Objectives/Goals: This project will enrich our understanding of basal breast carcinogenesis, highlighting the distinct biological differences in breast cancer risk between non-Hispanic Black (NHB) or non-Hispanic White (NHW) women, but also has the potential to provide real-world solutions thereby contributing to reducing health disparities in breast cancer outcomes Methods/Study Population: In the biological investigation, I am utilizing a unique cohort of normal breast tissues from Mayo Clinic patients who underwent breast reduction surgery that have self-identified as NHB or NHW premenopausal women. From these tissues, we are able to subculture human mammary epithelial cells, which we will use for our consequent experiments. For the qualitative study, I aim to recruit up to 40–50 eligible NHB women identified at increased risk for breast cancer and conduct semi-structured qualitative interviews informed by the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities Research Framework. Results/Anticipated Results: Gene expression profiling on our cohort of 15 NHB and 40 NHW premenopausal women identified a gene expression signature in NHB women indicative of elevated Hedgehog signaling, a key factor in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) development and progression. I hypothesize that persistent activation of Hedgehog signaling within NHB women instigates the proliferation and transformation of basal stem cells within the breast, thus fueling TNBC development. Understanding the perceptions and experiences of NHB women that are identified as being at an increased risk for BC will aid in the identification of barriers and facilitators to their risk reduction care and in turn provide implementation strategies that could contribute to alleviating the racial disparity seen in TNBC morbidity, mortality, and preventative care. Discussion/Significance of Impact: The significance of this project lies in its dual approach, uncovering basal breast cancer mechanisms in a high-risk group using normal breast tissue and evaluating the perspectives from NHB women to enhance the practical relevance of our findings.

Collaboration across the Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) consortium is essential for advancing translational science, yet institutional silos often hinder data-sharing and benchmarking efforts. This study examines the viability of a voluntary, multi-hub analysis of the CTSA education common metric on trainee and scholar engagement across five New York City-based sites or “hubs.” Using a structured framework for collaboration and field-tested operational guidelines, a team of evaluators dubbed “The Gotham Group” pooled de-identified common education data to assess post-training research engagement and demographic representation. Their primary objective was to establish a sustainable model for independent data-sharing without national mandates or technical support. A secondary goal was to reassess the metric’s usefulness as an impact benchmark. Results showed that NYC education engagement percentages remained stable despite institutional differences, suggesting the metric’s viability for regional comparison. More importantly, the collaboration itself proved as valuable as its outcomes, fostering professional relationships, facilitating knowledge exchange, and strengthening evaluation capacity within and across the hubs. This study highlights the potential of voluntary data-sharing partnerships to overcome data silos and to create valuable networks driving continuous improvement in translational science.

Objectives/Goals: Research participation by adolescents and young adults (AYAs) is critical for advancing therapeutic interventions applicable across the life course. Identifying effective strategies to recruit and retain AYAs is challenging. This poster elucidates the process and outcomes of working with an AYA Health Research Board and surveying AYAs. Methods/Study Population: The AYA Health Research Board established in 2022 as part of an AYA Program within the UC Davis (UCD) Clinical and Translational Science Center (CTSC). The Board is composed of youth advisers, ages 13–39, from across CA. In 2023, the Program supplemented insights from the board with a national online survey of AYAs using the Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk) platform. Two separate instruments were administered, one on recruitment and another on retention, each with over 400 responses. The UCD AYA Board was then engaged to provide crucial insights contextualizing the survey findings, ensuring their relevance and applicability to the AYA population. Results/Anticipated Results: Overall, survey results indicate that AYAs are aware of health studies and clinical trials. Responses affirm that incentives are the biggest driver of AYA participation, while side effects were identified as the biggest reason to drop out of a study. Overall, youth appear more interested in participating in online studies versus those that require in-person appearances. Text messages, regular updates, and sharing of study results were identified as strategies to maintain participant engagement. Additional results will be available through a one-page factsheet for researchers to use as they think about retention and recruitment of AYAs. Discussion/Significance of Impact: Survey results will be made available to health researchers to help move the needle on recruitment and retention efforts of AYAs. This mixed-methods case study serves as an example of the impact AYAs can have on shaping research and validating survey findings.

