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The purpose of this paper is to quantify complexity in translational research. The impact of major operational steps and technical requirements is calculated with respect to their ability to accelerate moving new discoveries into clinical practice.

A three-phase integrated quality function deployment (QFD) and analytic hierarchy process (AHP) method was used to quantify complexity in translational research. A case study in obesity was used to usability.

Generally, the evidence generated was valuable for understanding various components in translational research. Particularly, the authors found that collaboration networks, multidisciplinary team capacity and community engagement are crucial for translating new discoveries into practice.

As the method is mainly based on subjective opinion, some argue that the results may be biased. However, a consistency ratio is calculated and used as a guide to subjectivity. Alternatively, a larger sample may be incorporated to reduce bias.

The integrated QFD-AHP framework provides evidence that could be helpful to generate agreement, develop guidelines, allocate resources wisely, identify benchmarks and enhance collaboration among similar projects.

Current conceptual models in translational research provide little or no clue to assess complexity. The proposed method aimed to fill this gap. Additionally, the literature review includes various features that have not been explored in translational research.

Using a mixed-methods approach, this study evaluated a Master of Science program in Clinical and Translational Research (MSCTR) geared toward training physicians in research methodology. The purpose of this study is to allow trainees to articulate their expectations, needs and experiences in the MSCTR and to develop novel training methods and/or curriculum modifications to improve physician-scholar training.

The mixed-method study design with qualitative emphasis included interviews, participant journal entries and a survey. Interview and journal entry data were analyzed using a modified seven-stage hermeneutic analysis and survey data were analyzed using descriptive statistics.

Findings suggest three major areas for improvement, namely, curriculum, mentorship/relationships and instructional methods. Concluding recommendations to address these three areas include: make ongoing curriculum updates to provide a sequential pathway but also allow for flexibility, improve statistical training, invest in online courses and create a more structured mentorship program.

Extant research, though minimal, has evaluated clinical research training programs in terms of alumni productivity. However, this is the first study of its kind to examine a clinical research training program primarily qualitatively and from the perspective of its students and alumni.

The paper aims to explore the nature of initiatives and strategies of inter-organizational cooperation to cross the valley of death in the biopharma industry.

The authors conducted an exploratory case study analysis in the Biopharma Innovation Ecosystem in Greater Boston Area (USA), which is one of the oldest, and most successful IE in the US, specialized in the Biopharma domain, by conducting a round of expert interviews with key informants in the area, chosen as representatives of the different types of actors engaged in the drug development processes at different stages.

Main findings suggest that cooperation can contribute to surviving the valley of death by reducing the barriers within the drug development pipeline through the promotion of strategic relationships among actors of different nature, including the establishment of government-led thematic associations or consortia, agreements between university and business support structures, proximity to venture capitalist and the promotion of a general culture of academic entrepreneurship within universities.

The authors believe that this paper contributes to the literature by shedding light on the nature of the specific cooperative initiative the barriers in drug development and help to survive the valley of the death.

Health profession education has evolved to incorporate didactic instruction and experiential learning opportunities over time. Constructivism and interprofessional education are essential theoretical concepts that have shaped modern health profession education. However, transformative active learning is an approach that is particularly well suited to the needs of healthcare professionals. By integrating theoretical knowledge with practical skills, transformative active learning helps prepare students for the complex challenges they will face in their future careers and encourages them to become agents of change committed to improving healthcare practice. Saudi National Institute of Health (Saudi NIH) is one of the Ministry of Health's initiatives in the National Transformation Program 2020 to achieve the Kingdom's Vision 2030, as it supports biomedical research in the health sector in Saudi Arabia. One of the mandates of Saudi NIH is to build the research capacity through well-designed educational and training programs through the directory of education and research skills adopting active learning strategies. This chapter aims to communicate the methodological framework of the Education and Research Skills Directory of the SNIH for integrating active learning in the various training programs and initiatives aiming to promote the core learning capabilities with excellence, diversity, diversity, uniqueness, competency, and efficiency values.

The establishment of Science Cafés has become a popular strategy to enhance informal yet instruction-oriented interaction between medical and scientific experts and members of the relevant local communities. The purpose of this chapter is to report on two significant findings of a mixed-methods evaluation of the SCI (Science and Communities Interact) Café. Method: The Clinical and Translational Science Award in the Institute for Translational Sciences at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) in Galveston established an SCI Café program in 2013 to enable local residents to engage in dialogs with clinicians and researchers regarding their scientific interests and health concerns. A mixed-methods approach was used to evaluate the program. Results: The essential experience of SCI Café (SC) is updating one's knowledge of a topic. The primary comparative and analytical feature of SC participation is expertise. Expertise varies in terms of the social position of the participants: graduate student, university staff, engaged participant, topical participant, and curious participant.

Recruitment for pediatric non-invasive brain stimulation (NIBS) studies is often challenged by low enrollment. Understanding parental perceptions regarding NIBS is crucial to develop new communication strategies to increase enrollment.

Integrating a crossed-disciplinary approach, the authors conducted a survey at the 2018 Minnesota State Fair querying the perception of risk and preferences of current and future parents associated with pediatric NIBS research. The survey consisted of 28 closed-text questions including demographics, photographs portraying NIBS, terminologies and factors related to NIBS studies.

Complete surveys were analyzed from 622 parent participants. A significant number of participants (42.8%) perceived the photographs of NIBS as “risky.” Additionally, 65.43% perceived the term “Non-invasive brain therapy” as not risky, a word combination not currently being used when recruiting potential participants. Over 90% (561/622) of participants chose the photograph of child-friendly MRI suite.

