SCHOOL OF INFORMATION. UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN Great Lakes Regional Center for AIDS Research: Stephanie Teasley and Jason Yerkie School of Information University of Michigan

SCHOOL OF INFORMATION. UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN Outline n SOC functions –Primary –Secondary n Description –Goal –History –Organization –Funding –Incentives –Collaboration needs –Supporting needs –Collaboration readiness

SCHOOL OF INFORMATION. UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN Outline (cont.) n Access n Resource diagram n Technology employed n Successes and challenges n Usage –Analysis of user behavior –Analysis of user attitudes n Conclusions

SCHOOL OF INFORMATION. UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN SOC functions n Primary –Distributed research center n Secondary –Shared instrument –Virtual community of practice

SCHOOL OF INFORMATION. UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN Description: Goal n To create a “virtual center” for AIDS research, where science at the University of Michigan, University of Minnesota, Northwestern University and University of Wisconsin is conducted as if these labs were co-located –Complimentary technological or expertise-based services –Educational opportunities for all members of the participating labs.

SCHOOL OF INFORMATION. UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN History n Extending the successes of UARC/ SPARC to the biomedical community n Use only off-the-shelf technologies n First ever NIH CFAR grant to be virtual center.

SCHOOL OF INFORMATION. UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN Organization n 10 Founding Scientists –2 MI –4 MN –3 NU –2 WI n 110 Members –33 Full –41 Associates –24 Research Associates –9 In training –3 Affiliates n 1 Behavioral Analyst + Research staff

SCHOOL OF INFORMATION. UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN Funding n National Institutes of Health (NCI & NIAID; 5P30CA79458) –19 Centers of AIDS Research –Only geographically distributed CFAR –approximately $5M per year,

SCHOOL OF INFORMATION. UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN Incentives n Funding –No one site could have individually won a CFAR n Recognition –Highly visible in the AIDS community n Novel capabilities –Opportunity to collaborate with people that they may not have worked with before

SCHOOL OF INFORMATION. UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN Collaboration Needs n Communication: –Desktop video conferencing (1:1) –Virtual meetings (1:many) n Data Access –Transfer of data, databases, and images –Application sharing n Shared Authoring –Document collaboration n Distance education –Share expertise –Broadcast lectures and seminars

SCHOOL OF INFORMATION. UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN Supporting Needs n Virtual Lab Meetings n Virtual Seminars

SCHOOL OF INFORMATION. UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN Collaboration Readiness Technical n All sites had Internet 2 –WI limited access, NU has firewall issues n Multiple platforms: WinTel, Mac, and Unix n adoption similar to biologists –On average, scientists began using n No prior experience using other CMC n Phone and fax primary ways of communication for long distance collaborations

SCHOOL OF INFORMATION. UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN Collaboration Readiness (cont.) Social (Founding Scientists n=10) n 4 pre-existing within-site collaborations –Communication: face-to-face n 4 pre-existing cross-site collaborations –All between two sites –Communication: phone and n 3.5 anticipated new collaborations –1 new anticipated cross-site collaboration n One third of new collaborations with scientists who did not know each other

SCHOOL OF INFORMATION. UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN Access: People n Virtual Lab Meetings –AIDS Researchers with complimentary expertise and interests –Bench scientists and clinicians –Non-human primate researchers

SCHOOL OF INFORMATION. UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN Virtual Lab Meeting

SCHOOL OF INFORMATION. UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN Access: Information n Virtual Seminar Series –Presentations on pre-published work n Website –Directory of members and interests –Announcements and events –Portal for technical assistance and tips on using collaboration tools

SCHOOL OF INFORMATION. UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN Virtual Seminars

SCHOOL OF INFORMATION. UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN Access: Instruments n Microscope at Minnesota –Real-time view of specimens from microscope –Discussions with pathologist

SCHOOL OF INFORMATION. UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN Resource Diagram

SCHOOL OF INFORMATION. UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN Technology Employed (OTS) n Virtual Lab Meetings –Microsoft NetMeeting –Timbuktu –Virtual PC n Virtual Seminars –PlaceWare n Desktop Video –USB web cameras –iVisit n Data Sharing –Xerox Docushare

SCHOOL OF INFORMATION. UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN Success and Challenges n Membership –110 members out of a possible 171 (64%) n Virtual Lab Meeting –Clinical Protocol Development- written faster, got funded, study produced two high quality publications (so far) n Virtual Seminars –75% of membership participation in at least 1 seminar n Developmental Awardees –Leading to Prestigious RO1 Funding

SCHOOL OF INFORMATION. UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN Case-Study of Founding Scientists n Surveys, interviews, observations, and bibliographic analysis n Focused on: –Satisfaction with tools –Reported Collaborations –Impact on scholarly work

SCHOOL OF INFORMATION. UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN Case-Study: Group Virtual Lab Meetings n Lab site = presenter + 22 lab group members n 3 “local” colleagues in different buildings n 3 remote sites = 2 collaborators and 1 scientific advisory board member (outside of the Great Lakes area)

SCHOOL OF INFORMATION. UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN Case-Study: Scientist-to-Scientist Virtual Lab Meetings n One-to-one interactions in real time n Regularly scheduled meeting time n Focused interaction over shared data n Accelerates study design, data analysis and review, presentation preparation n Trouble shoot problems as they occur (e.g., protocol changes, subject recruitment, sample processing)

SCHOOL OF INFORMATION. UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN Case-Study: Satisfaction with Virtual Lab Meetings* *Survey administered after the first 3 meetings (n=16) Strongly Disagree/Disagree Neutral Agree/Strongly Agree

SCHOOL OF INFORMATION. UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN Case-Study: Satisfaction with Virtual Lab Meetings (cont.)  "The active participation of investigators looking at tissues is akin to the free- association process of a good lab meeting.”  "Never seen such detail results of lymph tissue, especially on-line. Had a chance to discuss quality control of specimen processing”  "Major enhancement --- allows for a whole new level of discussion and analysis between PIs."

