Stephen Stacey, DO, FAAFP�David Schneider, MD, MSPH

Kabiul Haque, MD, MPH, MBA

William Sawaya, PhD

Building Research Capacity Preconference

From Silos to Synergy: Building Research Capacity Through Strategic Connections

November 21, 2025 | 1-5pm

Disclosures

• This workshop is presented by the Building Research Capacity (BRC) Curriculum Committee
• The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose

Agenda

• 1:00–1:15: Welcome & Introductions
• 1:15–2:45: Needs & opportunities
• 2:45–3:00: Break
• 3:00–4:15: Strategies & Methods
• 4:15–4:45: Plan
• 4:45–5:00: Wrap-Up

3

Needs & Opportunities

How does networking help?

• Do I prioritize networking or focus on independent research?

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“Networking is not about just connecting people. It’s about connecting people with people, people with ideas, and people with opportunities.”

Quote source: ***

Why do we need networking?

• Collaboration and knowledge exchange
• New ideas and perspectives
• Collaboration on projects
• Interdisciplinary innovation
• Combine expertise from different disciplines
• Ex: combining neurology and psychiatry with primary care
• Ex: combining public health, biomedical engineering, and health economics

Why do we need networking?

• Support and motivation
• Combating isolation
• Share experiences

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“Networking with integrity creates a greater willingness of all parties to be part of a human conduit to serve as energy and resource to one another”.

Quote source: ***

Why do we need networking?

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“To be successful, you have to be able to relate to people; they have to be satisfied with your personality to do business with you and build a relationship based on mutual trust.”

Quote source: ***

Outcomes of networking

• Collaborative networks can:
• Increase publication output and citation impact
• Help researchers advance in academic rank
• Expand visibility leadership opportunities
• Increase grant success and early-career funding
• Yield larger, multi-site awards
• Improve career satisfaction
• Sustain productivity beyond training

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Discussion

Why do we need to build successful networking in primary care research?

What do you need?

1. Resources
• Grant development
• Funding connections
• Admin support
2. Design & Analysis
• Statistics
• Methods expertise
• Data management

• Implementation
• PBRN
• Community partners
• Research coordinator
• Dissemination
• Manuscript editing
• Presenters
• Career advancement
• Others?

What do you have?

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“An essential part of networking is actually about what you bring to the table, not just what you want to get out of it. Contribution is a big part of networking success.”

Quote source: ***

What do you have?

• Resources
• Patients
• Clinicians
• Design & Analysis
• Clinically relevant questions
• Subject matter expertise

• Implementation
• Clinical relationships
• Dissemination
• Professional networks
• Career advancement
• Mentors/mentees
• Others?

Significance of networking

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“Networking is an investment in your business. It takes time, and when done correctly, can yield great results for years to come.”

Discussion

• How will networking help you and your institution professionally?
• How can you contribute to a research relationship?

Opportunities for networking

• Intentional networking programs
• Conferences
• Personal interactions
• What else?
• How do you create opportunities?

Where to look for partners

• The office nextdoor
• Other specialties
• Organizations: STFM, AAFP, NAPCRG, etc.
• Colleges/Universities
• Former teachers
• Authors of research papers
• Opportunistic

Discussion

• What other networking opportunities have you found?

Break

Strategies & Methods

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Types of networking

Image source: ***

Who to network with?

• Internal vs. external
• Specialty
• Mentor vs. mentee relationship
• Training background
• Trainee
• Clinician
• PhD
• Research assistant
• Statistician
• Etc.

Learners

• Extra hands to help get the work done
• They benefit from your mentorship
• Often have their own requirements
• Usually do not require funding
• Bring fresh ideas
• Can become future collaborators

Source: https://www.usemotion.com/blog/stakeholder-engagement-plan

Source: https://www.usemotion.com/blog/stakeholder-engagement-plan

Tracking matrix

Networking strategies and tools

• What is your project (Needs)?
• Who are the experts (topically and methodologically, access)?
• Locally within your institution
• Within your community
• Other schools/organizations
• Regional/National/International
• What do you bring to the table?

