National Research Coaching Program

To establish a nationwide clinical research coaching program for researchers of Brazilian cardiology centers, enabling them to make the transition from a research idea to a scientific manuscript published on scientific journals of high impact factor, funding proposals and patents.

International Coordinator: Prof. Ricardo Pietrobon (EEUU), pietr007@gmail.com
National Coordinator: Prof. Lucia C. Pellanda (Brasil), lupellanda@gmail.com
National Manager: Karlyse C. Belli (Brasil), karlyse@gmail.com
National Submanagers: Clarissa G. Rodrigues (Brasil y EEUU), Claudia C. Cesa (Brasil), Vinicius F. David (Brasil).

The national organization of the program has been conducted by the researchers described above, which are responsible for the structure, organization and support of the Program in Brazil. The team was trained by an international network of researchers specializing in the research process of the Research on Research Network Group and has been working with the platforms for more than two years, in which the team is responsible for conducting training sessions at cardiology centers in Brazil. The group is constantly developing, attending national and international workshops and conferences on a daily basis.

Now in 2012, the program aims to engage more cardiology research centers in Brazil, which will be trained by the national coordinators, supported by the international network of researchers from the Research on Research Network Group. Each center attends eight weekly training modules, consisting of text and video contents, combined with exercises and problems to be solved by the trained participants. All the material is submitted online and all the meetings are held in a virtual environment. The researchers attend weekly meetings with the coordination committee to ask questions and check their performance in each module. The training consists of five main research platforms: online communication, formulating the research question, literature review, scientific writing and statistical analysis.

This is a dynamic process in which the researchers should systematically go through each module. The researchers who complete all eight modules within the expected deadline with satisfactory performance will be invited to move on to a second phase of training involving research projects connected to their institution and/or international institutions.

Further information is available on the video stored on the Research on Research Network website:
http://researchonresearch.duhs.duke.edu/

The goals and results expected by the Research Coaching Program can be divided into three levels:

• Local level: : : identify outperforming researchers during the training and engage these researchers in research projects connected to their institutions and/or international institutions.

• National level: promote the exchange of information and standards, since all centers involved are trained using the same research platforms, resulting in the establishment of a cardiology research network in Brazil specializing in cardiology and highly trained in research processes at the same time.

• International level: the Research Coaching Program is established in many countries in the world and all centers involved are trained using the same research platforms. This creates an international network of research involving highly trained coordinators and centers, resulting in increased exchange of information concerning international research, improving the quality of studies, raising the bar on quality and consequently the reliability of evidence generated.

The program is in its second year and aims to increase the cardiology research network that was established in 2011, expanding the activities in the centers previously included and enabling new centers to participate in national and international collaborations. For further information, do not hesitate to contact the Program Coordinators.