The NIEHS recently published a framework expanding the concept of translational research. While the framework was originally intended for the field of environmental health science, we purposely designed it to be useful for many types of team science and translational research activities. Team science is, after all, a necessary component of translational research, which we define as the evolution of a research idea into concrete strategies that protect and improve human health.
During this workshop, we will provide an overview of the framework, participants will work in small groups to plan a team to conduct a mock translational research project, and participants will use the translational research narrative template to map out a translational research story and identify opportunities for getting to public health impacts. The presenter will provide in-person consultations and feedback throughout the process. We’ll talk about the things that facilitate translational research and the things that pose challenges to conducting translational research. Finally, we’ll wrap up with a brief overview of how the translational research framework can be used for evaluation purposes.

Workshop Objectives:
To provide an overview of the NIEHS translational research framework,
To connect the framework to team science approaches
To provide participants with an opportunity to apply the framework in mapping out a translational research story and identifying paths to achieving broader clinical, public health, and social and behavioral impacts.

Workshop Goals:
• To educate participants on the NIEHS translational research framework
• To understand how team science is necessary for translational research
• To practice using the framework to plan a translational research project and map out paths for achieving meaningful impacts
• To practice using the framework to tell a translational research story
• To learn about the facilitators and challenges of conducting translational research

Expected Workshop Outcomes
• Increased understanding among participants of how to use the NIEHS translational research framework and of the resources available on www.niehs.nih.gov/tranlsation
• Increased understanding by NIEHS staff of the facilitators and challenges to conducting translational research in real-life situations.
• Written draft of a translational research stories for each participant.

Presenter:

Kristianna Pettibone, Ph.D., has almost 20 years’ experience managing, directing, and guiding public health policy research and evaluation projects. She holds a Ph.D. in Policy Sciences (health policy concentration) from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Prior to joining NIEHS, she served as director of the MayaTech Corporation’s Center for Community Prevention and Treatment Research. Kristi has worked on evaluations of several federal grant portfolios including CDC’s Injury Control Research Centers and NIEHS’s Environmental Health Core Centers Program. For the last three years she has led an NIEHS workgroup in the development of a new translational research framework. Since the framework has been published, Kristi has conducted seven presentations on the framework and conducted two workshops training NIEHS grantees to use the framework. In addition, she has facilitated workshops for the American Evaluation Association and the American Public Health Association and conducted many logic modeling workshops for NIEHS staff and grantees.