Washington University to Become One of Three National Training Centers for Heart, Lung, Blood and Sleep Implementation Science Researchers

Washington University’s Mario Castro, MD, MPH, the Edith and Alan Wolff Professor of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, has received a five-year career development award from the National Institutes of Health that will help transform the future dissemination and implementation (D&I) research workforce to enable Heart, Lung, Blood, Sleep (HLBS) preventive and treatment strategies to be implemented in community and clinical settings.

Unfortunately, discoveries made in biomedical research often fail in “real world” practice. For example, even though asthma guidelines have been shown to be efficient and effective, recent studies demonstrate that these guidelines are not being utilized in clinical practice. Castro, along with Associate Directors Ross Brownson and Enola Proctor, both recognized internationally for their D&I research, strive to bridge this gap, by bringing the latest HLBS research into “real world” practice through this new program, Mentored Training in Implementation Science (MTIS).

“Our hope is to train the future leaders in bringing the latest D&I research in heart, lung, blood and sleep disorders to the bedside in a much more efficient and effective manner and to the community by providing useful guidance for clinicians and better care for patients,” said Castro. Brownson adds, “This program is one of the first of its kind and will help us in building critical capacity for addressing some of the most important health conditions facing our country and the world.”

The MTIS, which will start enrolling scholars in the fall of 2018, is expected to draw up to eight promising HLBS scholars from across the country. The scholars will receive a combination of tailored coursework, mentored training in community and clinical settings, and dedicated salary and research support funds over a 2-3 year period.

The program will also complement the rich D&I infrastructure already in place at Washington University. According to Proctor, “MTIS will provide uniquely in-depth training, research, and salary support for investigators who are moving into later stage translational research for heart, lung, blood and sleep disorders. This program is an important and welcome addition to Washington University’s strong implementation and dissemination research resources.” These resources include: ICTS’s Dissemination and Implementation Research Core (DIRC), the WUNDIR group supported by the Institute of Public Health’s Center for Dissemination and Implementation, and NIMH and NCI supported D&I training programs.

In the coming months, the Directors will continue to build their strong team of nationally renowned HLBS experts as well as begin recruitment in November 2017 for the first cohort of scholars.

For more information, contact the Clinical Research Training Center.