SCHOOL OF INFORMATION. UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN Case-Study: Reported Collaborations* *at end of Year 3

SCHOOL OF INFORMATION. UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN Case-Study: Reported Collaborations (cont.) NU MN WI Vaccine & Other Prevention R&D: Identification of MHC restricted epitopes Therapeutic R & D: Primary infection and therapeutic interventions Epidemiology & Natural History: *Genetic diversification of viruses Pathogenesis: Trafficking patterns of transduced cells in vivo MI Pathogenesis: Pathogenesis of Kaposi’s Sarcoma Pathogenesis of mucosal transmission in acute SIV infection

SCHOOL OF INFORMATION. UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN Case-Study: Impact on Scholarly Work Grants n 8 new grants funded –1 within-site grant, collaborators had not previously been funded together –5 grants involving collaborators across two sites Only one of these grants involved collaborators who had previous funding together –2 grants from 3 sites. Prior to CFAR, there were no grants involving collaborators across 3 sites. n 1 additional grant pending with collaborators across two sites

SCHOOL OF INFORMATION. UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN Case-Study: Impact on Scholarly Work (cont.) Publications n 14 new papers together –9 papers have same-site colleagues all of these papers were founding scientists who had published together before the GLR CFAR grant –5 papers have cross-site colleagues; one paper represents a prior co-authored publication

SCHOOL OF INFORMATION. UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN General Membership: Example of Cross Site Authorship

SCHOOL OF INFORMATION. UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN General Membership Study n Surveys, interviews, observations, and bibliographic analysis n Focused on: –Satisfaction with tools –Impact on scholarly work

SCHOOL OF INFORMATION. UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN General Membership: Cumulative Membership

SCHOOL OF INFORMATION. UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN General Membership: Motivations for Joining n “Gain information about HIV research, contacts in the fields locally, and perhaps having funding opportunities available” n “Opportunity for effective collaboration” n “Participation in research activities; promote local and regional HIV research” n “To take advantage of the shared resources and to apply for a Developmental Award”

SCHOOL OF INFORMATION. UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN General Membership: Scientific Productivity Funding n 64% increase in NIH funded research base (context of 33% increase in overall AIDS-related research) n Developmental award winners: –8 of 9 awardees received subsequent funding –4 went on to receive RO1 totaling $5.6M

SCHOOL OF INFORMATION. UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN General Membership: Scientific Productivity (cont.) Publications n September 1998 to March 2001 n 106 Members n 558 Publications n Top Five Journals (28% of total pubs) –J. Virology –J. Infectious Diseases –J Immunology –AIDS –Infectious Immunology

SCHOOL OF INFORMATION. UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN General Membership: Scientific Productivity (cont.) n Single author pub is CFAR member: 5% n At least 2 authors CFAR members from same site: 14% n At least 2 authors CFAR members from different sites: 1% n One CFAR member author: 80%

SCHOOL OF INFORMATION. UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN General Membership: Satisfaction with Virtual Seminar* *Survey administered after first 5 seminars(n=36) Strongly Disagree/Disagree Neutral Agree/Strongly Agree

SCHOOL OF INFORMATION. UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN General Membership: Impact on Scholarly Work Method: Pair-wise Survey (preliminary data) n Respondents: 41 –37% of total membership n Total within site collaborations: 200 n Total between site collaborations: 68 n Total number of reported collaborators: 82 –75% of total membership n Average reported collaborators: 8.17

SCHOOL OF INFORMATION. UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN General Membership: Impact on Scholarly Work (cont.) Work in progress…under review…accepted…rejectedOtherTotal Within Site Between Site Totals

SCHOOL OF INFORMATION. UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN General Membership: Impact on Scholarly Work (cont.) n “Provide ideas and access to lab techniques that our ACTU group doesn't have.” n “We are a small service organization with limited sets of hands, so collaborating with others definitely makes our job easier.” n “Colleagues with additional expertise in HIV/AIDS, including virology immunology. Colleagues with contacts to help develop and implement research proposals.”

SCHOOL OF INFORMATION. UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN Advantages and Disadvantages of Distributed Research Center for Scientists Positive: More data Negative: Greater need for new ways to keep track of shared data Positive: Potentially more interaction with colleagues Negative: –Greater need to coordinate schedules –Interactions less rich than f2f Positive: Extends access to collaborator’s data Negative: Even more data!!

SCHOOL OF INFORMATION. UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN Some Key Findings n Off-the-shelf technology can be used for an effective collaboratory n Where effective is… –New collaborations created –Faster work (e.g., protocol development) –Support for junior members n Local technology support significantly increased the likelihood of use and adoption n Participation by site PI influences behavior of the members at that site

SCHOOL OF INFORMATION. UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN Questions Collaboratory support within the context of a “Distributed Research Center”… n Is it the technology or the social organization that influences behavior? n Can we tease these apart, and do we need to?

SCHOOL OF INFORMATION. UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN Questions (cont.) n How to accurately assess effects: –Increase participation in assessments? –Legitimate control group? –Disentangle effects of participant observers? (blurred distinction between analysts vs. service providers)