Learning Health System Embedded Scientist Training and Research (LHS E-StaR) Centers

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) and the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI)  support the Learning Health System Embedded Scientist Training and Research (LHS E-STaR) centers. These centers will be funded over 5 years to support learning health systems, including patient-centered comparative clinical effectiveness research. Through this joint initiative, AHRQ and PCORI continue their mutual commitment to support learning health systems by training a new cadre of learning health system scientists. Grantees will create new models of learning health system infrastructure that will use evidence generated by these scientists' research to optimize care as quickly, broadly, and equitably as possible and ultimately improve health outcomes. The 16 centers nationwide that have been awarded grants to conduct this work for the first year are listed in the table below.

After AHRQ and the PCORI launched the LHS E-STaR centers, AHRQ awarded a cooperative agreement to the University of Pennsylvania (Penn) to establish an evaluation and coordination center for the LHS E-STaR network. This coordinating center is named the SCALE-LHS Hub, which stands for Synthesize, Coordinate, Amplify, Learn, and Evaluate the AHRQ/PCORI LHS network (U18HS030335). SCALE-LHS is led by principal investigators Dr. Meghan Lane-Fall, Dr. Jaya Aysola, and Dr. Jennifer Myers and represents a partnership between the centers they direct: the Penn Medicine Center for Health Equity Advancement (CHEA) and the Penn Center for Healthcare Improvement and Patient Safety (CHIPS), respectively. 

SCALE-LHS will coordinate communication across the LHS E-STaR network, support cross-network activities, identify and amplify best practices for promoting care equity and stakeholder engagement, perform evaluations of the centers and the network, and synthesize insights from the LHS E-STaR centers. In addition, SCALE-LHS will disseminate findings through annual reports, peer-reviewed publications, white papers, and other media aimed at informing the public, policymakers, clinicians, and health system leaders.

For more information on this initiative access our blog.