The Society for Implementation Research Collaboration (SIRC) is a society dedicated to facilitating communication and collaboration between implementation research teams, researchers, and community providers. SIRC aims to bring together researchers and stakeholders committed to the rigorous evaluation of the implementation of evidence-based interventions.
History and Inspiration
Some years ago, Evidence-Based Interventions (EBIs) were unusual. Most clinicians provided eclectic treatment that had never been evaluated empirically. Over the past 50 years, many treatments have been tested and evidence-based treatments evolved. In the process, rigorous methodologies were developed for evaluating the process and outcomes of EBIs. Historically, there was little interest in the community to use EBIs. Over the past two decades, collaboration with clinicians and policymakers has increased support for EBIs. Now community providers need to learn and use EBIs. Researchers, universities, and training organizations have begun consulting on and researching how to meet this demand. It is time for training and implementation strategies to be held to the same empirical standard as the interventions themselves. Otherwise, the implementation of EBIs can not be sustained.
Fortunately, implementation research teams are taking on this challenge. They have developed creative and cutting-edge ideas to successfully train and implement EBIs, as well as new methodological approaches to evaluate the results. Little has been published and often these teams aren’t aware of each others’ progress. This lack of dialogue is leading to unnecessary repetition of work and the absence of common methods, measures, and standards for implementation research. The goal of SIRC is to facilitate communication and collaboration among implementation research teams, researchers, and community providers. Our goal is successful models of EBI implementation, but efficient but rigorous methodologies to evaluate the process and outcomes of further implementation innovation. In addition to the conferences, we have created a community of stakeholders interested in implementation research, the SIRC Network of Expertise. We are also developing this website to disseminate important publications, presentations, instruments, etc.
Current Officers
Current President: Suzanne (“Sue”) Kerns, PhD. The SIRC president plans the next conference, represents SIRC, calls meetings, oversees initiatives and coordinates the other officers. Dr. Sue Kerns is a clinical community psychologist, professor in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Colorado and the Director of Transformative Research at the Kempe Center for the Prevention and Treatment of Child Abuse and Neglect. Sue’s research, teaching, and clinical experiences focus on ways to improve the quality and effectiveness of child and family mental health services in real world settings to maximize public health impact. Thus, much of her focus is on enhancing the wellbeing of children and families through ensuring access to proven-effective treatment approaches, including examining the acquisition, implementation, adaptation, and sustainability of evidence-based practices.
Past President: Byron Powell, PhD, LCSW. Dr. Byron Powell is an Assistant Professor and Co-Director of the Center for Mental Health Services Research at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis. Byron’s research focuses on efforts to improve the quality of behavioral health and social services. His scholarship has focused on barriers and facilitators to implementing evidence-based practices; designing, tailoring, and assessing the effectiveness of implementation strategies; and advancing implementation research methods.
PastPresident: Sara J. Landes, PhD. Dr. Sara Landes is currently an associate professor at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in the Center for Implementation Research and the Associate Director of the Behavioral Health QUERI and a clinical psychologist in the Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System. Her research interests are in implementing evidence-based psychotherapies in large health care systems such as the VA, with a focus on treatments for suicide.
Founder and Past-President: Kate Comtois, PhD, MPH. Dr. Kate Comtois is a full professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Washington. She is an EBP Champion as she directs a clinic in which she has been implementing EBPs as well as an Intermediary – providing training and consultation on Dialectical Behavior Therapy implementation. She is the founder of SIRC and was PI of the NIMH conference grant from which SIRC began.
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Secretary: Sean Arayasirikul, PhD. The secretary schedules meetings, takes minutes, tracks tasks, monitors the website and sircimplementation@gmail.com email. Dr. Sean Arayasirikul is a Medical Sociologist and Associate Professor In-Residence at the University of California, Irvine in the Department of Health, Society, and Behavior. Their research is focused on the development and implementation of digital health interventions in clinical and nontraditional settings to improve engagement in health care among sexual and gender minoritized communities.
Student Secretary Officer: James Merle. The Student Secretary Officer assists the secretary by taking minutes, managing emails, and organizing officer meetings. James is currently a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Utah School of Medicine, where he contributes to implementation science across a broad spectrum of federally-funded cardiovascular and mental health implementation and hybrid implementation-effectiveness trials. The content of his work is on improving implementation outcomes around health disparities, including cancer symptom management, HIV prevention, and reducing cardiovascular disease, hypertension, and pediatric obesity.
