Navigating the road ahead: using concept mapping to assess Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) program goals
Evaluating large-scale programs designed to transform public health demands innovative approaches for navigating their complexity and scope. The Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSA) Program, supported by the NIH's National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), represe...
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2025-03-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Public Health |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2025.1562191/full |
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| author | Cathleen Kane William Trochim Haim Bar Andie Vaught Heather Baker Munziba Khan Robin Wagner Kristi Holmes Keith Herzog Jamie Mihoko Doyle |
| author_facet | Cathleen Kane William Trochim Haim Bar Andie Vaught Heather Baker Munziba Khan Robin Wagner Kristi Holmes Keith Herzog Jamie Mihoko Doyle |
| author_sort | Cathleen Kane |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Evaluating large-scale programs designed to transform public health demands innovative approaches for navigating their complexity and scope. The Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSA) Program, supported by the NIH's National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), represents a significant national investment with over 60 sites or “hubs” spread across the country. Assessing an initiative of this size and complexity requires measures that balance local flexibility with national coherence. To that end, this study used concept mapping, a mixed-methods approach integrating qualitative brainstorming and sorting with quantitative multidimensional scaling and cluster analysis. Participation across the CTSA was unprecedented. Over 100 evaluation stakeholders were engaged across the network of hubs, leading to the identification of more than 80 measures, which were then organized into thematic clusters that reflect a logical progression from CTSA activities to outcomes and impacts, as well as critical foundational factors such as collaboration and education. The results also revealed a pattern where long-term impacts were ranked among the highest in importance but among the lowest in feasibility, particularly for measures tied to the Translational Science Benefits Model (TSBM), a new evaluation framework gaining popularity across the CTSA. The findings of this study underscore the efficacy of concept mapping in incorporating wide-ranging perspectives, identifying areas of consensus, and informing leadership in the development of unified, data-driven evaluation frameworks —such as TSBM and/or a CTSA logic model— critical to maximizing the CTSA's transformative potential for public health. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-7f3b4c6aa9c149c8ace4e09e61b1bdfe |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2296-2565 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-03-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Public Health |
| spelling | doaj-art-7f3b4c6aa9c149c8ace4e09e61b1bdfe2025-08-20T03:41:01ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Public Health2296-25652025-03-011310.3389/fpubh.2025.15621911562191Navigating the road ahead: using concept mapping to assess Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) program goalsCathleen Kane0William Trochim1Haim Bar2Andie Vaught3Heather Baker4Munziba Khan5Robin Wagner6Kristi Holmes7Keith Herzog8Jamie Mihoko Doyle9New York University Langone Health, Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI), New York, NY, United StatesThe Brooks School of Public Policy, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, United StatesDepartment of Statistics, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, United StatesDivision of Clinical Innovation, National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, United StatesDivision of Clinical Innovation, National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, United StatesDivision of Clinical Innovation, National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, United StatesDivision of Clinical Innovation, National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, United StatesNorthwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University Clinical and Translational Sciences (NUCATS) Institute, Chicago, IL, United StatesNorthwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University Clinical and Translational Sciences (NUCATS) Institute, Chicago, IL, United StatesDivision of Clinical Innovation, National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, United StatesEvaluating large-scale programs designed to transform public health demands innovative approaches for navigating their complexity and scope. The Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSA) Program, supported by the NIH's National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), represents a significant national investment with over 60 sites or “hubs” spread across the country. Assessing an initiative of this size and complexity requires measures that balance local flexibility with national coherence. To that end, this study used concept mapping, a mixed-methods approach integrating qualitative brainstorming and sorting with quantitative multidimensional scaling and cluster analysis. Participation across the CTSA was unprecedented. Over 100 evaluation stakeholders were engaged across the network of hubs, leading to the identification of more than 80 measures, which were then organized into thematic clusters that reflect a logical progression from CTSA activities to outcomes and impacts, as well as critical foundational factors such as collaboration and education. The results also revealed a pattern where long-term impacts were ranked among the highest in importance but among the lowest in feasibility, particularly for measures tied to the Translational Science Benefits Model (TSBM), a new evaluation framework gaining popularity across the CTSA. The findings of this study underscore the efficacy of concept mapping in incorporating wide-ranging perspectives, identifying areas of consensus, and informing leadership in the development of unified, data-driven evaluation frameworks —such as TSBM and/or a CTSA logic model— critical to maximizing the CTSA's transformative potential for public health.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2025.1562191/fullClinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSA)concept mappingevaluation studystakeholder participationmixed-methods researchTranslational Science Benefits Model (TSBM) |
| spellingShingle | Cathleen Kane William Trochim Haim Bar Andie Vaught Heather Baker Munziba Khan Robin Wagner Kristi Holmes Keith Herzog Jamie Mihoko Doyle Navigating the road ahead: using concept mapping to assess Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) program goals Frontiers in Public Health Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSA) concept mapping evaluation study stakeholder participation mixed-methods research Translational Science Benefits Model (TSBM) |
| title | Navigating the road ahead: using concept mapping to assess Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) program goals |
| title_full | Navigating the road ahead: using concept mapping to assess Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) program goals |
| title_fullStr | Navigating the road ahead: using concept mapping to assess Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) program goals |
| title_full_unstemmed | Navigating the road ahead: using concept mapping to assess Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) program goals |
| title_short | Navigating the road ahead: using concept mapping to assess Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) program goals |
| title_sort | navigating the road ahead using concept mapping to assess clinical and translational science award ctsa program goals |
| topic | Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSA) concept mapping evaluation study stakeholder participation mixed-methods research Translational Science Benefits Model (TSBM) |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2025.1562191/full |
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