DISC Director: Debra Haire-Joshu, PhD
Phone: 314-935-3963
Email: djoshu@wustl.edu

DISC Associate Director: Ross Brownson, PhD
Phone: 314-935-0114
Email: rbrownson@wustl.edu

Senior Scientist: Ana Baumann, PhD
Email: abaumannwalker@wustl.edu

Senior Scientist: Rachel Tabak, PhD, RD
Email: rtabak@wustl.edu

DISC Lab Manager: Luke Zabotka
Email: zluke@wustl.edu

Location

The DISC is located on both the Washington University Danforth campus and the Washington University School of Medicine campus. These campuses are conveniently accessible to each other by free shuttle service or by the public MetroLink light rail system, which has stations on both campuses, 5 minutes apart.

The primary goal of the new Dissemination and Implementation Science Core (DISC) is to provide NORC investigators with support integrating dissemination and implementation (D&I) science into their nutrition and obesity-related research programs. The D&I of biomedical discoveries is challenging but an absolute necessity to ensure all populations benefit from investments in nutrition and obesity research, and close the gap between biomedical discovery and evidence-based practices, interventions, and policies.

The DISC will help NORC investigators develop the knowledge and skills needed to apply state-of-the-art D&I science to their research programs through the following two specific aims:

  • To provide individual consultation and training in D&I scientific methods for nutrition and obesity research via these services:
    • Conceptualize and design implementation science studies
    • Develop a dissemination plan for studies
    • Ensure efficient use of D&I web-based toolkits and other resources
    • Conduct manuscript and grant application reviews
  • To build team capacity in the broad range of skills essential for D&I research through these measures:
    • Engage NORC investigators in the Washington University Network for Dissemination and Implementation Research (WUNDIR), a regularly scheduled (every 6 weeks) event that addresses methodological and conceptual challenges of research grants and publications that involve D&I science and fosters transdisciplinary team science
    • Coordinate biannual day-long Next Steps events, in which NORC investigators form collaborative teams to develop manuscripts and/or grant proposals that incorporate D&I science into nutrition and obesity research.  The application of D&I science to T1 and T2 research provided by the DISC is cutting edge in support of the earliest phases of translational research, which will accelerate the translation of knowledge from NORC discoveries to real-world settings, and improve the potential for equitable impact on population health

Services available

The DISC provides the following services for NORC investigators:

  1. Provide individual consultation and training in D&I scientific methods for NORC research
    1. Conceptualize and design implementation science studies
    2. Develop a dissemination plan for NORC studies
    3. Facilitate efficient use of D&I web-based toolkits and resources
    4. Manuscript and grant application reviews
  2. Build team capacity in the broad range of skills essential for D&I of nutrition and obesity research
    1. Engage NORC investigators in the Washington University Network for Dissemination and Implementation Research (WUNDIR)
    2. Coordinate ‘Next Steps’ events
  3. Training and education
    1. Individualized consultations based on user needs

Please acknowledge the Washington University NORC, Nutrition Obesity Research Center,  in your publications by: “Supported by NIH grant P30 DK056341 (Nutrition Obesity Research Center).”