Health Research Alliance Inc

COMMITTED TO MAXIMIZING THE IMPACT OF BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH TO IMPROVE HUMAN HEALTH

CONVENE MEMBERSHIP TO FOSTER COMMUNICATION AND COLLABORATION.HRA IS AN INCLUSIVE AND DIVERSE COMMUNITY THAT PROVIDES A FORUM FOR SHARING EFFECTIVE PRACTICES AND TOOLS, ALONG WITH A SAFE SPACE FOR LEARNING FROM FAILURES. LEARNING FROM EACH OTHER ULTIMATELY HELPS MEMBERS IMPROVE THEIR ORGANIZATIONS AND BUILD THEIR CAPACITY. HRA CONVENES BOTH IN-PERSON (HYBRID) AND VIRTUAL MEMBERS MEETINGS. INCLUDING REMOTE ATTENDEES IN OUR IN-PERSON (HYBRID) MEETINGS, AND HOSTING COMPLETELY VIRTUAL MEETINGS, ENABLES PARTICIPATION BY MEMBERS WHO WOULDN'T NORMALLY HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO ATTEND IN-PERSON, RESULTING IN AN INCREASE FROM ABOUT 100 ATTENDEES AT IN-PERSON MEETINGS TO ZOOM MEETINGS WITH 200 MEMBERS ATTENDING SOME OF THE SESSIONS. WE HOST A MEMBERS MEETING TWICE A YEAR, AND THE AGENDAS ARE CREATED BY A PROGRAM COMMITTEE, MADE UP OF HRA MEMBERS AND SUPPORTED BY HRA STAFF. THE PROGRAM COMMITTEE DEVELOPS SESSIONS FOR MEMBERS MEETINGS THAT FOSTER COLLABORATION AND ADDRESS IMPORTANT AND CHALLENGING ISSUES FOR PHILANTHROPY AND THE BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH SECTOR. THESE SESSIONS OFTEN ALIGN WITH OUR "LEARNING COMMUNITIES," TO BRING IN EXTERNAL EXPERTS AND HIGHLIGHT DISCUSSIONS AROUND DEI, SUSTAINABILITY OF THE RESEARCH WORKFORCE, OPEN SCIENCE, AI/LLM, HOSTING PATIENT REGISTRIES, AND OTHER TOPICS HRA MEMBERS DISCUSS YEAR-ROUND. THE PROGRAM COMMITTEE ALSO DEVELOPS MEETING SESSIONS AROUND BROADER TOPICS LIKE STRATEGIC PLANNING, EFFECTIVE COLLABORATION STRATEGIES, OR PATIENT ENGAGEMENT, WHICH ARE JUST AS URGENT FOR FUNDERS TO TACKLE, AND THOSE SESSIONS GARNER A MUCH MORE DIVERSE AUDIENCE THAN THE SPECIFIC TOPICS ADDRESSED BY THE LEARNING COMMUNITIES. IN ADDITION TO OUR MEMBERS MEETINGS, WE ALSO PERIODICALLY HOST REGIONAL MEETINGS LED BY HRA MEMBER ORGANIZATIONS AND SUPPORTED BY HRA STAFF. WE CONTINUE TO HOST VIRTUAL CEO ROUNDTABLES SEVERAL TIMES A YEAR WHICH LEAD TO OTHER ACTIVITIES SUCH AS HOSTING TARGETED WEBINARS AND CREATING RESOURCES THAT OFTEN DEAL WITH HUMAN RESOURCE ISSUES WHERE CEOS FIND LEARNING FROM THEIR PEERS INVALUABLE. UPON RECOMMENDATION FROM THE CEOS, WE NOW HAVE A PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM FOR STAFF AT HRA MEMBER ORGANIZATIONS, WHICH HOSTS WEBINARS INTENDED TO INCREASE STAFF CAPACITY IN AREAS SUCH AS COMMUNICATION, LEADERSHIP, AND NETWORKING.

