Informatics Education for Translational Research Teams: An Unrealized Opportunity to Strengthen the National Research Infrastructure

Abstract

Informatics and data science are essential for the full spectrum of translational research, supporting data collection, management, analysis, knowledge generation, and knowledge dissemination through integration into practice. To effectively leverage the increasing amount of health data available for both observational and interventional research, investigators and staff need informatics and data science training that is both accessible and relevant to their specific research context and needs. Despite the importance of this training, translational and clinical researchers are generally not exposed to informatics education unless they are pursuing formal informatics degrees. At present there are few on-demand informatics educational resources targeted to research teams. This gap represents an unrealized opportunity to improve the efficiency of research. To better understand the gap in accessible informatics education for researchers, we surveyed clinical and translational science researchers in CTSA programs about their educational needs and preferences. The survey was sent In August of 2021 to 62 CTSA administrators who were asked to distribute it to (non-informatics) researchers at their sites. Researchers from 23 out of the 62 CTSA hubs responded (37%). Results showed high interest in all 30 topics included in the survey, with some variation in interest depending on the role of the respondents. We suggest strategies for using the results of this needs assessment to develop future informatics education.