Distinguishing between translational science and translational research in CTSA pilot studies: A collaborative project across 12 CTSA hubs

Margaret Schneider; Amanda Woodworth; Marissa Ericson; Lindsie Boerger; Scott Denne; Pam Dillon; Paul Duguid; Eman Ghanem; Joe Hunt; Jennifer S Li; Renee McCoy; Nadia Prokofieva; Vonda Rodriguez; Crystal Sparks; Jeffrey Zaleski; Henry Xiang

doi:10.1017/cts.2023.700

Distinguishing between translational science and translational research in CTSA pilot studies: A collaborative project across 12 CTSA hubs

J Clin Transl Sci. 2023 Dec 18;8(1):e4. doi: 10.1017/cts.2023.700. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ The Institute for Clinical and Translational Science, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA.
² The Institute of Translational Health Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
³ The Indiana Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute, Indiana University, Indianapolis, IN, USA.
⁴ The Wright Center for Clinical and Translational Research, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA.
⁵ The Translational Research Institute, University of Arkansas Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR, USA.
⁶ Duke Clinical & Translational Science Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA.
⁷ Clinical & Translational Science Institute of Southeast Wisconsin, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, USA.
⁸ Tufts Clinical and Translational Science Institute, Tufts University, Boston, MA, USA.
⁹ Center for Clinical and Translational Science, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA.

Abstract

Introduction: The institutions (i.e., hubs) making up the National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded network of Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSAs) share a mission to turn observations into interventions to improve public health. Recently, the focus of the CTSAs has turned increasingly from translational research (TR) to translational science (TS). The current NIH Funding Opportunity Announcement (PAR-21-293) for CTSAs stipulates that pilot studies funded through the CTSAs must be "focused on understanding a scientific or operational principle underlying a step of the translational process with the goal of developing generalizable solutions to accelerate translational research." This new directive places Pilot Program administrators in the position of arbiters with the task of distinguishing between TR and TS projects. The purpose of this study was to explore the utility of a set of TS principles set forth by NCATS for distinguishing between TR and TS.

Methods: Twelve CTSA hubs collaborated to generate a list of Translational Science Principles questions. Twenty-nine Pilot Program administrators used these questions to evaluate 26 CTSA-funded pilot studies.

Results: Factor analysis yielded three factors: Generalizability/Efficiency, Disruptive Innovation, and Team Science. The Generalizability/Efficiency factor explained the largest amount of variance in the questions and was significantly able to distinguish between projects that were verified as TS or TR (t = 6.92, p < .001) by an expert panel.

Conclusions: The seven questions in this factor may be useful for informing deliberations regarding whether a study addresses a question that aligns with NCATS' vision of TS.

Keywords: Translational science; efficiency; generalizability; principles; translational research.

Grants and funding

UL1 TR002319/TR/NCATS NIH HHS/United States