KP EPC researchers have led several projects providing technical and scientific resource support to the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF), the Evidence in Genomics Practice and Prevention Working Group (EGAPP), and the Effective Health Care (EHC) Program.
Scientific Resource Center for the US Preventive Services Task Force
In collaboration with Abt Associates, KP EPC researchers co-lead the Scientific Resource Center for the USPSTF. Our researchers have responsibility for several main areas of work:
- LitWatch Newsletter – a regular audit of selected information sources to locate newly published research and/or guidelines that are relevant to USPSTF topics and methods;
- Development of an Active Surveillance process to monitor for new research or environmental changes affecting selected high-visibility, high-priority USPSTF topics;
- Facilitating topic selection and prioritization by 1) evaluating the scope and relevance of newly nominated topics, and 2) preparing background documents outlining each topic’s relevance to and potential impact on prevention and primary care, public health importance, and existing controversy or mismatch between evidence and practice;
- Creation of a list of prioritized projects to advance USPSTF methods;
- Conducting methods projects, such as addressing subgroup analyses and interpretation in trials and systematic reviews, and supporting USPSTF efforts to codify and communicate the approach to incorporating decision analysis/modeling into its recommendation process.
Knowledge Synthesis Center for Evidence in Genomics Practice and Prevention
The use of molecular technology is increasing rapidly, creating an extraordinary demand for genomics research and research synthesis, in order to appropriately guide new knowledge about genomic tests into practice. In response to this demand, the Knowledge Synthesis Center was established by the Centers for Disease Control from 2010 to 2013 to produce information about how to apply genomic testing to health and health care. KP EPC researchers led this center, which provides:
- Systematic reviews that synthesize evidence on established and emerging genetic tests;
- Methods to improve the efficiency and quality of systematic reviews for genomic applications;
- Other methods projects, including developing, operationalizing, and pilot testing an evidence-informed method to determine when to report incidental findings from next-generation sequencing technologies.
Our researchers produce systematic reviews of the evidence to support the EGAPP Working Group, a multidisciplinary panel who guides clinical practitioners on the appropriate use of genetic tests. Because new genomic applications are being developed so rapidly, the Knowledge Synthesis Center also outlines new areas of needed clinical research.
Scientific Resource Center for AHRQ’s Effective Health Care Program
From 2007 to 2012, KP EPC researchers led topic development and selection activities for AHRQ’s Effective Healthcare (EHC) Program as their Scientific Resource Center, which included developing and implementing topic nomination development and selection processes for research topic nominations to the EHC Program. This work involved collaborating with AHRQ to outline selection criteria against which all nominations are evaluated to allow selection of topics for research reviews that are important, feasible, likely to have potential clinical impact, and not already addressed by existing high-quality reviews.
During this project, KP EPC researchers developed over 325 topics, which included background searching, definition of the topic scope, a search for systematic reviews, documentation of existing guidance on the topic, a feasibility scan for primary research, and completion of a three part topic brief that summarizes information relevant to the topic’s evaluation against EHC Program selection criteria.