New Health Services Research Center at University Hospitals Aims to Accelerate Translation of Evidence into Practice

Innovations in Pediatrics | Summer 2024

How does one take the amazing wealth of evidence in health and medicine, from basic science to clinical research, and effectively translate it into practice? What works best and why? How do structural factors or social determinants factor in?

Samudragupta Bora, PhD

These and other pressing questions fuel the new Health Services Research Center at University Hospitals. The ambitious and innovative new center, led by founding director Samudragupta Bora, PhD, brings together clinician-scientists and scientists from academic departments across the UH health system. Dr. Bora is recognized internationally for his research on neurodevelopmental follow-up and outcomes of high-risk infants, particularly those born preterm. Throughout his career, he has worked to improve the early detection of infants at risk of poor neurodevelopmental outcomes, with a particular focus on risk and resilience using the social determinants of health framework.

Newly arrived in Cleveland from the Mater Research Institute at the University of Queensland in Australia, Dr. Bora says he’s energized by his new role.

“Health services research examines the management, finance and delivery of safe, high-quality health care and identifies areas for improvement,” he says. “It intersects with clinical research to advance state-of-the-art care. Our vision is to be the national and international leader in the development, evaluation and translation of evidence and policies to improve health care. We want to improve the health and well-being of the individual and also at the population level. We are committed to improving outcomes.”

The Health Services Research Center at UH includes five main research areas: healthcare delivery science, health equity, health outcomes, implementation science and population health. With all of its work, Dr. Bora says, collaboration and strong meaningful community partnerships are key.

“We are prioritizing local, national and even international partnerships on this initiative,” he says. “The Center is focused on developing a cohort of high caliber extramural-funded clinician-scientists and scientists who specialize in health services research. We also place a strong emphasis on training the next generation of clinician-scientists and scientists, as well as promoting faculty career advancement through robust mentoring and professional development opportunities.”

In fact, before assuming leadership of the new Health Services Research Center, Dr. Bora was also the founding program director of the UH Research & Education Institute’s Certificate in Foundations of Health Services Research. The three-week intensive postgraduate certificate program helps senior clinical fellows and early-career clinicians gain knowledge and skills in health services research, including methodology and the pursuit of innovative, transdisciplinary research in a mentored environment. The inaugural class included 15 clinicians from various UH departments, including dermatology, gastroenterology and hepatology, hematology and oncology, obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, psychiatry, surgery and urology. 

Intervening even earlier in the career development process, the Center also offers a six-week summer research program for high school, college and medical students, complete with a small stipend for participating.

“We are focusing on high school because we want to strengthen the whole pathway, not just only at the resident or fellow or faculty level,” Dr. Bora says. “We know that we need to strengthen the pathway from the very beginning. We also have been very mindful that we want to offer equitable opportunities. We have actively targeted students who may not have had enough opportunities to participate in similar programs.”

In addition to these offerings, the Center also recently launched a Health Services Research Grand Rounds, as well as a monthly Distinguished Speaker Series featuring some of the nation’s and world’s leading experts. The inaugural speaker was Sara Bleich, PhD, Vice Provost for Special Projects at Harvard University and Professor of Public Health Policy at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. An expert on diet-related diseases, food insecurity and racial inequality, Dr. Bleich served in the Biden Administration as the Director of Nutrition Security and Health Equity at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service and as the Senior Advisor for COVID-19 in the Office of the Secretary at USDA.

With all these efforts, Dr. Bora says his goal is to build and concentrate the expertise in health services research to create maximum impact, both locally in Cleveland and globally. It will require focused, dedicated effort, he says.

“It takes a very long time to translate evidence into (clinical) practice, and many will never make it to practice,” he says. “Essentially, unless there is a concerted effort on the translation piece, it may simply remain a (research) finding. We must efficiently and effectively translate evidence into practice, to improve health and well-being for everyone.”

For more information about the Health Services Research Center at UH, please email Peds.Innovations@UHhospitals.org.

Contributing Expert:
Samudragupta Bora, PhD
Founding Director, Health Services Research Center
University Hospitals
Associate Professor, Department of Pediatrics
Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine