![Photos of John Tumberger and Stephani Stancil](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_1000x1000/2383-photos-of-john-tumberger-and-stephani-stancil.jpg)
![Photos of John Tumberger and Stephani Stancil](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_1000x1000/2383-photos-of-john-tumberger-and-stephani-stancil.jpg)
Broderick Crawford Community Partnership Awardee: John Tumberger (Project Leader) and Stephani Stancil, Ph.D., APRN (Project Mentor and PI)
By Kelly Hale, Communications Coordinator
Jul 26, 2024
Project Title: Teen Research Advisors (Children’s Mercy Kansas City)
Project Summary: The Teen Research Advisors (TRA) are a group of teens who have previously participated in mental health research studies with Dr. Stancil and chose to continue to contribute to the future of research through their role as advisors to the research team. The TRAs share insights from their lived experience, ultimately fostering a more inclusive and effective approach to clinical research. The Broderick Crawford Community Partnership Award enabled the expansion of the size and scope of the TRA program.
Giving a voice and creating space at the research table for teens and young adults is an important part of the research process.
John Tumberger, along with Stephani Stancil, Ph.D., APRN, are doing just that as they not only work to include teens in every stage of their research, but also provide teens with professional development opportunities like hands-on lab experiences, clinical shadowing experiences at Children’s Mercy and workshops for career development.
“We work with our Teen Research Advisors to figure out what’s really important to them to help determine the next steps for our research studies.”
The Teen Research Advisors program consists of teens who have lived experience with the conditions being studied.
“Our goal is to get input from teens who have participated in research studies with our team to identify how to optimize every aspect of our research program from the research question to protocol development to results dissemination,” Tumberger said. “We are actively working to understand their priorities and values. This insight actively guides us in refining our research program to ensure we are doing work that is viewed as significant, impactful, and relevant to the youth we serve.” TRAs provide their insight through monthly virtual round tables where they work through complex problems, such as how research can be more accessible for all teens and provide feedback on specific items such as infographics.
In addition to advising on various elements of research, TRAs are engaged in a variety of career development opportunists, designed with their collaboration. To gain hands-on experience in translational research, TRAs come onsite to CMRI to work on lab experiments like DNA extraction and protein detection. TRAs are connected with CM clinicians for shadowing experiences in their areas of interest. Feedback on resume development and applications is available. The TRAs are currently working with the research team on manuscript preparation, given them the opportunity for early authorship and exposure to scientific publishing.
“We use a discussion format that is online, asynchronous, and anonymous to their peer TRAs. The teens post their ideas and feedback to monthly discussion boards, called RoundTables,” Tumberger said. “They can comment back and forth with their peers using auto-generated pseudonyms that change month to month. This provides a safe, comfortable environment for sharing ideas and reduces some social pressure/anxiety. All communication is expected to be respectful with reply prompts to guide the TRAs in engaging in constructive dialogue with each other. We moderate the RoundTables and summarize the take-aways each month. We learn a lot about what is important to them and make changes accordingly.
“Based on the feedback from our advisors, we have implemented IRB-approved changes to our recruitment strategies. We have also worked with them to develop a strategy for disseminating study results back to participants. They recommended infographics with virtual resources (like a QR code linked to the published paper), which they helped us design. We try to be explicit in letting them know exactly what changes we make in response to their feedback. It’s crucial for us to demonstrate that their perspectives hold significant importance to us.”
Stancil adds, “John is doing a tremendous job facilitating this group of TRAs. In addition to leading the project, he is finishing his first year of medical school at KUMC. He and the rest of our study team leverage their own pre-professional experience to serve as mentors for our advisors, as many TRAs aspire to careers in science and medicine. With the support of the Broderick Crawford Community Partnership Award, this project has truly become a multidimensional community collaboration.