Objectives/Goals: To evaluate the impact of social determinants of health (SDOH), specifically socioeconomic status and medical insurance coverage, on access to mental health services for adults aged 60 and older served by Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) in Puerto Rico. Methods/Study Population: A secondary retrospective analysis of electronic health records from FQHCs in Puerto Rico will be conducted to examine the relationship between SDOH needs and mental health service utilization among adults aged 60 years and older receiving primary care. SDOH data will be collected using the PRAPARE® tool, assessing factors such as socioeconomic status, insurance coverage, and emotional support, with a focus on identifying unmet needs. Multivariable and logistic regression models, using Stata v.17, will be employed to evaluate correlations between these SDOH factors and mental health service utilization, adjusting for age, gender, and mental health conditions. This analysis aims to quantify the impact of SDOH on access to mental health services and elucidate key barriers to care for older adults in Puerto Rico. Results/Anticipated Results: We anticipate that lower socioeconomic status, lack of supplemental insurance, and inadequate family support will be strongly associated with the underutilization of mental health services among older adults in Puerto Rico. These disparities are expected to be more pronounced in individuals with limited income, weaker family networks, leading to significant gaps in access to necessary mental health care. Barriers such as healthcare insecurity, financial hardship, and fragmented support systems will likely emerge as major obstacles. By including patients from both rural and urban regions, the study will capture the distinct challenges each population faces, enhancing the contextual relevance of the findings to broader populations, ultimately informing policy and developing intervention strategies. Discussion/Significance of Impact: The findings will provide crucial insights for developing targeted interventions to enhance mental health care access for older adults in Puerto Rico. These results will inform policy development and public health strategies, addressing disparities and promoting equitable care in underserved populations.

The Collaborating Network of Networks for Evaluating COVID-19 and Therapeutic Strategies (CONNECTS) was a novel network of networks created in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This program brought together a large matrix of clinical research networks to swiftly design and/or implement concurrent clinical studies. Successful coordination of this large-scale collaboration required innovative solutions for timely and transparent centralized operations reporting. As the Administrative Coordinating Center (ACC) for CONNECTS, RTI International developed and maintained a web-based infrastructure that served as the central communication and reporting hub. This single-platform approach provided a robust collection of key topics to support daily operational oversight (e.g., enrollment and retention, site coverage, study milestones, financial tracking). Underlying data acquisition, harmonization, and portal reporting methods aimed to address nuances of the network of networks (e.g., disparate data sources, diverse user needs) while providing the necessary speed and agility to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. The resulting system was well received, readily adapted to changes, and successfully supported three years of early COVID-19 research. Although the CONNECTS central reporting methods arose from necessity during an urgent and dynamic public health emergency, they are a model for efficient and effective centralized operational reporting for any large-scale public health research effort.

Objectives/Goals: Physical activity (PA) is critical to improving the health and well-being of patients with congenital heart disease (CHD); however, rates of PA, specifically in children and adolescents with CHD, remain significantly lower than the general population. Our goal was to understand what factors influence rates of PA in children and adolescents with CHD. Methods/Study Population: A rapid review was performed in February 2024 across 5 databases: PubMed, Scopus, CINAHL, PsycINFO, and PEDRO (PROSPERO 2024 CRD42024516250). A search strategy combined all possible terms and MESH terms related to the population of interest: children or adolescents with CHD and the outcome of interest: PA levels. Descriptive analysis and concept maps were used to further describe the various barriers and facilitators to PA. Results/Anticipated Results: We identified 49 articles. Most articles were quantitative (76%) and assessed demographic influences, such as age and gender. Self-efficacy was the most common facilitator to PA, in addition to wanting to fit in and have fun. Self-imposed limitations and self-perceived barriers such as fears and anxiety, feelings of inadequacy, and lack of enjoyment were barriers to PA. Parents, teachers, and peers facilitated PA by providing support, possessing knowledge about the importance of PA, and by engaging in the activity with the child; however, these groups limited PA by showing anxiety and stress. Barriers related to social determinants of health (SDOH) include costs, lack of education, and accommodations during PA. Environmental barriers included less PA during winter, weekends, and between the hours of 15:00 and 17:00. Discussion/Significance of Impact: Identifying barriers and facilitators to PA in patients with CHD is necessary to design tailored programs that will increase PA behaviors. Future work should integrate perspectives of clinicians, patients, and families with the factors described in this review, to create programs that effectively address low PA levels in the young CHD population.

