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Toward the assessment of scientific and public health impacts of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences Extramural Asthma Research Program using available data.

Background: In the past 15 years, asthma prevalence has increased and is disproportionately distributed among children, minorities, and low-income persons. The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) Division of Extramural Research and Training developed a framework to measure th...

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Published in:Environmental Health Perspectives Vol. 117; no. 7; pp. 1147 - 1155
Main Authors: Liebow E, Phelps J, Van Houten B, Rose S, Orians C, Cohen J, Monroe P, Drew CH
Format: tables/charts Journal Article
Published: National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences Jul2009
Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
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      jtl: Environmental Health Perspectives
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      dt: Jul2009
      vid: 117
      iid: 7
      pid: 56539
      pub: National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
      place: Research Triangle Park, North Carolina
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        105396105
        2010359320
        10.1289/ehp.0800476
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        105396105
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        atl: Toward the assessment of scientific and public health impacts of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences Extramural Asthma Research Program using available data.
      aug:
        au:
          Liebow E
          Phelps J
          Van Houten B
          Rose S
          Orians C
          Cohen J
          Monroe P
          Drew CH
        affil: Battelle Health and Life Sciences, Seattle, Washington, USA
      sug:
        subj:
          Asthma
          Environmental Health
          Public Health
          Research
          Conceptual Framework
          Grants
          Models, Theoretical
          National Institutes of Health (U.S.)
          Organizations
          United States
      ab: Background: In the past 15 years, asthma prevalence has increased and is disproportionately distributed among children, minorities, and low-income persons. The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) Division of Extramural Research and Training developed a framework to measure the scientific and health impacts of its extramural asthma research to improve the scientific basis for reducing the health effects of asthma. Objectives: Here we apply the framework to characterize the NIEHS asthma portfolio's impact in terms of publications, clinical applications of findings, community interventions, and technology developments. Methods: A logic model was tailored to inputs, outputs, and outcomes of the NIEHS asthma portfolio. Data from existing National Institutes of Health (NIH) databases are used, along with publicly available bibliometric data and structured elicitation of expert judgment. Results: NIEHS is the third largest source of asthma-related research grant funding within the NIH between 1975 and 2005, after the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Much of NIEHS-funded asthma research focuses on basic research, but results are often published in journals focused on clinical investigation, increasing the likelihood that the work is moved into practice along the 'bench to bedside' continuum. NIEHS support has led to key breakthroughs in scientific research concerning susceptibility to asthma, environmental conditions that heighten asthma symptoms, and cellular mechanisms that may be involved in treating asthma. Conclusions: If gaps and limitations in publicly available data receive adequate attention, further linkages can be demonstrated between research activities and public health improvements. This logic model approach to research impact assessment demonstrates that it is possible to conceptualize program components, mine existing databases, and begin to show longer-term impacts of program results. The next challenges will be to modify current data structures, improve the linkages among relevant databases, incorporate as much electronically available data as possible, and determine how to improve the quality and health impact of the science that we support.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype:
        tables/charts
        Journal Article
      ougenre: Article
    language: English
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