Latest Articles
View All![photo of Kate Kyler](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/2408-photo-of-kate-kyler.jpg)
![photo of Courtney Berrios](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/2406-photo-of-courtney-berrios.jpg)
![photo of Dr. Camacho-Soto](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/2392-photo-of-dr-camacho-soto.jpg)
![photo of Dr. Quereshi](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/2393-photo-of-dr-quereshi.jpg)
![photo of Alexandra Prosser](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/2394-photo-of-alexandra-prosser.jpg)
![photo of Amy Smith](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/2396-photo-of-amy-smith.jpg)
![photo of Anna Wallisch](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/2397-photo-of-anna-wallisch.jpg)
![photo of April McNeil Johnson](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/2398-photo-of-april-mcneil-johnson.jpeg)
![photo of Dhanushki](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/2400-photo-of-dhanushki.jpg)
![photo of Jephte Akakpo](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/2401-photo-of-jephte-akakpo.png)
![photo of Kathryn Unruh](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/2402-photo-of-kathryn-unruh.jpg)
![photo of Rong Xin Liu](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/2404-photo-of-rong-xin-liu.jpg)
![photo of Sarah Weinsztok](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/2405-photo-of-sarah-weinsztok.jpeg)
![photo of Amanda Emerson](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/2395-photo-of-amanda-emerson.jpg)
![photo of REbecca Lepping](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/2403-photo-of-rebecca-lepping.jpg)
![photo of Deanna Hanson-Abromeit](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/2391-photo-of-deanna-hanson-abromeit.png)
![Photo of Emily Mailey](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/2390-photo-of-emily-mailey.jpg)
![Photo of Alice Zhang](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/2389-photo-of-alice-zhang.jpg)
![photo of John Taylor](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/2388-photo-of-john-taylor.jpg)
![Frontiers favicon logo](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/2386-frontiers-favicon-logo.png)
![Photo of D/Silva and Ramierez](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/2384-photo-of-d-silva-and-ramierez.jpg)
![Photos of John Tumberger and Stephani Stancil](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/2383-photos-of-john-tumberger-and-stephani-stancil.jpg)
![Frontiers Favicon logo](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/2380-frontiers-favicon-logo.png)
![photo of Alejandra](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/2377-photo-of-alejandra.jpg)
![Frontiers logo in full color](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/2373-frontiers-logo-in-full-color.jpg)
![Photo of Bethany Forseth](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/2374-photo-of-bethany-forseth.jpg)
![Image of Stephani Stancil](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/2370-image-of-stephani-stancil.jpg)
![Photo of Jaime Perales Puchalt](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/2371-photo-of-jaime-perales-puchalt.jpg)
![Image of Jennifer Villwock](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/2369-image-of-jennifer-villwock.jpg)
![Photo of Amanda Emerson](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/1370-photo-of-amanda-emerson.jpg)
![Image of Robin Shook](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/1368-image-of-robin-shook.jpg)
![Image of Dola Williams](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/1367-image-of-dola-williams.png)
![Photo of LaTanya Lippard](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/1365-photo-of-latanya-lippard.jpg)
![Photo of Thomas Menees](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/1364-photo-of-thomas-menees.jpg)
![Photo of Alexandra Brown](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/1363-photo-of-alexandra-brown.jpg)
![Frontiers logo](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/1361-frontiers-logo.jpg)
![photo of Ana Cohen](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/1360-photo-of-ana-cohen.jpg)
![Photo of Diego Mazzotti](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/1359-photo-of-diego-mazzotti.jpg)
![Frontiers circle logo](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/1358-frontiers-circle-logo.png)
![Frontiers circle logo](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/1356-frontiers-circle-logo.png)
![Image of Dhanuski](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/1346-image-of-dhanuski.png)
![Image of Stephen Waller](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/1341-image-of-stephen-waller.jpeg)
![Frontiers logo](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/1340-frontiers-logo.jpg)
![Frontiers circle logo](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/1337-frontiers-circle-logo.png)
![Frontiers logo with partners](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/1338-frontiers-logo-with-partners.jpg)
![Photo of Dr. Leaman](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/1339-photo-of-dr-leaman.jpg)
![Photo of Ashley Shaw](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/1336-photo-of-ashley-shaw.jpg)
![photo of Rong](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/1335-photo-of-rong.jpg)
![Frontiers logo](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/1331-frontiers-logo.jpg)
![Image of Kelsie Forbush](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/325-image-of-kelsie-forbush.png)
![Amy Smith](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/324-amy-smith.jpg)
![Image of Alexandra Prosser](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/320-image-of-alexandra-prosser.jpg)
![Image of Frontiers logo](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/318-image-of-frontiers-logo.jpg)
![Image of Frontiers logo](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/319-image-of-frontiers-logo.jpg)
![Frontiers logo](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/317-frontiers-logo.jpg)
![Image of McNeill-Johnson](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/310-image-of-mcneill-johnson.jpeg)
![Photo of Sarah Weinsztok](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/309-photo-of-sarah-weinsztok.jpeg)
![logos](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/308-logos.jpg)
![Image of JUNTOS with Gov Kelly](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/305-image-of-juntos-with-gov-kelly.jpeg)
![Image of Shelby Williams](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/304-image-of-shelby-williams.jpg)
![Image of Diego Mazzotti](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/303-image-of-diego-mazzotti.jpg)
![Photo of Kathryn Unruh](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/302-photo-of-kathryn-unruh.jpg)
![Photo of Stephani Stancil](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/300-photo-of-stephani-stancil.jpg)
![Photo of Rebecca Lepping](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/299-photo-of-rebecca-lepping.jpg)
![Photo of Matthew Mosconi](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/298-photo-of-matthew-mosconi.jpg)
![Frontiers circle logo](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/297-frontiers-circle-logo.png)
![Image of Anthony Fehr](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/296-image-of-anthony-fehr.jpg)