Objectives/Goals: To identify clinician and researcher barriers, facilitators and learning preferences for patient partner engagement in research. In addition, to describe the strategies, our Patient Partners Program has planned for building clinician and researcher capacity to engage patient partners in clinical research. Methods/Study Population: Our program to promote authentic patient–researcher partnerships to advance clinical and translational research is grounded in participatory approaches to maximize meaningful engagement. We utilized small group listening sessions with health care providers involved in clinical research at the University of Michigan, Michigan Medicine healthcare system. Insights from these sessions are informing the development of learning models and curriculum content. We used purposive sampling to recruit individuals (n = 12) with a wide array of patient engagement experiences across diverse clinical departments. The study materials and interview guide were co-created with a patient research partner who also participated in co-facilitating the listening sessions. Results/Anticipated Results: The interview guide included questions about the benefits, challenges, and supports to engagement and capacity building training programs for researchers. The listening sessions were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed for common themes. Preliminary findings have identified the following themes related to barriers: (1) identifying and onboarding patient partners, (2) communication challenges, and (3) institutional and structural challenges (e.g., time constraints and difficulty offering compensation) and facilitators: (1) institutional and administrative support, (2) flexibility, and (3) respect, trust, and partnership. Improved knowledge about how and when to engage patient partners was identified as a key component to build researcher capacity in patient partnered research. Discussion/Significance of Impact: Integrating patient partners into study teams accelerates innovation and translational science, increases the relevance of research findings, improves health outcomes and patient empowerment, and elevates the value of the patient perspective allowing researchers to gain a new point of view from an individual with lived experience.

Research participants should be informed of genetic test results that could impact their health, particularly when they have expressed interest in receiving such information. Furthermore, the return of genetic test results is essential to improve trust, transparency, and health equity. However, investigators often encounter barriers in returning genetic test results to research participants. We examined genomic research at a large, research-intensive medical school and found less than 6% of protocols included plans to return results to participants. This study describes our development of protocols for returning primary and secondary genetic test results and implementation of a Genomic Return of Results (gROR) service. This arose through a collaboration with experts in community engagement, genetics, and pathology to consider consent adequacy, analytical/clinical validity, and clinical utility when returning results. The gROR service reduces investigator burden and provides participants with genetic information and guidance to address any potential health risks. Genetic results are returned by a genetic counselor at no cost to participants or their family. Investigator costs are subsidized to incentivize the delivery of actionable genetic test results to research participants. Our approach prioritizes transparency, accessibility, and informed decision-making, thereby promoting equitable sharing of genetic knowledge and personalized healthcare interventions.

Objectives/Goals: 1) Discuss process of pilot integration of Community Health Worker (CHW) services as a component of patient-centered healthcare service delivery in 3 clinic models. 2) Summarize profiles of patients who self-select to utilize CHW services. 3) Discuss social determinants of health impacts of underserved and historically marginalized populations. Methods/Study Population: The priority population consists of individuals living in Mobile AL at or below poverty level. USA Health Center for Healthy Communities (CHC) piloted the integration of CHW services at USA Health Stanton Road Clinic (SRC), at USA Student Run Free Clinic (SRFC), and as part of a Medi Hub Outreach Clinic with the historically underserved MOWA Choctaw native American population. SRC is a high-utilization clinic for uninsured or underinsured patients across the breadth of the Gulf Coast. The other 2 sites serve similar clientele. Social determinants of health (SDOH) screenings at intake facilitate CHW referral for a clients’ unique needs for support at healthcare or social care agencies. Referral summaries can then be used to guide planning, community collaborating partner intervention, and clinical quality certification, Results/Anticipated Results: Results include identification of referrals process by which CHWs are able to provide culturally competent support to persons accessing healthcare services at the 3 clinic models identified. Identification of top SDOH needs that preclude access to care among the patients served during a 24-month pilot period, e.g., (i) housing insecurity, (ii) food insecurity, (iii) transportation, (iv) health Ins, and (v) pharmacy access and payment assistance. Discussion of beneficial impacts for health care service delivery with other members of the multidisciplinary clinical teams as recorded referrals can be used to guide planning, clinic certification efforts Discussion/Significance of Impact: Patient utilization of CHW services though self-selective offers opportunities for equity in access to care services from direct SDOH impacts, where CHWs act as responsive resource coordinators within the multi-disciplinary service delivery team.