Treasurer: Andrea K. Graham, PhD. The treasurer manages the budget and accounts and forecasts funds for future conferences and initiatives. Dr. Andrea Graham is Assistant Professor in the Center for Behavioral Intervention Technologies at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. Andrea’s research focuses on the design and evaluation of digital mental and behavioral health interventions, with a particular emphasis on their implementation in health care settings. She also is interested in understanding issues such as the costs of treatment that impact adoption of interventions in practice.-
Membership Chair: Hannah Frank, PhD. The membership chair oversees membership, collects dues, and conducts initiatives to increase membership of under-represented groups. Dr. Hannah Frank is a postdoctoral fellow at The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University in the Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior. Hannah’s clinical expertise is in the treatment of pediatric anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorders. Her research is focused on identifying strategies to support community organizations in the adoption of evidence-based practices, especially exposure therapy for anxiety and related disorders.
Student Membership Officer: Madeline Larson. The Student Membership Officer assists the Membership Chair with membership communications and conducting membership outreach in the service of reaching membership targets. Madeline is a third-year doctoral student in the school psychology program at the University of Minnesota. Overall, her work focuses on promoting youth and family access to high-quality behavioral health services via the implementation of evidence-based treatments (EBT) in community-based and non-specialty settings, such as schools and primary care centers. To achieve this work, Madeline’s research centers on: (1) community-academic partnerships, intermediaries, and embedded research; (2) identification of determinants and design of implementation strategies that enhance successful uptake and delivery of EBT; as well as (3) identification and pragmatic measurement of mechanisms by which implementation strategies work to more precisely match strategies to barriers that impede successful uptake and delivery of EBT.
Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Chair: Sapana Patel, PhD (she, her, hers). The DEI Chair is responsible for working with SIRC board members to promote diversity, anti-racism, social justice, and equity in the professional society and embed practices and policies that support leadership and infrastructure for diversity, equity, and inclusion. Dr. Sapana Patel is an Associate Professor of Clinical Psychology (in Psychiatry), Director of Implementation Science at the Center for Practice Innovations at Columbia Psychiatry and the New York State Psychiatric Institute and a Research Associate at the Center for Excellence in Cultural Competence supported by the New York State Office of Mental Health. Dr. Patel is a bilingual (Spanish-speaking) Indian American clinical psychologist and services researcher whose work focuses on developing person-centered interventions and novel service-delivery approaches to help overcome disparities in the care of individuals with mental illness from marginalized and minoritized communities.
Chair of the Established Investigator Network of Expertise: Nicole Stadnick, PhD, MPH. The Chair of the Established Investigator Network of Expertise (NoE) leads works closely with other NoE Chairs to plan mentoring, training, and networking opportunities for Established, New, and Trainee Investigators. Dr. Nicole Stadnick is an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at UC San Diego, Director of Dissemination and Evaluation of the UC San Diego Dissemination and Implementation Science Center, researcher at the Child and Adolescent Services Research Center, and a licensed psychologist. She has received NIH-funded fellowships from the Child, Intervention, Prevention, and Services Research Mentoring Network (2015-2016), the Implementation Research Institute (2017-2018), and the Mixed Methods Training Program for the Health Sciences (2019-2020). She leads community-engaged, cross-system health services and implementation research for individuals with complex health clinical presentations served in community settings including federally qualified health centers, low-and-middle income countries, publicly-funded mental health services, and HIV/AIDS care programs. Her work is funded by NIMH, NHLBI, NIEHS, NIAID, NIMHD, state, and private foundations.
Chair of the New Investigator Network of Expertise: Bo Kim, PhD. The Chair of the New Investigator Network of Expertise (NoE) coordinates NoE activities for early-career investigators who are actively building their experience as implementation researchers, and collaborates with the Chairs of the other NoE divisions to provide networking, mentorship, and educational opportunities to the SIRC NoE community. Dr. Bo Kim is an Investigator at the VA Center for Healthcare Organization and Implementation Research, and an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. She directs the evaluation core of the VA Behavioral Health Quality Enhancement Research Initiative (QUERI) Program, and also serves as the systems analysis lead for the implementation core of the VA Bridging the Care Continuum QUERI Program. With an academic background in systems science and engineering, her research interests are in applying interdisciplinary methodologies toward studying the quality and implementation of mental health services.
Chair of the Practitioner Network of Expertise: Will Aldridge, PhD. The Practitioner Network of Expertise (PNoE) is comprised of experts on the principles and process of EBP implementation – that which occurs outside of research environments – including policymakers, administrators, intermediaries, and providers. Dr. Will Aldridge is Senior Implementation Specialist & Director of The Impact Center at Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is also Adjunct Assistant Professor at UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health and Steering Committee member of the Coalition for the Promotion of Behavioral Health. A clinical psychologist by training, Will’s work focuses on the collaborative development, evaluation, and improvement of implementation practice models and strategies in support of equitable community and system outcomes..
