Toolkit Overview

1. Convene your team – Gather your team to complete the tools. Include those who would be most impacted by your work or who might use your innovation/results. We suggest 5-10 people, so everybody’s voice can be heard.
2. Map your impact – We recommend that every team, no matter how far along they are in their research, begin by completing the Roadmap to Impact. Filling out the Roadmap will create a guiding vision to achieve your impact and help you complete the other tools.
3. Complete additional tools – Follow the links on the Roadmap to access additional tools, based on your project’s needs and progress. We recommend checking out all the tools in case you want to use them later in your project.
4. Review and update – Schedule time to review and update the tools. We suggest at least annually, such as when you are submitting your progress reports to funders.

After developing the Translational Science Benefits Model (TSBM), we began thinking about what researchers would need to practically apply the model to their work. We wanted to create a set of user-friendly and flexible tools that could meet researchers wherever they were in terms of capacity and research progress. Because getting to impact is easiest when it’s considered early in the research process, we included tools to help researchers begin conceptualizing impact before they begin a project. For researchers further along in their work, we included tools to demonstrate impact to others outside the research team.

The Translating for Impact Toolkit is designed to help researchers at any career stage integrate impact throughout the research process using the TSBM. The toolkit can help researchers plan, track, and demonstrate the impact of a single project, a complete body of work, or the work of programs and centers.

We are developing the Translating for Impact Toolkit through a six-step process. We began by conducting an environmental scan of existing impact tools and resources. We then worked collaboratively with our team of clinical and translational scientists to develop initial drafts of all tools and refine tools with team feedback. We then pilot tested a subset of tools with select groups.

In May of 2023, we launched the new website and online toolkit for public use and are beginning pilot testing with clinical and translational scientists from across the country. In the final phase of development, we will modify the tools by incorporating pilot testing feedback.