Objectives/Goals: Children with intestinal failure rely on central venous catheters (CVCs) for at-home delivery of hydration and nutrition to sustain life. CVC associated infections are the leading driver of morbidity in this population. It is currently unknown what challenges caregivers of this patients face for at-home infection prevention tasks. Methods/Study Population: This is a qualitative analysis of the clinical implementation of at-home CVC care. Participants will be caregivers of children with intestinal failure in the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles’ Intestinal Rehabilitation Program (a program with a large Spanish speaking population). The study team will conduct, record, and transcribe four synchronous remote focus groups using Zoom, two in English and two in Spanish, with 4–6 participants per focus group (n = 16–24). Questions will focus on caregiver experiences of CVC care. Transcripts will be analyzed using rapid qualitative analysis, an implementation science-oriented approach. The study team will review transcripts and summarize key points into matrices to examine relevant themes and quotes efficiently and systematically, using midpoint data analysis. Results/Anticipated Results: Illustrative quotes of all themes and domains discussed by caregivers will provide a person-centered overview of the specific types of facilitators and barriers to infection prevention task performance. Focus groups will be conducted in January 2025 with analysis in February. Facilitators and barriers will be mapped onto the Capability, Opportunity and Motivation behavioral model (COM-B), allowing for additional topics participants introduce by participants. Facilitators and barriers will affect all domains of the COM-B model and may also describe factors that cross multiple domains or fall outside the COM-B domains. Facilitators and barriers may differ between English and Spanish speaking caregivers. Discussion/Significance of Impact: Identifying facilitators of and barriers to infection prevention tasks will allow clinicians to maximize infection prevention efforts and improve quality of life for caregivers of children with intestinal failure. Additionally, this bilingual study will have improved external validity and address potential language-related barriers to care.

Rural primary care providers report increasing rates of professional burnout, which can further exacerbate rural provider shortages and health disparities. From 2023 to 2025, the Project ECHO team at Penn State University developed and delivered an educational rural health telementoring program, collaboratively with stakeholders, to disseminate guideline-concordant care to rural primary care clinicians. The program focused on key rural topics and created a professional learning community aimed at decreasing participant burnout. Self-reported results of the pilot program’s participants (n = 106) demonstrate increased knowledge (p < .001) and reduced professional isolation. Future programing will expand data collection to explore longer-term impact.

Acquiring the skills to obtain extramural funding is a major challenge for early- and mid-career investigators. The Professional Development Core (PDC) of the NIH-funded Mountain West Clinical and Translational Research Infrastructure Network (MW CTR-IN) aims to support early-stage and mid-career investigators pursuing independent careers in clinical and translational science research. Since 2018, the PDC’s Grant Writing Workshops (GWWs) have provided CTR investigators with didactic content and interactive feedback on their NIH grant applications, helping them reach this key career milestone. Four one-day GWWs were offered in person, and two half-day GWWs were offered virtually across two days during the COVID-19 pandemic. Evaluation data for each cohort revealed that participants’ knowledge and confidence in the relevant sections of NIH R-series grants consistently improved following GWW attendance and resulted in notable enhancements in participants’ feelings of positivity toward grant writing, regardless of delivery mode (virtual vs. in-person). Follow-up data showed that 12 GWW participants acquired external funding with a 21% success rate and $12,584,938 in total funding. This manuscript provides a roadmap for planning and implementing a successful virtual or in-person GWW that positively impacts the careers of early-stage and mid-career investigators.

The quality by design (QbD) framework holds promise for improving success rates for completion of clinical studies, which often fail to complete on time. Initially used in manufacturing, the framework is now frequently applied to clinical trials to anticipate risks and avoid challenges that impact study completion or the credibility of results. The Southern California Clinical and Translational Science Institute created and implemented a program based on QbD to increase the success of research studies, including clinical trials and other study designs, being conducted by scholars in our Mentored Career Development Program and awardees in our Pilot Grant Programs. The program’s three components are QbD Design Studios, project management, and team science support. The overall goal is to increase study quality and efficiency, thereby improving study completion success rates and, ultimately, driving innovations in healthcare and public health. The current article describes QbD program elements in detail, along with preliminary results from initial implementation, approaches for evaluating the program’s implementation and impact on study success, and plans to disseminate the program widely.

