About us
The Iowa Research Network (IRENE) is a practice-based research network (PBRN) supported by the University of Iowa’s Department of Family and Community Medicine and external research funding. IRENE was established in 2001 and includes providers, pharmacists, and other community members from across the state of Iowa. In 2023, IRENE began expanding its membership to include nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and pharmacists.
Our Mission
The mission of IRENE is to foster a community of researchers, health care providers, pharmacists, and patients to advance research that addresses local needs.
IRENE draws on the experience and insight of network participants to identify and frame research questions whose answers can improve local health care. By linking these questions with rigorous research methods, IRENE produces research findings that can be immediately relevant to health care teams and more easily translated into everyday practice.
Patient Advisory Board
The Patient Advisory Board is a subset of IRENE patient and caregiver members from diverse racial, socioeconomic, and educational backgrounds. The Board will draw on their lived experiences to offer providers and UI researchers actionable feedback on a wide range of study plans and materials (e.g. study designs, recruitment materials, research topics).
Steering Committee
The Steering Committee provides oversight of all activities, sets research priorities, assists with resource allocation, and guides outreach to fellow researchers.
The Iowa Research Network (IRENE) is supported by staff from the University of Iowa’s Department of Familyand Community Medicine.
Korey Kennelty, PharmD, MS, PhD, BCGP
IRENE Director and Vice Chair for Implementation Science
Jeffrey Quinlan, MD, FAAFP
IRENE Medical Director
Professor, Chair, and Department Executive Officer
Kathryn Dorsey, MBA
IRENE Program Coordinator
Meta-LARC
IRENE is a member of the Meta-network Learning and Research Center (Meta-LARC), which includes seven PBRNs comprising almost 1,000 primary care practices and 7,000 clinicians who care for over 3 million patients in rural, urban, and underserved communities. Meta-LARC provides a robust infrastructure capable of managing large clinical trials and practice transformation initiatives.
The size of the consortium and partnerships with institutional Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) programs facilitates a broad range of Health Information Technology and Meaningful Use projects. Meta-LARC is a voice for PBRN research and works together through common infrastructure that promotes continuous learning and the development of practices for evidence dissemination and knowledge transfer.