Although this survey identified aspects crucial in recruitment for pediatric NIBS research, there were limitations. For example, the authors did not record the sex or demographic distribution (e.g. rural versus urban setting) of the participants. These factors may also influence recruitment messaging.

For important medical research to impact and improve the lives of the potential remedies, participation by the public in clinical trials is necessary. Often the general public perceives the trials as risky as a result of poor marketing communication recruitment material. This study sought to be understood if how the message is encoded has an impact on the decoding by the receiver.

This work explores the potential benefits of aligning the strategic planning process with a BPM program in a clinical research center (CRC). The purpose of this paper is to define a process for executing strategic planning oriented towards the promotion of a BPM program.

The method applied is action research. This allowed the solution of a practical problem and at the same time the proposition of a new approach to promote BPM in alignment with strategy, which was synthesized in the model presented.

The analysis and structuring of the strategic planning process, with the assessment of the as-is situation, were adequate as a preparation step for the first cycle of a BPM program in the CRC. Based on lessons learned along the research project, a model was proposed for the strategic planning process oriented towards promoting BPM.

The model was conceived from a single application at a CRC, through a cycle of action research. This is one of the limitations of this work. The model was not yet sufficiently tested in other contexts. This represents opportunities for future research.

The evaluation step in the action research cycle revealed that the organization in focus was satisfied with the results. New management practices in the organizations in focus were implemented as a result of this work.

Process improvement initiatives are a novelty in the CRC context, and this work may serve as a reference for CRC managers seeking to improve overall performance. The proposed model in this work indicates that a BPM program should start with strategic planning. An initial assessment of the as-is situation of the organization in focus was performed based on the analysis of the undesirable effects in the organization’s management practices, using a technique of the Theory of Constraints. The use of this technique facilitated the identification of solutions to the root causes identified in the assessment. The level of the assessment was deeper in comparison to results obtained with traditional tools used in strategic planning processes. The assessment supports the definition of actions oriented to solving the majority of the management dysfunctions of the organization in focus.

This study aims to investigate individual motivations for participating in collaborative health knowledge producing teams (KPTs), as well as satisfaction gained by participation in science teams. The authors focus on understanding motivators across team types, levels of engagement and alignment within and across teams and need satisfaction in a total of six science teams. Areas of strong congruence and divergence of motivating factors can be aligned across (i) learning and professional growth satisfaction, (ii) respect, collegiality and enjoyment satisfaction and (iii) accomplishment and discovery satisfaction. Levels of satisfaction are hierarchically mapped showing their relation to more external and communal foci to motivations that seek satisfaction of individual needs.

This mixed method comparative study uses data from the motivation assessment for team readiness integration and collaboration (MATRICx) tool and themes generated from semi-structured interviews. This methodology provided a means to compare a hierarchy of motivations against levels of collaborative engagement, as well as individual needs satisfaction and ultimately the identification of higher and lower-level motivations related to self and external foci.

The findings indicate that there are both similarities and differences in motivations in different health science teams when one compares biomedical, education and policy teams. A comparison of MATRICx data from across team types and teams suggests areas of strong congruence as well as areas of divergence in motivation factors.

The paper and its findings use a novel tool along with qualitative research techniques to identify motivation in KPTs and uses these data to understand what type of needs satisfaction are important across three areas of health science teaming. Our research informs team leaders, facilitators and consultants about the important motivations team members have entering teams and has the potential to provide a blueprint to ensure peak performance as individual team members seek to address their ever-growing professional needs.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the information practices of the researchers in biomedicine using the domain analytical approach.

The domain analytical research approach used in the study of the scientific domain of biomedicine leads to studies into the organization of sciences. By using Whitley’s dimensions of “mutual dependence” and “task uncertainty” in scientific work as a starting point the authors were able to reanalyze previously collected data. By opening up these concepts in the biomedical research work context, the authors analyzed the distinguishing features of the biomedical domain and the way these features affected researchers’ information practices.

Several indicators representing “task uncertainty” and “mutual dependence” in the scientific domain of biomedicine were identified. This study supports the view that in biomedicine the task uncertainty is low and researchers are mutually highly dependent on each other. Hard competition seems to be one feature, which is behind the explosion of the data and publications in this domain. This fact, on its part is directly related to the ways information is searched, followed, used and produced. The need for new easy to use services or tools for searching and following information in so called “hot” topics came apparent.

The study highlights new information about information practices in the biomedical domain. Whitley’s theory enabled a thorough analysis of the cultural and social nature of the biomedical domain and it proved to be useful in the examination of researchers’ information practices.

The purpose of this paper is to explore how a mentor training intervention affected research scientists’ perceptions of diversity and their subsequent behaviors.

Data were originally collected as part of a randomized controlled trial measuring the effectiveness of a research mentor training intervention that covered six mentoring competencies, including addressing diversity. Here, the results of a secondary qualitative analysis of interviews with trained mentors, 135 faculty from 16 institutions from across the USA and Puerto Rico, are reported.

Analyses provide insights into how the diversity content of a mentoring intervention is interpreted, internalized, and acted upon. Mentors reported increased awareness, an expanded understanding of diversity and the implications of human differences, as well as a greater recognition of personal biases. While some were able to act on that increased awareness and make changes to their mentoring practice, most did not report doing so.

Well-designed mentor training incorporating culturally aware practices could better prepare mentors to work successfully with mentees from diverse backgrounds. Cultivating a more culturally diverse scientific community is of benefit to science as well as society.

Little is known about how faculty perceive diversity or internalize training content on the topic, either within the context of mentoring or more broadly. This exploratory study provides unique insights into these phenomena and invites further research. Implications for mentoring relationships, mentor training initiatives, and efforts to address diversity are discussed.