Student Chair of the Practitioner Network of Expertise: Stephanie Brooks. The student chair for the PNoE works closely with the chair on coordinating events, meetings, and membership across all three subnetworks. Stephanie Brooks is a PhD student in General Public Health (School of Public Health, University of Alberta) and also works for the Alberta Strategy for Patient-Oriented Research, Learning Health System Team. In her employment, she is responsible for enabling implementation research partnerships that support spread, scale, and sustainment of health innovations across the province. She studies her workplace’s approach to create evidence-based guidance for implementation research partnership building and knowledge application in learning health system contexts.
Social Chair: Margaret Crane, PhD. The social chair organizes and coordinates SIRC social events during the SIRC conference, including dinners, fun runs, and other activities. In addition, the social chair organizes events for SIRC members to gather across the year and while attending other conferences. Dr. Crane is a postdoctoral implementation science fellow at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University’s BRIDGE program. Her research focuses on how to increase the accessibility of evidence-based practices through policies to fund these programs, as well as strategies to increase consumer demand for EBPs.
Communications Officer: Taren Swindle, PhD. The Communications Chair of SIRC helps to disseminate news and events of the organization via our email listserv and social media. Dr. Taren Swindle is an Associate Professor in Family and Preventive Medicine within the College of Medicine at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. Dr. Swindle’s research focuses on increasing adoption of evidence-based practices and interventions in community settings such as this through application of Implementation Science. She has a particular focus on obesity prevention and nutrition promotion for young children in families and communities impacted by poverty.
Student Communications Officer: Tyler Frank, MS. The Student Communications Officer assists the Communications Chair with representing SIRC in the social media landscape, as well as the mailing list and website. Tyler Frank is a third-year doctoral student in the Public Health Sciences program at Washington University in St. Louis, and his advisor is Dr. Patrick Fowler. Tyler’s research interests involve understanding the implications of food security in low-income pregnant women in the U.S. with an emphasis on adverse childhood experiences, use of systems science, and goal of bridging the gap between research and practice.
Technology Chair: Sheila V. Patel, PhD (she, her, hers). The technology chair oversees and programs the website and related online initiatives. Dr. Sheila Patel received her doctorate in health services research with a concentration in organizational theory and implementation science from the Gillings School of Global Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is an Implementation Scientist in the Center for Behavioral Health Epidemiology, Implementation, and Evaluation Research at RTI International, where she primarily focuses on identifying evidence-based behavioral health interventions and developing tools and strategies to facilitate their implementation at scale.
Student Representatives: Clara Johnson & Linda Guzman. The student representatives lead the Student NoE mentorship program, develop resources to meet student needs, and provide support to the SIRC officers as needed to maximize SIRC conferences and initiatives.
Clara Johnson is a third-year graduate student in the child clinical psychology program at the University of Washington and works with Dr. Shannon Dorsey. She graduated from Trinity University with a BA in Psychology and Spanish, and completed her post-baccalaureate research with Dr. Shannon Wiltsey Stirman at the Dissemination and Training Division at the National Center for PTSD. Clara’s research focuses on developing strategies to address social risk factors alongside mental health care to improve access to and engagement in evidence-based psychotherapies.
Linda Guzman, PhD., is a postdoctoral implementation science fellow at The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University’s BRIDGE Program. She earned her clinical psychology Ph.D. and MA from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville and obtained her BA in psychology from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. She studies culturally responsive behavioral interventions that are feasible and acceptable for Latinx populations.
Conference Chair: Geetha Gopalan. The conference chair plans the biennial SIRC conference, including selecting the location, theme, and keynote speakers and organzinging preconference workshops and the call for abstracts. Geetha Gopalan is an Associate Professor at the Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College, City University of New York. Her research focuses on increasing the ability of families impacted by poverty to access and engage in evidence-based practices which enhance children’s mental health and family functioning Her direct clinical practice experience, spanning over 10 years in children’s mental health and child welfare services, drives this scholarship towards a heavy emphasis on prioritizing the needs and interests of consumers (e.g., caregivers, youth) as well as designing and evaluating interventions which can easily engage families and be implemented in low-resource, “real-world” contexts.
Sponsors
Learn more about our sponsorship levels (Champion, Collaborator, Partner & Friend) here. We are deeply grateful to our current sponsors:
