(November 2012) The School of Medicine houses a new national center created to improve preventive services in primary care practice. The Center for Research in Implementation Science and Prevention (CRISP) is one of three new national centers funded by the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. 

Part of its mission is to help reduce the time it takes research to translate into practice. CRISP brings together expertise in implementation of preventive services, practice-based research networks and national authorities in innovative health information technology. 

Current projects focus on adult cardiovascular disease prevention and pediatric obesity prevention, and on ways to increase pediatric immunization rates. “Increasing the number of interventions that translate into practice can have a direct and positive impact on the public’s health by increasing access to approaches that have been demonstrated to improve health in diverse populations,” the CRISP website explains.