Launched in August 2022, the Research Alliance in Implementation Science to End HIV (RAISE) is a National Institutes of Health-funded initiative working to advance the contribution of implementation science (IS) working towards Ending the HIV Epidemic (EHE) by providing technical assistance, forging new collaborations, and building capacity of health departments in EHE jurisdictions. RAISE is led by Dr. Kenneth Sherr in close collaboration with Dr. Matthew Golden, Dr. Christine Khosropour, Dr. Arianna Means and a distinguished group of expert faculty. Providing IS technical assistance to EHE-funded research projects, RAISE contributes to efforts improve the uptake and effectiveness of HIV/AIDS interventions and bend the curve on the HIV epidemic in the US. RAISE also works in partnership with the National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors (NASTAD) to provide technical assistance to health departments. The RAISE-NASTAD platform links health departments with implementation researchers to promote new research collaborations that are responsive to health department needs, enhance the impact of EHE-supported implementation efforts, and build a long-term collaborative infrastructure for implementation science. RAISE is one of eight EHE implementation science hubs across the country, all coordinated by the HIV Implementation Science Coordination Initiative at Northwestern University. Collectively, this network has become known as they have become known as the Capacity-building Hubs to Enhance the Science of HIV Implementation REsearch (CHESHIRE) network. RAISE was originally funded as a supplement to the University of Washington/Fred Hutch Center for AIDS Research.
RAISE Objectives
RAISE provides targeted consultations on cutting-edge implementation science methods, supports funded EHE projects to report required outcomes to enhance their generalizability, builds health department and junior researcher implementation science knowledge and skills, and supports academic-health department partnerships to integrate implementation science methods into health department EHE implementation efforts. Our approach leverages the depth and breadth of implementation science capabilities and training opportunities at the University of Washington/Fred Hutch Center for AIDS Research (UW/FH CFAR)’s Implementation Science Core (established in 2018), the University of Washington more broadly, and the resources and national collaborative network of the National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors (NASTAD). Our specific objectives are:
- Provide consultation services to select NIH-supported EHE research projects and support these EHE projects to meet reporting requirements.
- Strengthen implementation science in the context of local EHE activities through a health department-focused implementation science platform in collaboration with NASTAD.
- Foster the improved implementation of local EHE activities focused on HIV treatment through the establishment of joint Ryan White/health department learning collaboratives.