Call for Scientific Abstracts For Panel and Poster Presentations
May 13, 2010
Sheraton Imperial Hotel
Research Triangle Park, North Carolina

The North Carolina Practice Improvement Collaborative (NCPIC) is pleased to offer an opportunity for researchers who have been conducting research in the areas of mental health, developmental disabilities, or substance abuse to present their findings to other researchers, providers, policymakers, and consumers.

Created to advance the provision of evidence-based services and supports for people with mental illness, developmental disabilities, and substance abuse service needs, the NCPIC meets quarterly to review practices/programs and host educational events. In addition, the NCPIC holds an annual Congress to make recommendations to the NC Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities and Substance Abuse Services. At the 2010 Congress, the NCPIC will also highlight the innovations and research coming out of our state by featuring presentations from North Carolina’s research community.

Researchers will present in one of four categories: Original Research, Program Descriptions, Literature Review, or New Investigators. All presentations will include an Aim, a Conclusion and a “Supported by” statement. Original Research must include Methods and Results sections. (These sections are optional for the other categories.) Each abstract should be submitted on the form included with this document.  The character limit is 2200 for the text of the abstract.

Original Research
In this category, we will highlight prospective and retrospective studies that involve testing a hypothesis by collecting and analyzing data. Each abstract submitted should be original research, whether it is basic science research or a clinical research study. The abstract should include the following: hypothesis, methods, data analyses procedures, results, and significance of findings.

Program Descriptions
Abstracts submitted as program descriptions should be based on research findings that are not research studies. No data are required; however, this category should not be used to describe ongoing original research for which there currently are no data. Rather, these abstracts should describe programs or themes that are not based upon hypothesis-driven research.

Literature Review
Individuals who have conducted a review of the current published literature on a specific topic are not required to include specific data. These abstracts will be required to include a concluding statement regarding the findings of the literature review.

New Investigators – Poster Sessions Only
The NCPIC is especially interested in encouraging the work of new investigators just beginning their careers in our state. It is the commitment of these future researchers that will foster continued improvements in services and supports for people with mental illness, developmental disabilities, and alcohol and substance abuse prevention and treatment needs. Many of our institutions of higher education are national leaders in these areas, and we want to support them in maintaining their positions. Therefore, the NCPIC members would like to acknowledge North Carolina’s new investigators, who are poised to become the next generation of research leaders.

Abstracts for the New Investigators Poster session may highlight research projects that have only recently become funded (within 12 months) or are projects in their initial stages of data collection. The focus of this session is to inform others about new studies as well as highlight the researchers themselves.

The Congress will feature both poster and paper sessions. (Young Investigators will be poster only presentations.) Once abstracts are peer-reviewed, selected abstracts will be organized into sessions. First authors will be contacted by email no later than April 1. Abstracts will be distributed at the meeting and featured on the NCPIC website.

Instructions for the Submission of Abstracts:
Presenters to the NCPIC Congress must be either sponsored by a member of the NCPIC or obtain a sponsor directly from the Governor’s Institute. Contact information for sponsors can be found under these headings Mental Health / Dr. Wei Li Fang, Developmental Disabilities / Dr. Jill Hinton and Substance Abuse / Dr. Sara McEwen.

Abstracts should be submitted electronically on this form before March 12 to Mary Powell. The email subject line should be NCPIC CONGRESS ABSTRACT. A copy of your abstract should also be sent to your sponsor.