SUPPORT INFRASTRUCTURE AND PRACTICES TO SHARE RESEARCH, DATA, AND ANALYSIS. HRA'S CURRENT STRATEGIC PLAN SETS OUT 4 GOALS AND STRATEGIES RECOMMENDED TO ACHIEVE THOSE GOALS STRATEGIES WE CONTINUE TO IMPLEMENT AND USE TO EVALUATE PROGRESS TOWARD THE PLAN. MANY OF THE STRATEGIES RECOMMENDED INVOLVE SUPPORTING HRA'S INFRASTRUCTURE AND PRACTICES TO SHARE RESEARCH, DATA, AND ANALYSIS. FOR EXAMPLE, HRA ANALYZER IS HRA'S PROPRIETARY DATABASE THAT PROVIDES DATA-DRIVEN ANALYSIS ENABLING MEMBERS TO BETTER UNDERSTAND THE IMPACT OF THEIR GRANTMAKING PRACTICES, AS WELL AS PERFORM LANDSCAPE ANALYSES TO UNDERSTAND THE BROADER BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH FUNDING LANDSCAPE. HRA HOSTS FREQUENT "LUNCH AND LEARN" SESSIONS TO HELP HRA MEMBERS UNDERSTAND THE VALUE OF HRA ANALYZER. THESE PERIODIC WEBINARS INCLUDE LEARNING HOW TO UPLOAD DATA; USING THE DATABASE FOR GAP ANALYSES TO BETTER TARGET LIMITED FUNDS; EVALUATING PROGRESS AND DEVELOPING NEW PROGRAMS TO ADVANCE A MORE EQUITABLE BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH WORKFORCE; IDENTIFYING COLLABORATING ORGANIZATIONS OR REVIEWERS; AND MANY OTHER USE CASES. WE WORK WITH GRANTS MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS SUCH AS PROPOSALCENTRAL AND SMARTSIMPLE TO FACILITATE EASIER DATA UPLOADS INTO HRA ANALYZER. WE ALSO EMPLOY A CONTRACTOR TO HELP ORGANIZATIONS UPLOAD DATA AND USE THE ANALYTICAL FUNCTIONALITY IN HRA ANALYZER FOR THEIR OWN USES. HRA OFTEN USES THE ANALYTICAL TOOLS IN HRA ANALYZER DATA ON BEHALF OF MEMBERS TO HELP THEM FIND COLLABORATING ORGANIZATIONS OR IDENTIFY AREAS OF UNDERFUNDING TO EXPLORE. IN ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF HRA'S POWERFUL INFRASTRUCTURE, HRA OPEN IS A PLATFORM DEVELOPED BY HRA TO ENABLE PUBLICATIONS AND OTHER RESEARCH OUTPUTS TO BE MADE OPEN AND FREELY ACCESSIBLE - NOT ONLY TO THE SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY BUT TO ANYONE. HRA OPEN FOSTERS OPEN SCHOLARSHIP ACROSS HRA MEMBER ORGANIZATIONS AND THEIR RESEARCHERS, WHICH CONTINUES TO BE AN IMPORTANT STRATEGY TO IMPACT INVESTMENT IN BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH. IN ADDITION TO ENABLING MEMBERS' OPEN SCIENCE POLICIES, HRA OPEN IS A POWERFUL RECRUITING TOOL. IT HAS LED NEW FUNDERS TO JOIN HRA MAINLY TO BE ABLE TO USE THIS INFRASTRUCTURE. HRA ALSO SURVEYS OUR MEMBERSHIP ANNUALLY TO UNDERSTAND CHALLENGES TO FUNDRAISING AND OTHER IMPACTS ON REVENUE, AS WELL AS ISSUES RELATED TO GRANTMAKING AND PROGRAMMING. WE MAKE THOSE DATA AVAILABLE TO HRA MEMBERS AND PERIODICALLY PUBLISH THAT ANALYSIS MORE WIDELY. FINALLY, HRA USES THE INFRASTRUCTURE OF OUR WEBSITE AS A CENTRAL REPOSITORY OF CURATED RESOURCES, AND TO PUBLICIZE EVENTS.

GATHER AND DISSEMINATE KNOWLEDGE TO FOSTER INNOVATIVE GRANTMAKING AND ADDRESS CHALLENGES IN BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH. GOAL 2 OF HRA'S STRATEGIC PLAN "DRIVE INSTITUTIONAL LEARNING TO INCREASE MEMBER ORGANIZATIONS' EFFECTIVENESS" SPECIFICALLY TARGETS THIS ACCOMPLISHMENT, THOUGH MANY OTHER PARTS OF THE PLAN CONTRIBUTE AS WELL. HRA GATHERS AND DISSEMINATES KNOWLEDGE TO FOSTER INNOVATIVE GRANTMAKING AND ADDRESS CHALLENGES IN BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH BY PROVIDING LEADERSHIP, KNOWLEDGE, TOOLS, AND OPPORTUNITIES TO COLLABORATE AND IDENTIFY EFFECTIVE GRANTMAKING STRATEGIES. WE USE HRA'S LISTSERV AS A FORUM FOR HRA MEMBERS TO SEEK GUIDANCE, ASK QUESTIONS, AND POSE CHALLENGES TO FELLOW MEMBERS OUTSIDE OF FORMAL GROUPS OR MEETINGS. HRA'S "LEARNING COMMUNITIES" ALSO PROVIDE LEADERSHIP, KNOWLEDGE, TOOLS, AND OPPORTUNITIES ON TOPICS THAT ARE CRITICAL TO THE BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH FUNDING SECTOR. LEARNING COMMUNITY TOPICS INCLUDE AI/LLM, CLINICAL TRIALS, DIVERSITY, EQUITY, & INCLUSION, DRUG AND OTHER THERAPY DEVELOPMENT, GRANTS ADMINISTRATION, MISCONDUCT AND ETHICS, OPEN SCIENCE & DATA SHARING, PROGRAM EVALUATION, REGISTRY AND BIOREPOSITORY, AND RESEARCH WORKFORCE AND EARLY CAREER DEVELOPMENT. THE COMMUNITIES WORK BY CONVENING REGULARLY VIA ZOOM, CREATING TOOLS, AND COLLECTING EFFECTIVE STRATEGIES TO SHARE WITH THE MEMBERS. THESE COMMUNITIES DIVE DEEP INTO ISSUES THAT IMPACT OUR MEMBERS, AND DEVELOP RECOMMENDATIONS, IDENTIFY RESOURCES, OR FACILITATE DISCUSSION ABOUT WHAT HRA AND HRA MEMBERS CAN IMPLEMENT OR SUPPORT TO MAKE PROGRESS IN VARIOUS AREAS. COMMUNITIES ARE CREATED WHEN A NEED ARISES BUT ALSO SUNSET WHEN THE APPLICABILITY TO HRA MEMBER ORGANIZATIONS SIGNIFICANTLY DECREASES. WE ALSO HOST ON HRA'S WEBSITE A FREQUENTLY UPDATED GRANTMAKING HANDBOOK FOR HRA MEMBERS AND THE COMMUNITY (INCLUDING "HOW TO'S" FOR BIOMEDICAL GRANTMAKING).