UCLA Fielding professor selected by NIH and Academy Health as expert on dissemination and implementation science

A UCLA Fielding School of Public Health professor has been chosen by the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) to serve as a subject matter expert on dissemination and implementation science.

“In traditional effectiveness research, scientists ask, "Does the thing work? Is there evidence?" but in implementation science, we ask, "How do we help people optimally do the evidence-based thing in routine practice?" said Dr. Erika Crable, assistant professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management. “We design and test implementation strategies or specific actions to help people do the thing. And we measure implementation outcomes that tell us how much and how well they did the thing.”

Crabe was selected by the NIH to help develop an introduction to dissemination and implementation (D&I) science that is available now for interested NIH applicants. The NIH has rapidly increased calls for the use of implementation science theory, methods, and outcomes across its funding portfolio. Implementation science is a currently highlighted topic and is included in several calls for proposals related to cancer, HIV, and substance use. The video introduction will be augmented with an introductory workshop at the upcoming 19th Annual Conference on the Science of Dissemination and Implementation in Health. The conference itself is sponsored by AcademyHealth, a Washington, D.C.-based foundation and professional association for health policy researchers.

The NIH supports D&I research on how evidence-based practices, interventions, and policies are effectively translated to and used in real-world settings like hospitals, schools, and communities. The introductory video aims to equip newcomers to implementation science with the basics: research questions motivated by implementation science, theories, implementation determinants, implementation strategies and mechanisms, and outcomes measures.

“(Dr. Crable’s) interdisciplinary research tests macrolevel dissemination and implementation strategies, aimed at improving care for safety net populations,” said Dr. Cara Lewis, deputy director for the Center for Translation Research and Implementation Science at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, itself part of the NIH. “She has developed tools to enhance D&I proposal development, D&I frameworks for policy and systems applications, and methods to engage decision makers in research.”

In addition, Crable will bring this expertise to UCLA Fielding in a new spring course titled “Accelerating Evidence Use in Policy and Health Systems with Dissemination and Implementation Science Methods.” That level of research excellence is why Crable - who also serves as deputy editor of the journal Implementation Science Communications - demonstrates the capabilities of UCLA Fielding’s faculty as both researchers and educators, said Dr. James Macinko, associate dean for research and a professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management.

“Dr. Crable’s career as an educational and scientific leader has focused on investigating the roles of policy and politics in achieving real-world health outcomes,” Macinko said. ”This is a well-deserved recognition, at the national level, of Erika’s dedication to the science of public health, and we are all very pleased to see it.”