Objectives/Goals: To assess the association between integrase strand-transfer inhibitor (INSTI) use and sarcopenia, pre-frailty, and frailty in people living with HIV (PLWH) compared to non-INSTI users and HIV-seronegative controls, focusing on changes in muscle strength, function, and physical activity over time. Methods/Study Population: We analyzed data from the MACS/WIHS Combined Cohort Study (CCS) as part of the SPPACE INSTI Study. Eligible participants were PLWH on ART for ≥2 years or individuals at risk for HIV, with exclusions for pregnancy, active tuberculosis, malignancy, or PrEP use. Participants were grouped into 1) INSTI group (PLWH who switched/added INSTI), 2) non-INSTI group, and 3) HIV-seronegative controls. A total of 2,071 women and 1,807 men (2006–2020) were included. Sarcopenia analyses (AIM 1) included participants with grip strength/BMI data, and frailty analyses (AIM 2) included those with frailty data. Results/Anticipated Results: We anticipate that INSTI use will be associated with a higher prevalence of sarcopenia, pre-frailty, and frailty compared to PLWH on non-INSTI ART and persons without HIV (PWOH). Specifically, we expect greater declines in muscle strength, grip strength/BMI, gait speed, and overall physical function in the INSTI group. Furthermore, we predict that the INSTI group will show increased frailty markers, such as unintentional weight loss, weakness, and slow walking speed, over time. These findings could highlight a critical need for monitoring physical health in PLWH on INSTIs. Discussion/Significance of Impact: PLWH may experience sarcopenia and frailty earlier than those without HIV, and INSTIs might contribute. Given their widespread use, it is essential to assess the link to improve prevention and care strategies for those affected.

Objectives/Goals: Now in its 10th year, Research Jam, Indiana CTSI’s Patient Engagement Core, has proven to be an effective approach to patient engagement, foregoing generalized CABs for study-specific groups, personally invested in the research. Here we share our methods to benefit CTSAs seeking deeper engagement. Methods/Study Population: Research Jam is unique from patient engagement efforts in other CTSAs in almost every aspect. The composition and background of our team, the methodology to our practice and often our outcomes. This poster will use 10 years of projects, publications, and participant evaluations to explore our approach both quantitatively and qualitatively to see how it has contributed to the Indiana CTSI’s commitment to community engagement. Results/Anticipated Results: We will present quantitative data from 10 years of participant evaluations illustrating that Research Jams are received positively by those that attend, and qualitative analysis of the evaluations around themes of feeling heard, valued, and integral in research. By finding themes in evaluations across 10 years of studies, with different topics, different population types, and different investigators, we can speculate on what aspects of our approach appeal to the community, contribute to their positivity toward research and researchers, and could be reproducible in other CTSAs. Discussion/Significance of Impact: We use “blueprint” instead of “toolkit” when describing our process, as we hope others can see this not as a tool to fix a problem, but a plan to be iterated on in agreement with the community that will benefit from it. The relationships researchers need to build with communities are not cookie cutter neighborhoods, but rich, colorful and vibrant ones.

Objectives/Goals: Nearly 42% of adults in the USA have obesity; women are disproportionately affected. Women with obesity that become pregnant are especially prone to developing health condition; thus, aid is needed to achieve appropriate gestational weight gain (GWG). GWG interventions would benefit from examining the effects of social support and stress has on GWG. Methods/Study Population: The proposed study will examine whether expecting mothers’ social support predicts their perceived stress. Also, examine whether receiving aid, in the form of weekly meal delivery, changes perceived stress. Lastly, this study will explore if social support mediates the relationship between meal delivery and perceived stress. The study will use data gathered from a pilot GWG intervention focused on providing pregnant women weekly meal delivery. Participants (N = 14) will complete 2 visits at 16–20- and 35–36-weeks gestation, while receiving weekly meal deliveries. Data from both visits will be used for the purpose of this study. Women’s social support will be measured using the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support. While stress will be measured via the Perceived Stress Scale. Results/Anticipated Results: Previous behavioral weight loss studies have found that individual who endorse experiencing social support report less perceived stress. Although the relationship has seldomly been examined in pregnant women, similar results are anticipated. Often aid, such as meal delivery, can impact perceived stress and is likely to cause a positive change. To our knowledge, this is the first study to explore whether social support mediates the changes in perceived stress after receiving weekly meal delivery. Therefore, there is no known literature to suggest anticipatory results. Discussion/Significance of Impact: Few studies have examined the association between social support and perceived stress in pregnant women. This study will examine the effects social support has on a pregnant women’s stress. The proposed study will aim to identify if meal delivery changes perceived stress. If so, the study will explore if perceived social support mediates this change.