Research Projects
We encourage health centers to engage in research and we are here to help them be successful. Beyond health centers, AllianceChicago collaborates in research with academic institutions, research institutions, foundations, other non-profits, and government agencies
Active Projects
Capacity Building
NP3 and AllianceChicago are partnering together to foster a shared vision of enhancing research relationships between academic researchers and health centers within the AllianceChicago network and promoting practice-based research in health centers. This partnership makes it possible for AllianceChicago to dedicate resources towards prep-to-research and capacity building activities.
Chronic Disease Management
This initiative is the longest-running and largest observational Alzheimer’s disease (AD) study in the United States. Since the study’s launch in 2004, ADNI data has facilitated the design of major completed and ongoing drug trials and contributes invaluable results to help advance AD research. ADNI4’s Together Exploring Aging Minds (TEAM) cohort aims to address this by partnering with community health centers to enhance recruitment of understudied research populations, specifically individuals with lower education, lower socioeconomic status, and/or those who are underinsured or uninsured. TEAM-ADNI aims to: 1) improve recruitment and engagement of underserved populations, 2) validate biomarker measures across more representative groups, and 3) inform future Alzheimer’s clinical trial design. Funder: National Institute of Aging
This collaborative network of survivors, advocates, clinicians, researchers, and community organizations working to reduce disparities in survival and quality of life among young and metastatic breast cancer survivors in Chicago. YAAS! strengthens partnerships across the cancer care continuum to improve access, coordination, and equity in survivorship care. By leveraging clinical, community, and academic expertise, the network expands capacity for culturally responsive services, promotes stakeholder-driven solutions, and enhances support through coordinated resources and innovative approaches like telehealth and peer networking. Funder: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
This study seeks to characterize key timing and drivers of maternal and child cardiovascular health from preconception through postpartum, to help direct resources and inform future pragmatic, person-centered interventions.
The purpose of the project is to expand a central repository of data available to diabetes researchers and collaborators in order to improve diabetes for adult patients in CHCs and to engage CHC clinicians and staff in training and other activities to catalyze diabetes research in their settings. Funder: NIH/NIDDKD
AllianceChicago will support Northwestern University in this two part study: Study 1 will use qualitative research to test a pilot lung cancer screening tool with QR codes, aiming to customize content and materials for the target population. Study 2 will implement and test this tool to improve equitable access to screening. Funder: the Thoracic Surgery Foundation and AstraZeneca
The ECHO Diabetes FQHC program, led by the University of Florida, has been funded by a grant through the American Diabetes Association. AllianceChicago will lead the engagement of Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) in our network in the implementation and evaluation of this national program. Through ECHO Diabetes FQHC, participating FQHCs will have access to a tele-education intervention with continuing medical education (CME) credits provided, real-time support with complex medical decision-making, and access to an online repository of diabetes resources for geared toward primary care. FQHCs play a critical role in delivering care to people living with diabetes, and we are thrilled to link them to opportunities aimed at improving and evaluating outcomes for populations with insulin-requiring diabetes.
Infectious Disease/COVID
The objective of this study is to implement strategies to increase uptake and support PrEP persistence among Black cisgender women in community health center (CHC) settings. AllianceChicago and Health Choice Network will partner with University of Chicago for this 5-year NIH-funded project. This study will take place at 12 locations of care within 3 CHCs, including 4 sites in the Midwest and 8 in the Southern U.S. Funder: NIH
The overarching goal of this proposal is to integrate a pharmacy technician-based model for delivering long-acting injectable cabotegravir-rilpivirine (LA-CAB/RPV) into community-based federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) that care for underserved people with HIV (PWH). The specific aims are to 1) adapt and refine a pharm tech-based model of LA-CAB/RPV delivery (PHARM ART) for the community-based federally qualified health center (FQHC) setting, 2) implement and evaluate the refined PHARM ART model in a Type 3 hybrid implementation-effectiveness study and 3) assess the cost, budget, cost-effectiveness, and population-level equity impacts of the PHARM ART model.
Maternal and Child Health
The overarching aim of this study is to determine the optimal patient-centered strategy to improve care for children with acute otitis media and reduce unnecessary antibiotic use to mitigate antibiotic-associated harms. Funder: Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI)
This study will test a technology-based strategy to promote preconception care and diabetes self-management among English and Spanish-speaking women with type 2 diabetes in primary care. Aims 1. Test the medication reconciliation (MedRec) tool and deliver low literacy print tools to support diabetes self-care as well as post-visit text messaging to encourage healthy lifestyle behaviors to eligible patients 2. Analyze EHR data (e.g., HbA1c, blood pressure) on enrolled participants 3. Request feedback (via brief electronic survey) from 10 CHC personnel on their experience with the project. Funder: NIH
The REACH-OUT Trial has been funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI). AllianceChicago will work with Northwestern University on this study to achieve the following aims: 1) Test the effectiveness of REACH-OUT, compared to usual care, to lower systolic blood pressure within 3 months, improve adherence to antihypertensive therapy reduce use of contraindicated medications; 2) Assess the reach, adoption, implementation, maintenance, and costs of REACH-OUT components; and 3) Explore the dose-response effect of REACH-OUT on blood pressure, adherence to antihypertensive therapy, and use of contraindicated antihypertensives and/or contraceptives over 12 months.
The Illinois Maternal Health Innovation (MHI) Program aims to 1) Maintain a State Maternal Health Task Force and draft a new five-year Maternal Health Strategic Plan; 2) Improve the State-Level Maternal Health Data and Surveillance; and, 3) Promote and Execute Innovation in Maternal Health Service Delivery.
Through the Maternal Health Research Center of Excellence, the University of Illinois Chicago and AllianceChicago will establish a new program to develop, train, and support community health center researchers to study maternal health.
This is a longitudinal cohort study among English- and Spanish-speaking postpartum patients recruited from academic and community health centers in Chicago, IL to capture modifiable, multilevel factors affecting postpartum contraceptive use and unintended short inter-pregnancy intervals. Funder: Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
The EXamining Postpartum Access to primary care following exteNDed insurance coverage (EXPAND) retrospective cohort study seeks to fill gaps regarding the impact of Medicaid extensions on improving maternal outcomes, focusing on access to care and care quality. This study has two aims: 1) examine the relationship between continuous Medicaid coverage through 12-months postpartum and healthcare utilization for FQHC patients in the first year postpartum; and 2) explore how FQHC and patient characteristics interact with healthcare utilization for FQHC patients in the first year postpartum following postpartum Medicaid extensions. Funder: Commonwealth Fund
Mental/Behavioral Health
Pediatrics
Practice Optimization
This project will study the adaptation and implementation of an evidence-based secure firearm storage program, S.A.F.E. Firearm, in community health center settings.
Social Determinants of Health
Social impact
Substance Use
Building on a five-year partnership between AC and the Illinois Tobacco Quitline (ITQL), we will be piloting an onsite ITQL counselor at two Illinois FQHCs. This program is in response to barriers in access for safety net populations revealed in prior work. Our specific aims are to develop workflows, communications, training, and information flows to create a seamless on-site referral process between primary care and ITQL resources. Funder: American Lung Association/Illinois Tobacco Quitline