Dissemination and Implementation Science Travel Award and Conference Event (DISTAnCE)

About This Grant

The “Dissemination and Implementation Science Travel Award and Conference Event” (DISTAnCE) is designed to build scientific capacity to accelerate the uptake of Dissemination and Implementation (D&I) research across NIDCD’s mission areas (i.e., hearing, balance, taste, smell, voice, speech, and language). D&I science aims to narrow the gap between scientific discovery and its application in health care and educational settings to promote the adoption and integration of evidence-based practices, interventions, and policies. The research-to-practice gap has been durable and presents a significant challenge to furthering evidence-based practices for many disciplines. For example, despite the considerable evidence base in communication disorders (ASHA n.d.), its clinical uptake has been disappointing (Douglas et al., 2022b). This gap negatively impacts the health and education of millions of individuals with communication disorders (NIDCD n.d.). Several factors have been identified that impede scientific progress in D&I (NIDCD, 2023), but primarily, there is insufficient scientific capacity in D&I to support noticeable growth. The need for mentoring support and cultivation of the D&I research community have been recognized as being critical to advancing D&I research in NIDCD’s mission areas (Douglas et al., 2022a, NIDCD, 2023). The DISTAnCE program aims to increase scientific capacity and address unmet needs in D&I across NIDCD’s mission areas by supporting 12 awardees and 6 mentors annually to attend (1) the “Conference on the Science of Dissemination and Implementation in Health” (CSDIH) and (2) the new DISTAnCE Workshop, which will immediately follow the CSDIH. The DISTAnCE Workshop will focus on topics highly relevant to NIDCD’s mission areas such as identifying and engaging stakeholders and choosing appropriate D&I frameworks, strategies, outcomes, and funding mechanisms (e.g., Douglas et al., 2022a, NIDCD, 2023). Critically, half of the Workshop time will be spent in mentoring periods wherein awardees work with their mentors to refine their draft grant proposals that incorporate D&I aims and methods. Through in-person discussions, group functions, post-workshop virtual meetings, and a dedicated online community, DISTAnCE will strengthen the developing D&I research community. Within the year following the DISTAnCE Workshop, awardees will broadly disseminate information learned at CSDIH and DISTAnCE through presentations, seminars, articles, and other broad dissemination tactics. Outcomes data regarding awardees’ success in securing funding for grant proposals that includes D&I aims and methods will be collected at 3-years and 6-years following their participation. Over the 5-year funding cycle, DISTAnCE aims to support the funding success of 60 promising scientists focused on D&I research within NIDCD’s mission areas and to promote broad dissemination about the value of D&I to nurture the pipeline of future D&I researchers and clinical implementation partners.