Research Lifecycle to Increase the Substantial Real-world Impact of Research: Accelerating Innovations to Application

Area of Science:

• Health Services Research
• Translational Science
• Implementation Science

Background:

• Healthcare systems face pressure to integrate innovations for better patient outcomes and reduced costs.
• Funding bodies require demonstrable impact of research investments on public health.
• The Learning Health System fosters continuous innovation, but lacks specified processes for translating research into practice.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the Research Lifecycle as an operational approach to enhance the Learning Health System.
• To leverage institutional priorities for translating research discoveries into clinical applications.

Main Methods:

• The Research Lifecycle was developed by the US Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Research and Development.
• It integrates frameworks from product development, translational science, and implementation science.
• It addresses barriers to innovation translation and supports practice implementation and sustainability.

Main Results:

• The Research Lifecycle comprises 5 phases: prioritization, discovery, validation, scale-up and spread, and sustainability.
• This structured pathway facilitates seamless translation from research discovery to clinical implementation.
• An example application within a health system is provided.

Conclusions:

• The Research Lifecycle aligns research and health system investments to maximize real-world impact.
• It provides a feasible pathway for priority-driven innovations to be adapted for clinical use.
• This leads to continuous improvement in healthcare delivery through supported implementation strategies.