AIM-AHEAD RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP

Closed Applications

About the Research Fellowship

The AIM-AHEAD Research Fellows Program provides early-career researchers (graduate students, postdocs, junior faculty, and others conducting research outside of an academic institution, within 10 years of completing their highest degree) the opportunity to receive funding and support for research on novel and innovative data science and data-focused research problems; specifically, those focused around health disparities and inequities. The guiding principles for project selection will include the consideration of the applicant’s career goals, the potential for future productivity, and the alignment of the proposed research with the overarching goals of the AIM-AHEAD initiative. Fellows will work in collaboration with the AIM-AHEAD Coordinating Center, a nationwide consortium establishing mutually beneficial, coordinated, and trusted partnerships between institutions and communities promote broate participation in the development of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (AI/ML) models.

AIM-AHEAD Research Fellowship Program will engage a group of early-career researchers to actively participate in biomedical research that involves the use of AI/ML methodologies on biomedical research data, clinical and genomic cohorts to address health disparities and inequities, including bias in AI/ML algorithms or data.

The program is open to individuals conducting research at the intersection of healthcare practice and delivery, AI/ML methods, and the advancement of health equity. The AIM-AHEAD Consortium From institutions and their investigators from a variety of fields of study, institutions, and geography. 

Consistent with applicable law, the AIM-AHEAD Research Fellows Program will not use the race, ethnicity, or sex (including gender identity, sexual orientation, or transgender status) of prospective program participants or faculty as an eligibility or selection criteria.

The Research Fellows will be able to choose from a variety of available datasets to study their research question. Fellows are limited to choosing one primary data source on which to focus their research and an optional secondary one if justified. Each data source has corresponding infrastructure and training available to support the fellows throughout the fellowship program. Available data sources are described below.

The research project needs to focus on AIM-AHEAD North Star (III): Use AI/ML to address disparities and minority health in behavioral health, cardiometabolic health, and cancer.

As the AIM-AHEAD consortium develops, more data, infrastructure, and training will be made available to the fellows and to the broader community. 

 

 

Research Fellows Will:

  • Be our collaborators. Together, we will test and expand the AIM-AHEAD ecosystem with new tools, data, resources, and capabilities. The Fellows will provide insight and guidance as we build and refine the AIM-AHEAD program. 
  • Be members of the AIM-AHEAD consortium.
  • Be the first users of the ecosystem, chosen in part because they have projects that can benefit from, and be of benefit to, AIM-AHEAD.
  • Access training, AI/ML expertise, data, tools, and resources to conduct the research fellowship research.
  • Access institutional support for obtaining IRB approvals and signing data use agreements to conduct research.
  • Dedicate sufficient time to carry out their projects, accelerating their research productivity.
  • Access data (see options below and requirements for data access).
  • Access AI/ML scalable cloud infrastructure (multiple options available).
  • Participate in selected AIM-AHEAD consortium, core, and workgroup meetings.
  • Receive training in ethics and equity issues in AI/ML, as well as gain exposure to methodologies and software to detect and mitigate algorithmic bias.
  • Publish their results in peer-reviewed journals and at the AIM-AHEAD annual meeting in accordance with AIM-AHEAD publication policy.

 

Dataset Accessible

Fellows will be able to pick one primary data source to use for their project. A secondary data source can be selected if relevant to the research project. A justification is required. Patient-level data from the various datasets cannot be combined - no exceptions. Each data source will have a specific infrastructure that must be utilized for the project, and selecting a secondary data source may mean working on multiple infrastructure platforms.

  • For example, if a research fellow selects OCHIN as their primary source of data and a curated study from Data Bridge as their secondary source, they will be expected to perform their analyses on the AIM-AHEAD Service Workbench for the OCHIN data and AIM-AHEAD Data Bridge Virtual Machine for their secondary analysis. 

Dataset Options

(more information available on below datasets/cohorts):

 

 Datasets  Brief Description  Data Allowed  Size  Analysis platform tools
A customized subset from OCHIN Community Health Equity Database EHR data from underserved communities HIPAA Limited dataset, individual-patient level data with dates and geographic indicators if needed for research A customized subset will be created for the research question of awarded fellow from over 6 million records AIM-AHEAD Service Workbench
Curated data from the MedStar Health EHR EHR data from hospital system network with 31% African American patient representation Multiple curated dataset options (further detail on website) pre-curated or custom curated de-identified EHR, Limited Dataset, Full PHI EHR dataset, Imaging, Select clinical notes, select genomics data, synthetic data  

Pre-curated datasets and custom curated datasets of varying sizes


Curated from the EHR with over 5 million patient records

AIM-AHEAD Data Bridge
60+ studies from NHLBI BioData Catalyst Selected large-scale cohorts related to heart, lung, blood and sleep disorders. Includes both prospective clinical studies and associated genomic TOPMED data De-identified dataset. Including individual level genomic (TOPMED full genomes) and clinical datasets. Additional description

List of studies: 60+ studies are available to choose from 
NHLBI BioData Catalyst PIC-SURE and Seven Bridges Platforms
Selected 15 Open datasets on AWS A variety of datasets are available including clinical and genomic data Public data, and controlled access data (depends on selected dataset) Selected 15 Open datasets on AWS AIM-AHEAD Service Workbench
NIH All of Us The All of Us Research Program is building one of the largest biomedical data resources of its kind. The All of Us Research Hub stores health data from a diverse group of participants from across the United States.  Additional descriptions


616,000+

Participants


360,000+

Electronic Health Records


444,000+

Biosamples Received

All of Us Researcher Workbench
The ScHARe Data Ecosystem ScHARe is a cloud-based research collaboration platform developed by the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities and the  National Institute of Nursing  Research Google-hosted Public Datasets

ScHARe-hosted Public Datasets


ScHARe-hosted Project Datasets

 The ScHARe Data set list ScHARe Community Workbench

Infrastructure

Infrastructure of 1) OCHIN and 2) AWS Open Datasets will use AIM-AHEAD Service Workbench (SWB). SWB  is a tool for any cloud computing data analysis that will be conducted throughout this fellowship. More information is available here.

Applicants may want to explore the OCHIN Community Health Equity Database for feasibility assessment as they write their proposals. OCHIN provides the means to do so through the use of Cohort Discovery, a web-based software tool for obtaining counts of patients matching user-specified inclusion/exclusion criteria. To gain access to Cohort Discovery, AIM-AHEAD program applicants must have completed and be up to date with standard training in Human Subjects Research and Responsible Conduct of Research such as those offered by the CITI Program. To request access to OCHIN’s Cohort Discovery, AIM-AHEAD program applicants can complete the “i2b2 End User Agreement.”

Infrastructure for AIM-AHEAD Data Bridge will connect to a Windows Virtual Machine (VM)

Applicants whose research question can be addressed with AIM-AHEAD Data Bridge (AADB) data may choose to schedule a pre-award data consultation with AADB to discuss their research question with the AADB team and methodologist. The AADB can perform a preliminary cohort discovery to provide estimated sample sizes and confirm the availability of relevant variables for custom dataset requests. 

Available EHR data include (but are not limited to): demographics, problems list, surgical history, observations, medical history, procedures, prescriptions, billing, provider, clinical notes, clinical unit/department, allergies, images, social history, diagnoses, admissions, encounters, social history, environmental and social determinants of health, device implants, images.

Infrastructure for BioData Catalyst will use the NHLBI BioData Catalyst  PIC-SURE and Seven Bridges Platforms. An NIH eRA Commons ID is mandatory in order to access these resources.

Infrastructure for All of Us Research Program will use the All of Us Workbench, a cloud-based platform where registered researchers can access Registered and Controlled Tier data.

Infrastructure for ScHARe Data Ecoysystem will use the ScHARe Collaborative Workspace by Terra, an open-source data analysis platform based on Google Cloud Platform.

Read the Call for Proposal for Research Fellowship Cohort 3 

Application Process:

Step 1: Click here to register as a “mentee/learner” on AIM-AHEAD Connect (our Community Building Platform)

Step 2: Click here to submit a fellowship application for review using InfoReady platform*.

 * To submit your application in InfoReady, please use Chrome, Firefox, or Edge. If you're using Safari, make sure to clear your cache before logging in.

Please note both steps must be completed for consideration.

All applications must be received by Monday, June 17, 2024, 11:59 PM Eastern Time.

Applications for the Research Fellowship Cohort 3 is now CLOSED.

Informational Webinar 

There will be an informational webinar for the AIM-AHEAD Research Fellowship Cohort 3 on Thursday, May 2, 2024, from 2:30 pm - 3:30 pm ET.

Click here to view the recorded Research Fellowship #3 Informational Webinar.

Click here to view the Research Fellowship #3 Informational Webinar Slide Deck. 

Frequently Asked Questions

Collections of answers to our most Frequently Asked Questions about the AIM-AHEAD  Fellows Program are available here

Please visit this page regularly as we will continue to add additional answers.

Questions regarding the Fellows Program may be directed to:

https://helpdesk.aim-ahead.net/ticket/create/research_fellowship

 

Program Directors:
  • Director: Paul Avillach, MD, PhD, Harvard Medical School
  • Co-Director: Wyatt Bensken, PhD, OCHIN
  • Co-Director: Nawar Shara, PhD, MedStar Health Research Institute 
  • Co-Director: Chunmei Liu, PhD, Howard University
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