![Frontiers logo image](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/293-frontiers-logo-image.jpg)
![Frontiers logo with all partners](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/292-frontiers-logo-with-all-partners.jpg)
![Photo of back to school event](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/291-photo-of-back-to-school-event.jpg)
![Photo of Nicole Nuckolls](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/284-photo-of-nicole-nuckolls.jpg)
![Projects Placeholder](https://img.youtube.com/vi/-eFX_TqzCIw/maxresdefault.jpg)
![Video Title Goes Here](/images/video-play.png)
![Image of Jingxin Wang](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/283-image-of-jingxin-wang.jpg)
![Photo of Shyam](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/282-photo-of-shyam.jpg)
![picture of Tina V](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/279-picture-of-tina-v.jpg)
![Photo of Jonathan Wagner with patient](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/281-photo-of-jonathan-wagner-with-patient.jpg)
![Frontiers and partners logos](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/278-frontiers-and-partners-logos.jpg)
![pic of maggie K](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/280-pic-of-maggie-k.jpg)
![Image of Stephani Stancil](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/277-image-of-stephani-stancil.jpg)
![Image of Jada](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/271-image-of-jada.jpg)
![juntos logo](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/272-juntos-logo.png)
![Image of Hanluen Kuo](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/269-image-of-hanluen-kuo.jpg)
![photo of Jenny Robinson](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/268-photo-of-jenny-robinson.jpg)
![Photo of Christie Smith](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/231-photo-of-christie-smith.jpg)
![Image of Trisha Steele with husband and grandson](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/227-image-of-trisha-steele-with-husband-and-grandson.jpg)
![Photo of Stacey Aaron](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/225-photo-of-stacey-aaron.png)
![Sara Serritella speaking at symposium](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/222-sara-serritella-speaking-at-symposium.jpg)
![Frontiers logo](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/220-frontiers-logo.jpg)
![Photo of Cherayla Haynes](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/219-photo-of-cherayla-haynes.jpg)
![Image of Grand Rounds information](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/216-image-of-grand-rounds-information.png)
![logo of Frontiers and its partners](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/214-logo-of-frontiers-and-its-partners.jpg)
![Photo of Nikki Nollen](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/215-photo-of-nikki-nollen.jpg)
![Image of Cheryl Jernigan](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/213-image-of-cheryl-jernigan.jpg)
![Photo of Olivia Veatch](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/210-photo-of-olivia-veatch.jpg)
![Frontiers logo](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/208-frontiers-logo.jpg)
![Photo of group listening to speaker](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/206-photo-of-group-listening-to-speaker.jpg)
![Frontiers logo](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/205-frontiers-logo.png)
![Frontiers logo](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/198-frontiers-logo.jpg)
![Photo of John Thyfault](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/199-photo-of-john-thyfault.jpg)
![Projects Placeholder](https://img.youtube.com/vi/-csdEY1et4M/maxresdefault.jpg)
![Video Title Goes Here](/images/video-play.png)
![Image of Dr. Tiffany](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/197-image-of-dr-tiffany.jpg)
![Frontiers logo](/assets/images/NoCrop_800x800/51a6632633b84657a707ea61b04f928a.jpg)
![JUNTOS event](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/189-juntos-event.png)
![Image of Jephte Akakpo](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/188-image-of-jephte-akakpo.png)
![Image of Robert White](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/181-image-of-robert-white.png)
![Image of Olivia Veatch](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/182-image-of-olivia-veatch.jpg)
![Image of Jen Bacani](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/180-image-of-jen-bacani.jpeg)
![Frontiers logo with all partners](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/179-frontiers-logo-with-all-partners.jpg)
![Image from JUNTOS vaccination event](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/178-image-from-juntos-vaccination-event.jpeg)
![Image of Andrea Bradley Ewing](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/176-image-of-andrea-bradley-ewing.jpg)
![Image of Anna Wallisch](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/173-image-of-anna-wallisch.jpg)
![Image of Crawford and Ramirez](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/172-image-of-crawford-and-ramirez.jpg)
![Image of Mock Study panel](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/171-image-of-mock-study-panel.jpg)
![Photo of Rebecca Lepping](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/160-photo-of-rebecca-lepping.jpg)
![Image of Stephani Stancil](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/156-image-of-stephani-stancil.jpg)
![Image of Elly Leavens](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/157-image-of-elly-leavens.jpg)
![Image of Erin Nichols](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/155-image-of-erin-nichols.jpg)
![Frontiers logo](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/154-frontiers-logo.png)
![JUNTOS logo](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/152-juntos-logo.png)
![Image of Romina Barral](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/147-image-of-romina-barral.jpg)
![Image of Amanda Emerson](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/151-image-of-amanda-emerson.png)
![Partner Institution representatives](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/142-partner-institution-representatives.jpg)
![Frontiers logo](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/137-frontiers-logo.jpg)
![Image of Ton Mieras](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/100-image-of-ton-mieras.jpg)
![Image of Jennifer Villwock](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/48-image-of-jennifer-villwock.jpg)
![Image of two researchers](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/93-image-of-two-researchers.jpg)
![Image of Heather Minchew](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/49-image-of-heather-minchew.jpg)
![Image of Scott Weir](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/86-image-of-scott-weir.jpg)
![Image of Bertha De Los Santos](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/87-image-of-bertha-de-los-santos.jpg)
![Female researcher](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/94-female-researcher.jpg)
![Frontiers logo](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/101-frontiers-logo.png)
![Frontiers logo](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/102-frontiers-logo.png)
![Image of Laura Mussulman](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/88-image-of-laura-mussulman.jpg)
![Frontiers logo](/assets/images/processed/NoCrop_800x800/103-frontiers-logo.png)