MyCap: a flexible and configurable platform for mobilizing the participant voice.

This paper provides a description of the MyCap data collection platform, utilization metrics, and vignettes associated with use from diverse research institutions. MyCap is a participant-facing mobile application for survey data collection and the automated administration of active tasks (activities performed by participants using mobile device sensors under semi-controlled conditions). Launched in 2018, MyCap is a no-code solution for research teams conducting longitudinal studies, integrates tightly with REDCap and is available at no cost to research teams at academic, nonprofit, or government organizations. MyCap has been deployed at multiple research institutions with application usage logged across 135 countries in 2021. Vignettes demonstrate that MyCap empowered research teams to explore and implement novel methods of information collection and use. MyCap's integration with REDCap provides a comprehensive data collection ecosystem and is best suited for longitudinal studies with frequent requests for information from participants.

Tackling the "so what" problem in scientific research: a systems-based approach to resource and publication tracking.

Peer-reviewed publications are one measure of scientific productivity. From a project, program, or institutional perspective, publication tracking provides the quantitative data necessary to guide the prudent stewardship of federal, foundation, and institutional investments by identifying the scientific return for the types of support provided. In this article, the authors describe the Vanderbilt Institute for Clinical and Translational Research's (VICTR's) development and implementation of a semiautomated process through which publications are automatically detected in PubMed and adjudicated using a "just-in-time" workflow by a known pool of researchers (from Vanderbilt University School of Medicine and Meharry Medical College) who receive support from Vanderbilt's Clinical and Translational Science Award. Since implementation, the authors have (1) seen a marked increase in the number of publications citing VICTR support, (2) captured at a more granular level the relationship between specific resources/services and scientific output, (3) increased awareness of VICTR's scientific portfolio, and (4) increased efficiency in complying with annual National Institutes of Health progress reports. They present the methodological framework and workflow, measures of impact for the first 30 months, and a set of practical lessons learned to inform others considering a systems-based approach for resource and publication tracking. They learned that contacting multiple authors from a single publication can increase the accuracy of the resource attribution process in the case of multidisciplinary scientific projects. They also found that combining positive (e.g., congratulatory e-mails) and negative (e.g., not allowing future resource requests until adjudication is complete) triggers can increase compliance with publication attribution requests.

StarBRITE: the Vanderbilt University Biomedical Research Integration, Translation and Education portal.

StarBRITE is a one-stop, web-based research portal designed to meet the day-to-day needs of the Vanderbilt University and Meharry Medical College research community during the planning and conduct of research studies. StarBRITE serves as the main online location for research support addressing issues such as identification and location of resources, identification of experts, guidance for regulatory applications and approvals, regulatory assistance, funding requests, research data planning and collection, and serves as a central repository for educational offerings. To date, there have been more than 590,038 StarBRITE hits by more than 6582 cumulative users. We present here StarBRITE design objectives, details about technical infrastructure and system components, status report and activity metrics for the first 2.75-years of operation, and a report of lessons learned during organizing, launching and refining the portal.

An informatics-based tool to assist researchers in initiating research at an academic medical center: Vanderbilt Customized Action Plan.

The regulatory review and approval process is a significant part of the workflow associated with initiating clinical and translational research projects. Ambiguity concerning submission requirements and expected times associated with the review process can create additional work for research teams and ultimately delay important scientific projects. In an effort to provide assistance to investigators, we have developed an online interactive interface which elicits basic study characteristics for a single project and subsequently produces a list of required administrative applications needed for approval along with clear instructions concerning expectations from the research team. This system, the Vanderbilt Customized Action Plan (V-CAP), was launched in October 2006 and has been well received by researchers. In this article, the authors present (1) the V-CAP project design, (2) a reference workflow associated with Vanderbilt policies and regulations, (3) the V-CAP metrics of use by Vanderbilt research teams, and (4) a list of recommendations for other academic centers considering a similar systems-based approach for helping researchers efficiently navigate processes related to regulatory approval. The informatics-systems-based approach of the V-CAP is scalable to other academic medical centers and may serve as a useful model to help researchers navigate the complexity of the regulatory approvals process.