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WV CoHORTS Mission, Goals, and Expected Outcomes
Mission: To develop research infrastructure and increase capacity to conduct federally funded multi-disciplinary health services and outcomes research activities at WVU Health Sciences Center that will focus on reducing health disparities and improve the overall health of West Virginia citizens.
Goals: Create a data repository consisting of various state and federal health care data to serve as a data resource and catalyst for the conduct of research related to access, cost, quality, and outcomes of health services and treatments in West Virginia;
Develop collaborative relationships that bring together health services researchers to stimulate multi-disciplinary research, as well as, develop a plan for new faculty recruitment and investment for long term research growth;
Establish a mentoring program that matches junior HSC faculty with senior faculty to become more competitive for federally funded grants in health services and health outcomes research.
Expected Outcomes : The Database repository is compiled of uninterrupted, longitudinal health data sets from various payers across West Virginia that will serve as a catalyst for rigorous health services research that specifically focuses on the populations of the state and surrounding Appalachian region. The analyses will encourage research collaborations with other states and foster comparative studies of health outcomes among various populations.
The Collaborative Research Development/Networking program serves as a focal point for the assembly of an interdisciplinary group of funded investigators with the common purpose of further developing health services research in West Virginia and the Appalachian region. The program facilitates collaborations among researchers to develop and generate enthusiasm for continued participation in the faculty development activities, and develop a sense of ownership and responsibility to the CoHORTS Center. The Collaborative Research Development / Networking program has developed: a training program for the new PhD in Public Health Sciences program, the web page of the CoHORTS Center, and has generated seminars to review ongoing progress as well as for maximizing shared learning in health services research.
The Mentoring program fosters and encourages the professional development of junior investigators in health services and health outcomes research, continually develop and improve over time by monitoring the learned experiences of the mentors and mentees. The program will develop and mature new health services and health outcomes researchers who are competitive for extramural federal funding. These investigators will continue to support the mentoring program by serving as mentors to other new faculty members in the future.