Programs | Penn PORTAL: University of Pennsylvania Patient-Oriented Research and Training to Accelerate Learning

Penn PORTAL: University of Pennsylvania Patient-Oriented Research and Training to Accelerate Learning

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Request for Proposals

Deadline: January 31, 2025

Cycle 2 request for proposal application for Penn PORTAL Learning Health System Scientist Investigators and Clinician Leaders is now open!

LEarn more and Apply

About

Penn PORTAL is funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) and the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) to accelerate progress toward an integrated Learning Health System (LHS) at Penn and in the wider Philadelphia region. The program is a collaborative effort across many centers including the PAIR Center, the Penn Medicine Nudge Unit, the Penn Medicine Center for Health Equity Advancement (CHEA), the Center for Healthcare Improvement and Patient Safety (CHIPS), the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics (LDI), and the Penn Implementation Science Center (PISCE).

For general inquiries, please send us an email.

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LHS Pathways

Penn PORTAL is a P30 program (P30HS029745) uniting behavioral, data, and implementation scientists from Penn’s Schools of Medicine, Nursing, Engineering, and Business to support the research and training opportunities of the LHS Scientists. These experts are joined by leaders in the design, analysis, equity, and ethics of health services research studies; clinical operations leaders; and longstanding community partners in the Philadelphia region.

The Penn PORTAL program provides two pathways for research and training in LHS science: Scientist Investigator and Clinician Leader. Additional limited training opportunities are offered through an Affiliate Scholar program.

LHS Pathway 01

Scientist Investigator

Directed toward early-career clinician- and non-clinician investigators seeking to become independent and externally funded LHS Scientists.

LHS Pathway 02

Clinician Leader

Directed toward faculty clinicians and other health care professionals who are interested in pursuing training and mentorship in LHS science.

Program Overview

Research & Training Opportunities (2 years)

	Scientist Investigator	Clinician Leader
Formal didactic training in LHS science	x	x
Formal didactic training in leadership development	x
Recommendations for targeted coursework in research methods, grant writing, and pragmatic clinical trials or healthcare quality & safety, systems, and leadership	x
Recommendations for targeted coursework in applied clinical informatics for quality improvement and implementation; leadership, engagement, and research management		x
LHS Design Studios with mentorship in both research and operations	x	x
Participation in the LHS Seminar Series¹	x	x
Participation in Health Equity Week and the Implementation Science Institute	x	x
Development and completion of a mentored LHS research project²	x
Development and completion of a quality and/or operational improvement project²		x
Access to consultants in equity, community engagement, ethics, research, and data analysis for research projects	x	x
Access to staff support from the PAIR Center and Nudge Unit for conducting LHS research projects	x	x
Access to staff support from CHIPS for leading LHS QI projects		x

¹Affiliate Scholars have access to the LHS Seminar Series.
²These projects will be in Penn Medicine and AHRQ/PCORI priority areas and not restricted to serious illness care.

Awardees

Cycle 1

Congratulations to the Penn PORTAL Cycle 1 LHS Clinician Leaders and LHS Scientist Investigators! Learn more about our inaugural awardees below.

Renee Betancourt, MD

LHS Pathway

Clinician Leader

Dr. Betancourt is the Vice Chair for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and an Associate Professor in the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health; she is also the Faculty Director of the Health Equity Curriculum at Perelman School of Medicine. With an overarching goal of working to eliminate health inequity, Dr. Betancourt’s LHS quality improvement project will focus on patients with chronic kidney disease at Penn Family Care and is titled, “Primary Care Identification and Management of CKD Stage 3 to Improve Health Equity at the Level of the Provider.”

Eric Bressman, MD, MSHP

LHS Pathway

Scientist Investigator

Dr. Bressman is an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Hospital Medicine and is strongly interested in promoting safe transitions of care after hospital discharge. Dr. Bressman’s LHS research project, titled “Mobility-informed Dynamic Risk Monitoring to Guide Transitional Care Support for Older Adults,” will focus on the building blocks for improving transitioning older adults from the hospital to their home.

Kyra O’Brien, MD

LHS Pathway

Scientist Investigator

Dr. O’Brien is an Assistant Professor of Neurology and an MSHP candidate; her research interests are in improving and transforming care delivery for people with dementia. Starting with Penn Medicine primary care, Dr. O’Brien’s LHS research project is designed to develop an effective and equitable pathway for early detection of cognitive impairment. Her project is titled, “Supporting Cognitive Evaluations in Primary Care.”

Denise Xu, MD

LHS Pathway

Clinician Leader

Dr. Xu is an Assistant Professor of Clinical Neurology, the Assistant Program Director for the Neurology Residency, and Director for the Neurology Sub-Internship at the Perelman School of Medicine. Dr. Xu is interested in delirium prevention and in improving sleep quality for patients admitted to a Penn Medicine hospital. Her LHS quality improvement project is titled, “Improving Inpatient Sleep Outcomes.”

How to Apply

Applications for the Penn PORTAL program occur annually in winter, with appointments by July 1. Cycle 2 applications will open beginning Monday, December 2, 2024, and ending on Friday, January 31, 2025.

Learn more and apply

Financial Support

Please see the Cycle 2 funding opportunity announcement for full details of the financial support offered under the two LHS Scientist pathways and the expected effort devoted to program activities.

Eligibility Requirements

Please see the Cycle 2 funding opportunity announcement for full details of eligibility criteria for the two LHS Scientist pathways. Please also note that the funded LHS Scientists must have appointments at Penn Medicine by July 1 of the funding cycle and research projects are expected to be completed at Penn Medicine.

Leadership

Penn PORTAL has three integrated cores, an equity and community engagement unit led by the Penn Medicine Center for Health Equity Advancement (CHEA), a steering committee, internal and external advisory boards, and governmental, community, and health system partnerships across Philadelphia.