The Summer Roundtable Series is a series of free, virtual roundtable discussions with content experts. Roundtable topics will range from health equity initiatives to the role of religious leaders in community health to how you can be a patient consultant to clinical researchers.

These roundtables complement and expand on curriculum of the PATIENTS Professors Academy. The PATIENTS Professors Academy is a free, 5-week program that is completely online with interactive components from our patient advisors and content experts.

Below is the list of roundtable discussions from 2022.

The National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities Research Framework: What does it mean for the future of health disparities research?

Dr. Yewande Oladeinde, Social & Behavioral Science Administrator at The National Institutes of Health

Dr. Oladeinde (NIH) will discuss the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD) Research Framework. Health outcomes can be attributed to a number of determinants and factors across a lifespan. The NIMHD Research Framework strives to capture these multiple determinants to eliminate minority health disparities. Through a recorded presentation and this discussion on July 13, you will learn how others have applied this framework and how it can help researchers and community partners in health research efforts.

Payer Roundtable: How Is the Payer Industry Meaningfully Engaging Patients?

Facilitator: Dr. David Yoder, VP of Member Care and Management for the Federal Employee Program, BlueCross BlueShield

Dr. David Yoder will bring together a panel spanning the landscape of payers and insurers to ask a central question: how are agents in this industry meaningfully engaging patients?

Health Literacy, Institutional Review Boards (IRBs), Consent Forms, and You

Julie Doherty, Assistant VP of Research Compliance with the UMB Human Research Protections Office
Jeff Wells, PATIENTS Professor and Patient Advocate, PATIENTS Program at the UMB School of Pharmacy
Mary Ann Williams, Research and Education Librarian, Health Sciences & Human Services Library, UMB

Did you know that anyone regardless of background can struggle with health literacy or understanding medical terms? Did you know that non-scientists are essential members of the process to writing research proposals in plain language? 

The process of creating, approving, and getting research instruments into a community relies on a collaboration between scientists and communities. Our panelists will discuss how this process works and how it can be improved by making health communication better. With their experience and practical tools, they can help you understand your rights as a patient and how you can better protect participants in research.

Evaluation: A Core Element of Community Engagement

Dr. Joey Mattingly, Associate Professor and Vice Chair for Academic Affairs, Pharmaceutical Health Services Research, Director of Operations, The UMB PATIENTS Program

Dr. Mattingly will provide short videos examining issues related to evaluation. He will lead an exercise to identify and utilize the appropriate evaluation methods based on a hypothetical engagement project. These videos and a live Q&A session will give you practical tools for evaluation that you can apply to future engagement projects.

FDA Perspectives on Patient Engagement in Medical Product Development

Facilitator: Dr. Eleanor Perfetto, Professor of Pharmaceutical Health Services Research, University of Maryland Baltimore

Dr. Perfetto has assembled an all-star line-up from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and people who have worked with the FDA’s Patient-Focused Drug Development (PFDD) program. These representatives will talk about the latest happening in their Center’s programs related to patient engagement and participate in Q&A with our audience. In addition, FDA special guests will record short videos to enlighten us about the FDA’s ongoing efforts in health equity and engagement with the patient community.

Panel speakers:

  • Robyn Bent, Patient Focused Drug Development Program Director, Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER)
  • Karen Jackler, MPH, Patient Engagement Program Manager, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER)
  • Michelle Tarver, MD, PhD, Deputy Director, Office of Strategic Partnerships and Technology Innovation, Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH)
  • Sadhna Khatri, Pharm.D., MPH, MS, Med, Supervisory Associate Director – Engagement Team, Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER)

Recorded 5-minute video from:

  • Jennifer Dexter - Assistant Vice President for Policy, National Health Council

Religious Leader Panel: How Faith Leaders and Communities Play a Key Role in Community Health and Patient Engagement

Facilitator: Dr. Franklin Lance, President and CEO, Parks & People Foundation

Faith communities act as the bedrock for our intersecting communities. Faith leaders can connect their congregations to health resources and can be champions of patient engagement in clinical research. Dr. Lance has been a key leader in creating a community-university-private sector partnership to create workforce development opportunities. Dr. Lance will discuss his role in building these types of partnerships and show how communities should be treated in partnerships with academia and the private sector.

Dr. Lance will speak with the panel on how their congregations have embraced their roles as champions of community and public health.

Community Engagement in Our Own Words

Rodney Elliott, Engagement Specialist, The PATIENTS Program
Adebukola Oluyole, Engagement Specialist, The PATIENTS Program
Barbarajean Robinson-Shaneman, Senior Program Specialist, The PATIENTS Program

The Community Engagement Team at the PATIENTS Program has been the heart, soul, and boots on the ground in helping reach communities. They will share their experiences of working closely with communities. What worked? What didn’t? They will talk about the tools they used to create and sustain the enduring partnerships vital to the work of the PATIENTS Program.

Dissemination, Implementation, and Return of Results to Participants and Communities: Closing the Loop in Stakeholder-Engaged Research

Facilitator: Dr. Brian Mittman, Senior Scientist in the Department of Research & Evaluation, Kaiser Permanente
Mr. Joshua Harris, PATIENTS Professor and Patient Advocate
Dr. Isabell May, Director, Writing Center at University of Maryland Baltimore
Dr. Julia Moore, Executive Director, The Center for Implementation

If you perform research and no one knows about it, did it ever happen? And what are the harms to research participants and partners when research results and reports are not shared? Dr. Mittman and our panelists will talk about the crucial importance of disseminating and returning research results to partners and creating pathways to enable research findings to be implemented in health care and public health settings. Our panelists have a wealth of experience not only in the science of dissemination and implementation but in its practice as well. They will take your questions and emphasize that community-engaged research doesn’t end once data are collected.

Patient Advisor Preparation: What to Know When You Have a Seat at the Table

Cynthia Chauhan, PATIENTS Professor and Patient Advocate
Gail Graham, PATIENTS Professor and Patient Advocate
DeJuan Patterson, PATIENTS Professor and Patient Advocate
Jeff Wells, PATIENTS Professor and Patient Advocate

You have graduated as a PATIENTS Professor. Now what? Our immensely experienced, “tenured” PATIENTS Professors will field your questions and discuss how the process of being a patient advisor on a research team actually works. Our panel has worked with researchers, evaluated research set to go into communities and written published articles on their experiences. They have been on the journey and want to make sure you are prepared when you take the first step on yours.