UCLA CTSI helps shape national summit on translational science impact

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By UCLA CTSI
1 min read

The UCLA Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) helped lead a national effort to strengthen how translational research demonstrates real‑world benefit through its involvement in the Translational Science Impact Summit: Driving Translational Science Toward Measurable Impact, a two-day virtual event held on March 2–3. The event brought together CTSA hubs from across the country to discuss shared strategies for planning, measuring, and communicating translational impact.

UCLA CTSI participated in the summit as one of ten hubs on the planning and steering committee, helping shape an agenda centered on measurable outcomes across clinical, community, economic, and policy settings. 

Organized by the CTSA Translational Impact Working Group, the Impact Summit engaged 439 unique participants and featured 13 sessions with 34 speakers and moderators from 19 CTSA hubs, along with representatives from the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), public health departments, and community organizations. It also featured a virtual poster session that highlighted 22 translational impact projects, which are featured in the Translational Impacts Zenodo Community to support continued learning and information sharing.

In addition to its role on the summit’s steering committee, the UCLA CTSI Evaluation Team led a panel showcasing recent state‑of‑the‑science research on translational impact evaluation published in Frontiers in Public Health. CTSI Evaluation Lead Pamela Davidson PhD, MSHS served as a lead editor and co‑author of the Frontiers in Public Health Research Topic, E-Book, and original research article, which examined how the Translational Science Benefits Model (TSBM) is being applied across the CTSA Program. 

Looking ahead, UCLA CTSI is continuing to advance translational science evaluation by bridging data from the CTSI’s signature survey, Longitudinal Scientific Achievement & Impact Survey or LSAS‑I, along with TSBM to help organizations maximize and improve impact. The Portfolio Impact Analysis & Novel Research Accelerator is a promising translational science initiative that is currently being tested in multiple research organizations across UCLA CTSI. According to Dr. Davidson, “the initiative creates an evidence-based, generalizable solution to accelerate impact, increases speed and efficiency by creating a direct causal link between ‘potential’ impact leveraging CTSI expertise, resources, services and support to realize the vision for TSBM demonstrated impact.” 

Those who would like to learn more about the Portfolio Impact Analysis initiative are encouraged to reach out to Nicole Makowka at nmakowka@mednet.ucla.edu for more information.