The Research Program conducts high-quality, timely, and meaningful research and evaluation work. The Research Program is directed by Caitlin Dickinson, MPH and Jennifer Coury, MA. We do the following:  

• Design and conduct pragmatic and randomized clinical trials with ORPRN-affiliated practices and communities  
• Design and conduct participatory research and implementation science studies in clinic and community settings  
• Conduct projects reaching clinics and patients in rural and remote communities to advance health and health equity  
• Provide a resource to OHSU researchers and community partners interested in research  

The Research Program collaborates actively with more than 15 faculty collaborators across OHSU. We support a wide variety of research-related activities:  

• Grant and contract application support​  
• Research recruitment and design​  
• Research project management​  
• Qualitative methods (Core Lead: NithyaPriya Ramalingam, PhD)  
• Quantitative methods (Core Lead: Robert Durr, MS)  
• Practice facilitation​ (Core Lead: Brittany Badicke, MPH)  
• Technical assistance​ (e.g., practice facilitation, learning collaboratives) 
• Research dissemination  

Between July 2019 – June 2023, the Research Program supported projects which engaged more than 145 clinics, enrolled more than 3,246 direct participants in clinical trials, and reached 67,300 people including all the trials and practice-based research studies. The majority of projects in the Research Program prioritize reaching clinics and patients in rural and remote communities. ORPRN has done practice-based research since its inception—now we have about 25 currently running projects under the Research Program.  

Our close collaboration with health care partners means our research addresses real-world issues in areas such as vaccinations, cancer screening, substance use disorder, diabetes care, heart disease, and tobacco cessation. Here are some important questions posed by a few of our current projects: 

• Can we screen for 50 different types of cancer with a blood draw? PATHFINDER 2 
• How can we help primary care clinics to improve breast and cervical cancer screening? SCREENWISE  
• Can math-based text messages to parents of 3 and 4 year olds support kindergarten readiness? MATH 
• Can moisturizing babies from early infancy reduce incidence of eczema? CASCADE 
• Do activities and other supports delay functional decline and increase well-being among older adults at risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease?  RSELVES 
• How do statins improve the health for folks 75 years or older? PREVENTABLE  

Recent accomplishments of teh Research Program:

1. ORPRN staff shared results from several research studies in their final year that were successfully conducted with clinics and health plans across the state (and nationally). ORPRN staff attend national conferences to present key results, publish in scientific journals, and disseminate the knowledge gained back to health care providers and staff. 

2. We have refined and operationalized  research priorities for new work at ORPRN:  

• We choose topics that match research priorities - Is it community-based, primary-care focused? Does is build on prior successful research? Will our partners be interested in this topic area; does it fill a need in the current primary care landscape? 

3. ORPRN has integrated its Practice Facilitation Core with OHSU’s Community Outreach, Research and Engagement (CORE) in service of our community and academic partners. CORE is comprised of four programs at OHSU that support community-academic partnerships and facilitate community engaged research. Regional teams of OHSU and ORPRN employees can work together to support and generate cross-program collaborative projects.