- Title
- The impact of a regionally based translational cancer research collaborative in Australia using the FAIT methodology
- Creator
- Paul, Christine L.; Verrills, Nicole M.; Ackland, Stephen; Scott, Rodney; Goode, Susan; Thomas, Ann; Lukeman, Sarah; Nielsen, Sarah; Weidenhofer, Judith; Lynam, James; Fradgley, Elizabeth A.; Martin, Jarad; Greer, Peter; Smith, Stephen; Griffin, Cassandra; Avery-Kiejda, Kelly A.; Zdenkowski, Nick; Searles, Andrew; Ramanathan, Shanthi
- Relation
- BMC Health Services Research Vol. 24, Issue 1, no. 320
- Publisher Link
- http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12913-024-10680-2
- Publisher
- BioMed Central Ltd
- Resource Type
- journal article
- Date
- 2024
- Description
- Background: Translating research, achieving impact, and assessing impact are important aspirations for all research collaboratives but can prove challenging. The Hunter Cancer Research Alliance (HCRA) was funded from 2014 to 2021 to enhance capacity and productivity in cancer research in a regional centre in Australia. This study aimed to assess the impact and benefit of the HCRA to help inform future research investments of this type. Method: The Framework to Assess the Impact from Translational health research (FAIT) was selected as the preferred methodology. FAIT incorporates three validated methodologies for assessing impact: 1) Modified Payback; 2) Economic Analysis; and 3) Narrative overview and case studies. All three FAIT methods are underpinned by a Program Logic Model. Data were collected from HCRA and the University of Newcastle administrative records, directly from HCRA members, and website searches. Results: In addition to advancing knowledge and providing capacity building support to members via grants, fellowships, scholarships, training, events and targeted translation support, key impacts of HCRA-member research teams included: (i) the establishment of a regional biobank that has distributed over 13,600 samples and became largely self-sustaining; (ii) conservatively leveraging $43.8 M (s.a.$20.5 M - $160.5 M) in funding and support from the initial $9.7 M investment; (iii) contributing to clinical practice guidelines and securing a patent for identification of stem cells for endometrial cell regeneration; (iv) shifting the treatment paradigm for all tumour types that rely on nerve cell innervation, (v) development and implementation of the world's first real-time patient treatment verification system (Watchdog); (vi) inventing the effective 'EAT' psychological intervention to improve nutrition and outcomes in people experiencing radiotherapy for head and neck cancer; (vi) developing effective interventions to reduce smoking rates among priority groups, currently being rolled out to disadvantaged populations in NSW; and (vii) establishing a Consumer Advisory Panel and Consumer Engagement Committee to increase consumer involvement in research. Conclusion: Using FAIT methodology, we have demonstrated the significant impact and downstream benefits that can be achieved by the provision of infrastructure-type funding to regional and rural research collaboratives to help address inequities in research activity and health outcomes and demonstrates a positive return on investment.
- Subject
- cancer research; translational research; impact assessment; rural and regional health; consumer involvement; SDG 3; SDG 9; Sustainable Development Goals
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1500708
- Identifier
- uon:54997
- Identifier
- ISSN:1472-6963
- Rights
- Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated in a credit line to the data.
- Language
- eng
- Full Text
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