | Improving how safety-net primary care clinics support socially and medically complex patients |
HPM: Division of Health Policy and Management; SPH: School of Public Health; SoN: School of Nursing; EpiCH: Division of Epidemiology and Community Health; HSR: Department of Health Science Research; CIM: Center for Individualized Medicine; CSHCD: Center for the Science of Health Care Delivery; CCaTS: Mayo Center for Clinical and Translational Science; CPPE: Center for Provider and Patient Experience; CMRI: Children’s Minnesota Research Institute; HPI: HealthPartners Institute; DOM: Mayo Department of Internal Medicine; MVAHCS: Minneapolis VA Health Care System; CCDOR: Center for Chronic Disease Outcomes Research; FMCH: Family Medicine and Community Health; PM&R: Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation; IHI: Institute for Health Informatics; EIRH: Essentia Institute for Rural Health; BEP: Biomedical Ethics Program; PCHS: Pharmaceutical Care & Health Systems; MCCC: Mayo Clinic Cancer Center; HSR: Mayo Clinic Department of Health Sciences Research
LHS Use Case: Transplantation System
MN-LHS Scholar Cory Schaffhausen, PhD, a researcher at Hennepin Healthcare Research Institute and assistant professor at the U of M Medical School, knows that the transplantation system is deeply flawed. His work at the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients, an organ data registry, led him to embark on a research and design project called "Embedding Human-Centered Design and Learning Health System Research in the Transplantation System" in which he aims to provide patients with better tools to make organ transplant decisions. Read more about how LHS gave him the tools to take on this important work.