Example systems

• Healthcare Delivery Research Group
• Family medicine personnel meet monthly to discuss projects derived from a clinician and patient database
• Practice-based research questions with statistical support
• Example projects:
• Relationship of social determinants with quality metrics, utilization, and cost of care
• Impact of Annual Wellness Visits on health care utilization
• Patient and clinician survey of arsenic in well water
• ED to Primary Care Today

Example systems

• Family Medicine Innovation Laboratory (iLab)
• Opportunity to test innovations relevant to primary care in collaboration with specialty colleagues
• 415,000 patients and 575 clinicians
• Example projects:
• Gastroenterology (AI Cirrhosis ECG algorithm)
• Cardiology/Anumana (AIM - EAGLE implementation)
• Pharmacy (AKI hospital follow up R01 grant application)
• AI hip fracture prediction algorithm

Example systems

• Residency Research Network Of Texas (RRNeT)
• Group of ten family medicine residency programs
• Example projects:
• Johnson-Esparza Y, Wood R, Cruz I, Palmer R. Diabetes quality of life, Chemical Intolerance, and generational status in a Latino sample: an RRNeT study. J Diabetes Metab Disord. 2024;23(1):977-985. Published 2024 Feb 14. doi:10.1007/s40200-023-01374-3
• Buck K, Williamson M, Ogbeide S, Norberg B. Family Physician Burnout and Resilience: A Cross-Sectional Analysis. Fam Med. 2019;51(8):657-663. doi:10.22454/FamMed.2019.424025

Discussion

• What other networking systems have you seen?
• How well have they worked?
• How could you use/have you used them?
• How could they be improved?

Communication

• Have a specific ask
• Beware of TLDR (right level of detail)
• Be clear upfront about timelines
• Have a backup plan if/when they don’t respond

Tips & tricks

• Find out who is in charge of what
• When do you need to involve the “boss”?
• When you get a business card, immediately write on the card what you remember about the encounter and why you took it

Formalizing relationships

• Permission to collaborate
• Data sharing
• Memorandum of understanding (MOU)/memorandum of agreement (MOA)
• Contract

In summary

• Top three take-home points:
1. Relationships
2. Relationships
3. Relationships

Plan

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What are you going to do?

• In order to build your network?
• Internally?
• Externally?
• In order to assess your needs?
• In order to leverage your opportunities?
• In order to develop and implement a strategy?

Building Research Capacity (BRC)

BRC provides opportunities for all departments and residency programs to engage family medicine leaders, researchers and each other.

• BRC Fellowship to equip individuals with the knowledge, skills, mentorship and peer support to develop and implement a strategic plan for research capacity building within their own departments, programs or institutions.

• BRC Consultation Service for departments or programs to enhance scholarly activity, whether evaluation and improvement of educational and clinical programs or capacity to compete for external grant funding.

• BRC learning workshops at national family medicine meetings. Learn core curricula, meet others with common interests, find resources you may be able to tap into.

Survey

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Contact

• Stephen K Stacey, DO: stacey.stephen@mayo.edu
• David Schneider, MD, MSPA: david.schneider@utsouthwestern.edu
• Kabiul Haque, MD, MPH, MBA: mha001@lsuhs.edu
• William Sawaya, PhD: wsawaya@bgsu.edu
• BRC contact: JoBeth Hamon: jhamon@adfm.org

Why do we need networking?

• Career development and professional growth
• Mentorship
• Professional recognition
• Job opportunities

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“To be successful, you have to be able to relate to people; they have to be satisfied with your personality to do business with you and build a relationship based on mutual trust.”

Quote source: ***

Why do we need networking?

• Access to resources (Funds and grants)
• Research facilities, datasets
• Fundings/grants
• Dissemination of research
• Enhance credibility
• Increase citations

Why partner?

• Clear vision
• Shared goals
• Mutual value
• Career development
• Mentorship
• Advancement (promotion)

What do partners bring to a project?

• Funding
• Expertise
• Methods
• Creativity
• Help writing
• Dissemination/Presentation
• Scale
• Helpful hands