This story was originally published as part of the December 2024 issue of the Breakthroughs newsletter.
Translating medical research findings from the research laboratory into patient care, otherwise known as from “bench to bedside,” is far more complex than it sounds, but is imperative to improve human health. While many research programs end there, implementation science takes things a step further by moving from the bedside into the community.
Broadly speaking, implementation science is the study of methods to intentionally and equitably bridge the gap between what we know and what we do in medicine. The field is inherently transdisciplinary and applies methods from disciplines such as engineering, psychology, anthropology and economics.
At Feinberg, implementation science was identified as a strategic priority after a February 2022 research retreat where nearly 200 principal investigators gathered to discuss the research priorities that would help guide the Feinberg research enterprise for the next five years. Since then, Feinberg has seen rapid growth in the field of implementation science, with the establishment of a new center, the hiring of new faculty members, and the creation of new grants and projects that address the gap between research and practice.
In August 2022, just a few months after the research retreat, Sara Becker, PhD, joined Feinberg to establish and lead the Center for Dissemination and Implementation Science (CDIS). The new cross-departmental center is nested within the Institute for Public Health and Medicine (IPHAM). CDIS was officially launched in November 2022 at an event that brought together leaders and visionaries across Northwestern to inform the development of the center’s five-year workplan.
One of the first priorities identified during the launch event was the creation of a Dissemination and Implementation Science Consult Service to provide methodological support for faculty interested in employing implementation science methods. Since March 2023, the Consult Service, directed by Kelli Scott, PhD, has served more than 100 faculty members, spanning every clinical affiliate and 28 departments, centers and institutes. Most consults have focused on pre-award support (67 percent), followed by mentorship and professional development (19 percent). At a three-month follow-up, 70 percent of pre-award consults yielded a grant submission, with 60 percent of submissions including CDIS faculty and staff.
Education is another a key priority of the center. CDIS offers a popular annual Implementation Science Reading Course and partners with the Prevention Science Methodology Group, led by C. Hendricks Brown, PhD, to offer a virtual grand round series. CDIS is currently in the early stages of planning a new Master’s of Public Health certificate, directed by Amelia Van Pelt, PhD, MPH, in partnership with the Program for Public Health in the Center for Education in Health Sciences.
Collaboration with other Feinberg entities has been key to CDIS’ success. The Department of Medical Social Sciences (MSS), led by Rinad Beidas, PhD, Ralph Seal Paffenbarger Professor, has been a key strategic partner. In 2023, the department announced the creation of a new Division of Implementation Science, directed by Andrea Graham, PhD, which provides an academic home and professional development hub for many of the investigators in CDIS. This year, CDIS and the MSS Division of Implementation Science are collaborating on a three-day Implementation Science Academy to provide intensive training in implementation science methods.
Other partner programs within Feinberg include the Center for Community Health, the Center for Behavioral Intervention Technologies, the Ryan Family Center for Global Primary Care and the Center for AIDS Research.
Expanding the Impact
Implementation science has been central to several major research awards to Feinberg investigators. For instance, in September 2024, the Northwestern University Clinical and Translational Sciences (NUCATS) Institute received new funding with implementation science as one of three specific foci. Becker co-leads this landmark seven-year $55 million grant with Richard D’Aquila, MD, the Howard Taylor Ricketts, MD, Professor of Medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases and senior associate dean for clinical and translational research, and Clyde Yancy, MD, MSc, chief and Magerstadt Professor of Cardiology in the Department of Medicine.
“By making implementation science methods foundational to the work of NUCATS, we will accelerate and catalyze research across the translational continuum to improve public health and meet the needs of all,” said Becker.
Several other recent awards to Feinberg investigators have focused on the translation of evidence-based practices and into a range of clinical and community settings. A recent $3.3 million grant awarded to Beidas involves implementing a secure firearm storage program for Illinois parents. The study, funded by the National Institute of Nursing Research, will focus on community health centers, which serve individuals who have limited access to healthcare and those who often experience health inequities. Parents at these health centers will receive counseling around secure firearm storage and free cable locks.
This is an example of partnering with a local nonprofit health center Alliance Chicago to implement evidence-based research. With gun violence a major public health concern in Chicago, this important work can save lives.
“Health centers serve our highest-need populations,” Beidas said. “Our team will collaborate with key constituents to best understand how clinicians can engage parents around secure firearm storage in a way that recognizes their lived experiences. For example, how to securely store firearms in the event of insecure housing, or in the face of extreme community violence.”
Collaborating with the Health System
A number of recent implementation science grants have focused specifically on the implementation of evidence-based practices within the Northwestern Medicine system.
Patricia Franklin, PhD, professor of Medical Social Sciences in the Divisions of Implementation Science and Determinants of Health, is the contact principal investigator (PI) on a new grant from the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) focused on advancing the implementation of genomic precision medicine. The grant was awarded to a multi-disciplinary research team that includes co-PIs Elizabeth McNally, MD, PhD, Lucy Godley, MD, and Beidas, as well as a team of investigators including Becker, Scott, Cory Bradley, PhD, MPH, Rex Chisholm, PhD and others.
The grant brings together key investigators with expertise in learning health systems; implementation science; and cardiovascular and cancer genetic medicine to advance our Northwestern genetics-enabled learning health system (Northwestern gLHS).
Franklin said this project is about getting new evidence-based practices into the clinic and moving beyond the research findings to the research benefits.
Another grant, awarded by the Patient Center Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI), is led by Northwestern Medicine and Kevin O’Leary, MD, John T. Clarke Professor of Medicine and vice president for quality at Northwestern Memorial Healthcare. Feinberg implementation scientists include Franklin, Scott, Beidas and Becker.
In collaboration with investigators at Feinberg and Alliance Chicago, a network of community health centers, this PCORI Health System Implementation Initiative provides federal funding to implement an evidence-based lifestyle intervention that will support weight loss for patients in primary care served by Northwestern Medicine and Alliance Chicago. The grant supports primary care physicians by working to implement federally funded research that includes a lifestyle intervention for weight loss.
These implementation science projects will change how care is delivered, according to Franklin. “The evolution of methods involves behavioral and systems change, coaching, and engagement of patients, clinicians and health system leaders,” she said. “This is a science to get the research into the clinic to improve healthcare and health outcomes for the people in our communities.”
The work happening across departments and in CDIS bolsters Northwestern as a national leader in the rapidly growing field of implementation science.
CDIS has experienced exponential growth over the last two years, and there is no plan of slowing down. Becker’s goal for the center is three-fold: 1) gain wide recognition as a national leader in implementation science;2) foster the next generation of implementation scientists and practitioners by becoming a hub of training and education; 3) galvanize collaborations across the Northwestern community towards a shared goal of improving public health and health equity.
