142 - A Conceptual Framework for Translational Science Impact

Abstract Information: The Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSA) program began in 2006 and many award recipients have implemented activities under the program for a decade or longer. CTSA evaluators feel pressured to evaluate the health and social impacts of long standing activities. The Translational Science Benefits Model (TSBM) is a framework adopted by many CTSA evaluators to identify and examine health and social benefits of translational research. Adoption of TSBM has gained momentum over recent years. In 2022, however, the new CTSA funding opportunity announcement (FOA) signaled a shift from translational research to translational science which has changed how TSBM is applied to describe the impact of CTSA awardees’ translational activities under the new FOA. The Translational Research Institute (TRI) at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences recently submitted a renewal application under the new CTSA FOA. As a result of the process, our institution responded to the shift towards translational science and redefined our approach to evaluation under the new FOA. To assist our leadership in shifting focus to translational science and building an effective and efficient environment for translational research, we integrated translational science principles with the TSBM to conceptualize the pathways through which translational science activities lead to health and societal benefits for our underrepresented and rural populations. The result was a conceptual framework for translational science impacts. The conceptual framework for translational science impacts provides a conceptual model for articulating our activities in alignment with the new FOA. The framework defines the activities of the TRI within the CTSA program’s translational science scope and incorporates the translational science principles stressed in the FOA. It also integrates the TSBM and highlights potential pathways by which translational science activities under different TRI cores support future health and social benefits. The framework organizes and frames activities according to translational science principles and lays the groundwork for capturing metrics that evidence how TRI activities expedite impactful health and social benefits. The framework allows us to describe the synergy of TRI programs, supports, and services that were fundamental in research projects achieving health impacts in Arkansas and beyond. This poster introduces TRI’s conceptual framework and demonstrates how it has been used to restructure evaluation under the new CTSA FOA.