227 The History of PACER (Partners for the Advancement of Community Engaged Research) as a Special Interest Group of ACTS

Abstract

OBJECTIVES/GOALS: To outline the successes of Partners for the Advancement of Community Engaged Research (PACER), a Special Interest Group (SIG) of ACTS, created to bring together academic and community researchers to promote best practices, contribute to science and form collaborative networks to improve public health through community research and dissemination. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: Developed from the CTSA Key Function Committee, PACER began monthly meetings in early 2015. Zoom replaced teleconference technology for the initial email list of about 100 people from 50 institutions which has grown to 225 members from 88 affiliates. Meeting attendance is 40 to 50. PACER meetings start with operational updates and member announcements (15 minutes), proceed to presentations (20-25 minutes), followed by Q & A and discussion (20 minutes). A subset of members functions as an Operations Workgroup, meeting monthly to discuss emerging issues and guide the group’s activities. Email traffic is intentionally limited to one or two messages a month, including meeting announcements. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: PACER meetings have included 65 presentations. Featured speakers have described local community engaged research, explored methodology, and talked about diversifying the workforce, ethics, programs and partnerships. PACER members have collaborated on three manuscripts published in the Journal of Clinical and Translational Science; one with 50 members and 20 institutions contributing. Additionally, PACER members obtained two federal grants, including a network to recruit underrepresented scientists and diverse participants for the All of Us precision medicine effort. These projects totaled $23.5M in funding and involved 9 CTSA hubs. Measuring the value of ongoing dialogue and promulgation of successful practices through presentations has proven challenging. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE: ACTS support helps PACER SIG members share research interests, develop papers and proposals, and archive meeting materials on the SIG webpage. Beginning with Translational Science 2018, the in-person PACER meeting is a much-anticipated opportunity to meet colleagues and foster new collaborations, and is a critical addition to the PACER calendar.