Areas of strength and opportunities for growth in translational science education and training: Results of a scoping review from the NCATS Education Branch

Abstract

Translational science education and training (E&T) aims to prepare the translational workforce to accelerate progress along the translational pipeline toward solutions that improve human health. In 2020–2021, the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) Education Branch conducted a scoping review of the E&T literature with this focus. The review used the methodological framework proposed by Arksey and O'Malley. PubMed, Education Resources Information Center (ERIC), and Embase were searched, and forward citations conducted. Screening of titles, abstracts, and full text identified 44 included articles. Data extraction facilitated analysis of E&T content, audiences, modalities, evaluations, and recommendations. The NCATS Translational Science Principles were used to identity described or recommended E&T content. Twenty‐nine articles described a translational science E&T opportunity or its evaluation, and another 15 articles offered recommendations for translational science E&T. The most prevalent NCATS Translational Science Principles were boundary‐crossing partnerships (77%) and cross‐disciplinary team science (75%). Among publications describing E&T opportunities, the most reported modalities were experiential learning (64%) and courses (61%) and the most reported participants were graduate students (68%) and postdoctoral fellows (54%). About half of these articles (n = 15) reported an evaluation, covering a range of proximal to distal outcomes. Recommendations emphasized the value of translational science E&T across training and career stages and the use of varied modalities to reach diverse audiences. This review highlights strengths and opportunities for growth in translational science E&T. Enhancements to content, expansion of participants and modalities, and rigorous evaluations will contribute to building a highly qualified, diverse translational science workforce.

Translational Science at the Undergraduate Level: Awakening Talents to Overcome the Valley of Death – Viewpoint Showing a Success Case (Preprint)

“…The term emerged around 1990(11), gained prominence in 2008 (12), and peaked at the end of the last decade(13,14, 15). During the pandemic, it gained further notoriety, highlighting the urgent need to invest in education and training to build a diverse and highly qualified translational scientific workforce to overcome these challenges(16,17, 18,19,20).According to Sun et al (21), "Ninety percent of clinical drug development fails despite implementation of many successful strategies, which raised the question as to whether certain aspects in target validation and drug optimization are overlooked". This became evident in the early 2000s when Batta et al (22) verified the approval by the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) -a division of the Food and Drug Administration…”