Research translation

What is research translation?

Research translation is the means through which health and medical research achieves impact. It is the process of transforming scientific ideas, discoveries, and innovations into practical solutions that address real-world health challenges. Translation goes beyond moving evidence into use; it focuses on delivering value for people, health services and the broader health system, and encompasses both non-commercial and commercial pathways through which research is applied to deliver public benefit.

Research translation and impact

Research impact is realised when health and medical research leads to measurable effects after research is adopted, adapted or used to inform decisions, including improvements in health outcomes, policy, practice or system performance, or broader social or economic value. Research translation is therefore central to achieving impact, supporting value-based care, and maximising the return on public investment in research, including reducing low-value care, improving efficiency, and enabling the development of new products, services and industries contributing to national productivity, economic growth and health system sustainability.

Research translation builds on discovery and other stages of the research lifecycle, supporting the movement of evidence from discovery through to implementation and sustained use as part of the pathway to impact. It applies to both the adoption of new knowledge and the adoption, adaptation and optimisation of existing evidence, and is supported by collaborative partnerships among clinicians, consumers and communities, industry, policymakers and funders. Translation activities may include generating evidence through clinical trials and applied studies; supporting the development and uptake of treatments, technologies and preventive strategies; creating and applying evidence-based clinical guidelines; and changes to policy, practice, or system-level reform. Across these activities, implementation science helps address how research outcomes are taken up, integrated into practice and sustained in health care settings.

Embedding consumer and community involvement

Effective research translation depends on the involvement of consumers, communities and other end-users from the earliest stages of research and throughout the research process. NHMRC’s Statement on Consumer and Community Involvement in Health and Medical Research outlines how this involvement helps ensure research priorities, study design and translation pathways reflect real-world needs, are feasible to implement and are capable of being adopted in practice across diverse settings.

The role of the health system and responsible translation

The health system plays a central role in effective research translation. It is not only a setting for care delivery, but also a critical partner in generating and applying evidence to improve quality, safety, equity and sustainability. This includes embedding research in routine care, supporting health service-led and place-based research, and enabling implementation in real-world settings. Responsible research translation considers ethical, legal and social implications, including equity and access. It draws on consumer and community perspectives to help identify and manage potential harms and unintended consequences, and guide decisions about adoption, scale‑up and resource allocation. These aspects of research translation are often under‑recognised, yet have significant implications for health system sustainability and equity.

Knowledge translation

Research translation is also often referred to as knowledge mobilisation or knowledge translation. The creation, dissemination and equitable access to evidence-based knowledge empowers the community to understand health risks, weigh potential benefits, and make informed decisions about care and prevention. This process not only strengthens public health literacy but also fosters trust in research and supports policies and practices that lead to measurable improvements in health and wellbeing. Equally critical is collaboration between consumers and community, policymakers, industry and researchers to inform each other and co-design research priorities and translation outcomes. Such partnerships ensure that research addresses real-world needs and that policy decisions are grounded in the best available evidence, creating a cycle of continuous improvement for health systems and population wellbeing.

Effective research translation is informed by the science of knowledge translation, including behavioural science and implementation science, which examine how evidence is adopted, adapted and sustained in real-world settings. Recognising these disciplines strengthens the likelihood that research outputs lead to measurable changes.

In Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander contexts, knowledge translation has a distinct and culturally grounded meaning. The Lowitja Institute defines knowledge translation as:

'The complex series of interactions between knowledge holders, knowledge producers and knowledge users, with the goal of research impact, which is the positive and sustainable long-term benefit for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. These interactions begin when forming the initial research or project idea, through to implementation, and then communicating the project and research findings. Knowledges gained in research must be translated into changes in policy and practice for there to be benefits and to ensure the impacts flow to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, families, and communities.' ¹

Acknowledging this definition is essential to ensure that the Strategy reflects Indigenous-led approaches to research, respects Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ways of knowing, being and doing, and supports community-driven pathways to impact. It also reinforces the importance of embedding culturally safe and inclusive practices throughout the research process, from design to dissemination, and of privileging Indigenous knowledge systems alongside academic expertise.

This distinction, between Indigenous‑led knowledge translation and mainstream research translation approaches, is not merely semantic; it reflects a broader commitment to equity, self-determination, and meaningful involvement in research translation. Incorporating Indigenous knowledge translation principles strengthens the Strategy’s alignment with national health priorities and ensures that research outcomes are relevant, respectful, and beneficial to all Australians.

Relationship between research translation and commercialisation

Research translation is the process of moving research into real‑world use to improve health outcomes, with or without a commercial pathway. It can include developing better models of care, clinical guidelines, policy and program design, and everyday healthcare and public health practice.

Commercialisation is one pathway within research translation, supporting improved health, social and economic outcomes through delivery at scale, sustained supply or long‑term viability. It enables research to be translated into products, services and interventions that can be manufactured, distributed and maintained over time. Industry can play a critical role across the research translation pathway, including early engagement in discovery research and development to inform commercial decision-making, co-development, and pathway design alongside researchers and health services. Achieving impact through new devices, digital products, medicines, therapies and procedures often requires a proprietary intellectual property position, development and commercial expertise, private funding, specialised infrastructure and access to industry partners. Considering these commercialisation requirements early helps ensure innovations are scalable, sustainable and aligned with end‑user needs.

Through both commercial and non‑commercial pathways, research translation can support improvements in quality and efficiency of care, reduce avoidable waste, and contribute to value‑based health system goals.

Commercial outcomes are often necessary to enable equitable access, particularly in low-resource settings, where effective innovations may otherwise remain limited to pilot or trial settings rather than achieving broad population benefit. Commercialisation can also strengthen the research system by generating returns that are reinvested into new research, workforce development and infrastructure, while supporting jobs, skills and Australia’s broader innovation economy. Although commercialisation pathways often involve greater uncertainty and longer timeframes than other translation activities, they reflect a higher‑risk, higher‑reward profile. While not all research and commercialisation projects will succeed, well-designed projects that do not progress can still generate valuable evidence, capability and learning that inform future research, reduce risk and improve decision-making.

References

¹ Lowitja Institute. Our Approach to Knowledge Translation. https://www.lowitja.org.au/research/our-approach-to-knowledge-translation/ (accessed 21 April 2026).