Developing knowledge translation capacity in public health: the role of the National Collaborating Centres

This paper outlines the history and rationale of the six National Collaborating Centres for Public Health program, established by the Public Health Agency of Canada in 2004. The Centres are not focused on primary research, but rather on synthesizing the global scientific evidence relevant to public health policies, programs and practices--and its translation into useful "knowledge products" for public health professionals, policy-makers and community groups to inform public health decision-making. The broad principles of knowledge synthesis and translation/exchange (KSTE) for public health applications are reviewed, as are recent publications and websites describing international projects in this burgeoning field. Finally, some best practices for public-health-oriented KSTE derived from experiences in Canada and elsewhere are described.