Citizen Scientist with the OneFlorida Clinical Research Consortium Invited to Serve on National PCORnet Data Committee

Ravi Bhosale, a member of the Citizen Scientist program with the UF Clinical and Translational Science Institute and the OneFlorida Core Data Trust Infrastructure Workgroup, was invited to serve on the Data Committee of the national Patient-Centered Clinical Research Network (PCORnet). The PCORnet infrastructure is part of the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI), a nationwide network linking large numbers of patients, health care systems, clinicians, and researchers across the country to accelerate the translation of research findings into patient-centered care. The OneFlorida Clinical Research Consortium has been designated one of 13 regional networks in PCORI.

Bhosale, CEO and founder of a Gainesville, Florida-based medical billing and practice management company called NeatBiz Solutions, joined the CTSI’s Citizen Scientist program in July 2015. The Citizen Scientist program engages patients and community members as collaborators throughout the research process, helping with the identification of study topics, study design, recruitment, retention, interpretation of the findings, and information dissemination. As a citizen scientist at UF, Bhosale also serves on the OneFlorida Core Data Trust Infrastructure Workgroup. He said his background with business software and support systems for medical practices, including medical coding, billing, and electronic health records, enables him to contribute his community-member perspective to this workgroup in meaningful ways.

The PCORnet Data Committee oversees PCORnet’s data network, advancing informatics and research data innovations that support PCORnet’s goals.

“PCORI has a special place in my heart,” Bhosale said. “My parents are diabetic and those genes are passed on to further generations. After seeing the suffering and side effects from this chronic disease and the impact it has on daily activities, I felt it was necessary to get involved in research.”

Bhosale said he looks forward to serving on the PCORnet committee.

“I strongly believe in giving back to the community,” he said. “As Mahatma Gandhi once said, ‘The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.’”