How to Enhance Translation Research for Substance Use Prevention: Reflections from NIDA Centers on Bench to Clinic and Community Interventions

This roundtable brings together leaders from four NIDA centers whose work contributes to various stages in the translation pipeline for substance use prevention ond the Division Director of NIDA’s Division of Epidemiology, Services, and Prevention Research which administers a wide variety of extramural research in this arena. Our goal is to have a stimulating conversation which not only takes stock of how far our field has come in nurturing a scientific culture that supports translational science but to identify opportunities for translational research to quicken the still prolonged timeline from basic discovery to the development and testing of prevention interventions and onward to implementation and uptake of established evidence-based prevention strategies. A facilitated discussion will revolve around two core themes: (a) the translational challenges of assessing basic science findings to spur prevention innovations or improve intervention effects and (b) to apply theories and mechanisms to prevention interventions to improve clinical practice, intervention outcomes and ensure the highest policy impacts. The importance of bi-directional communication or back-translation early in this pipeline will also be discussed. Examples of topics to be addressed during this meaningful scientific dialogue include: challenges working across disciplines; identification of synergies/possibilities for furthering research, partnership building to move evidence into practice more efficiently, identifying how institutions (federal government, universities, associations) can better support translation work, and how NIDA centers can be utilized as a national resource for the scientific community.