What we do

The Engagement, Integration and Implementation (EII) Core engages with you throughout the translational science process to expand your boundary-crossing partnerships and enhance the efficiency and speed with which your research has impact.

The EII Core houses ICTS’ Community Advisory Board, two consultative service cores (partner engagement and qualitative research), and direct partnership with the Implementation Science Center.

Stakeholder Advisory Board (SAB)

The Core organizes the ICTS State-wide Stakeholder Advisory Board (SAB) which is composed of 17 community members across Iowa who represent patient advocacy groups, hospitals, nonprofits, and state and local agencies. The SAB is available for consultation on all aspects of research from design to dissemination and focuses on the integration of community perspectives in the research process.

What we do

The Engagement, Integration, and Implementation (EII) Core staff collaborate with investigators to support engagement and integration of partner perspectives. We provide expert consultation and training on qualitative approaches and analysis; patient-centered and community-engaged methods; dissemination and implementation research. Through our Qualitative Research Services Core, we provide a full range of qualitative and mixed methods research and evaluation services including methodological design, grant and article writing, data collection, and project coordination. EII Core staff regularly convene the ICTS State-wide Community Advisory Board (CAB), a group of community members across Iowa representing patient advocacy groups, hospitals, nonprofits, and state and local agencies, which consults on all aspects of research with a focus on integrating community perspectives. We assist research teams in developing their own patient or community advisory boards. EII Core directly partners with the Implementation Science Center assist investigators in the design of dissemination and implementation research plans, including specific aim development, method selection, sampling design, data collection, and analysis plans.

ICTS Translational Science Process Model – From Engagement to Implementation

ICTS Translational Science Process Model starts with partner engagement, while emphasizing that engagement does not end until a scientific innovation is successfully implemented in the clinic, bedside, or community. The initial stage of our process engages a comprehensive group of partners who will be required to move a project across the variety of research stages to ensure that measures that will be required for implementation into routine practice are considered early in each project. Science is iterative and requires multiple experiments and studies. What is important to our translational science process model is that partners remain involved throughout the entire process of moving from scientific innovation into implementation. Implementation science typically focuses on clinical and community projects once the scientific innovation is established as evidence-based.

No matter where your research sits in the translational science spectrum, we in the EII Core are happy to have a conversation with you about how ICTS’ translational science process model can help you engage new partners and expand your program of research. Please find an editable version of the model for your own use here.