Dissemination and implementation (D&I) research is a growing area of science focused on overcoming the science-practice gap by targeting the distribution of information and adoption of interventions to public health and clinical practice settings. This study examined D&I research projects funded under specific program announcements by the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) from 2005 to 2012. The authors described the projects’ D&I strategies, funding by NIH Institute, focus, characteristics of the principal investigators (PIs) and their organizations, and other aspects of study design and setting. Results showed 46 R01s, 6 R03s, and 24 R21s funded totaling $79.2 million. The top funders were the National Cancer Institute and the National Institute of Mental Health, together providing 61% of funding. The majority of PIs were affiliated with Schools of Medicine or large, nonprofit research organizations and think tanks. Only 4% of projects were to PIs with appointments at Schools of Nursing, with 7% of the funding. The most commonly funded projects across all of the studies focused on cancer control and screening, substance abuse prevention and treatment, and mental health services. Typically implemented in community and organizational settings, D&I research provides an excellent opportunity for team science, including nurse scientists and interdisciplinary collaborators. 1. Introduction The existence of a gap between science and practice is universally recognized. Clinical research findings and clinical practice guidelines that have promise to improve health move very slowly from the research setting into clinical practice, and many of these interventions never reach those who could benefit. It is estimated that it takes an average of 17 years to translate 14% of original research into benefit for patients and an average of 9 years for interventions recommended as evidence-based practices to be fully adopted [1, 2]. Dissemination and implementation (D&I) research is a growing area of science focused on overcoming this science-practice gap. Research on dissemination addresses the targeted distribution or spread of information and interventions to specific public health and clinical practice settings. Implementation science is the study of methods to promote the integration of evidence and change practice patterns and health care policy within real-world public health and clinical service settings [3]. Using the language from models depicting the continuum of translational science from bench to practice and health impact, D&I research is often depicted
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