Infrastructure

National Family Medicine Strategic Plan for Research

 


Suggested Reading

Building strong family medicine research infrastructure is a strategic priority that goes beyond funding and publication counts. A key approach is to build on existing community-engaged work, recognizing that impactful research often starts small and grows over time. As one leader observed, “research is a part of family medicine’s ‘DNA’ as a discipline” (Etz et al., 2024). Departments already have the foundation to expand their scholarly work. The below articles from the JABFM Special Issue offer practical examples and tools to support a mission-driven research culture.

Practice Based Research Networks (PBRNs), grounded in clinical and educational community ties, act as essential spaces for engagement, connecting academic research with real-world practice and enabling funded studies (Westfall et al., 2024).

Federal programs like the Clinical and Translational Science Award and Clinical and Translational Research Award support infrastructure through resources, mentorship, and implementation assistance (Bennett et al., 2024).

New data resources such as the NIH All of Us program, the PRIME Registry, and the American Family Cohort help researchers conduct large scale studies to improve equity and outcomes in underserved communities. The All of Us database, for example, allows family medicine to “utilize a repository of clinical data to answer key questions in primary care” (DeVoe et al., 2024).

Tools like the Productivity And Capacity Evaluation in Research (PACER) help measure and grow research capacity (Carek et al., 2024).

We urge departments, deans, and chairs to invest in infrastructure by engaging with communities, strengthening PBRNs, using national networks and large datasets, and applying tools to build capacity—ensuring family medicine advances its vital research mission.

Family Medicine Research and Translational Science Alignment: Leveraging the Clinical Translational Science Award Network

Practice-Based Research Networks: Asphalt on the Blue Highways of Primary Care Research

Building Family Medicine Research Through Community Engagement: Leveraging Federal Awards to Develop Infrastructure

Every Day I Write the Book: Transforming EHR Data from Daily Practice into New Knowledge

Leveraging the All of Us Database for Primary Care Research with Large Datasets

Measuring Research Capacity: Development of the PACER Tool

Experiencing food insecurity is associated with Vitamin B12 deficiency in All of Us participants

Answering 100 Most Important FM Questions

Family Medicine’s Role in Generating Evidence to Inform Primary Care Payment Reform and New Care Delivery Models


Lack of Investment in US Family Medicine Research

Although it is the largest funder of biomedical research, the National Institute of Health, spent only 0.2% of its budget in 2021 on family medicine research.4 Despite being the largest specialty in the US Health system, primary care investment pales in comparison to other developed nations.5 This underinvestment impacts clinical care.6

                 


Clinical and Translational Science Research Infrastructure in the United States

Building clinical and translational research infrastructure is essential for advancing primary care science and improving community health. Two key NIH programs support this goal: the Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSA) program, led by NCATS, and the Institutional Development Award for Clinical and Translational Research (IDeA-CTR) program, led by NIGMS. While they differ in geographic scope and institutional eligibility, both programs aim to accelerate the translation of research into practice, support the development of the clinical and translational workforce, and foster partnerships between researchers, clinicians, and communities.

Understanding what applies to you and how to access these resources:

Clinical and Translational Science Awards 

The Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSA) through the National Institute for Health (NIH) supports a national network of medical institutions that speeds the translation of research discoveries into improved care. This program nurtures the field of translational science through education, training, and support.  Connect with your local NIH Funded CTSA Hub to identify Funding Opportunities and access other resources

  • A Guide to using NIH RePORTER can help departments search for grant opportunities, track awarded grants, understand funding timelines and identify CTSA Principal Investigators (PIs)

Institutional Development Award for Clinical and Translational Research (IDeA-CTR)

The IDeA-CTR program, funded by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS), is a federal initiative designed to build and strengthen clinical and translational research infrastructure in underserved and historically underfunded states. These often include rural regions and institutions that lack access to large, research-intensive networks. Through multi-institutional centers, the program supports pilot funding for early-stage investigators, mentorship and career development, core research resources, and community-engaged research. If you are located in an IDeA state, access NIGMS Funding Opportunities

Clinical and Translational Research Infrastructure Network (CTR-IN)

As part of the NIH’s IDeA-CTR program, the Clinical and Translational Research Infrastructure Network (CTR-IN) supports institutions in 13 IDeA-eligible states that often lack the centralized infrastructure of larger academic centers (largely in the Mountain West Region). Through pilot funding, mentoring, and shared research support, CTR-IN helps build research capacity in areas where family medicine departments and primary care research are often critical to population health. Connect with your local program to identify MW CTR-IN Funding Opportunities


Importance of Relationship and Networking

Want to build Research Capacity?

Early steps in collaboration - “Getting started with community-based research” based on the JABFM article, “Building Family Medicine Research Through Community Engagement: Leveraging Federal Awards to Develop Infrastructure

The seven strategic opportunities for family medicine to expand its research capacity and impact, based on the JABFM article, “Leveraging the Clinical Translational Science Award Network to Advance Family Medicine Research

  • Community Engagement with those interested and affected

  • PBRNs

  • Research Training, Education and Workforce Development

  • Research Services and Pilot 

  • Alignment for Health Informatics Adoption and Integration

  • Clinical & Translational Science Research Programs

  • Apply to Establish a new CTSA

For questions and updates on the strategic plan, please reach out to Shannon Robinson (srobinson@napcrg.org).