Mental Models of Translational Scientists

Translational science aims to bridge the gap between scientific discoveries and practical application yet faces challenges in achieving high success rates. This study examines the effective engagement of translational scientists, who play a key role in the translation process. It uses Fuzzy Cognitive Maps (FCMs) to analyze the scientists' mental models and identify common concepts related to success factors, such as ability, resources, opportunity, and entrepreneurial competencies. It then compares the mental models of the scientists and finds that mental models exhibit similarities, yet variations exist such as density and connectedness. Scenario analysis with FCM is then used to identify leverage points for enhancing scientists' abilities and entrepreneurial competencies. The work, which is intended as an exploratory study to help structure a larger research program finds that, strengthening translational science likely requires improving scientists' performance through enhancing abilities, providing resources and opportunities, and fostering entrepreneurial competencies, ultimately leading to impactful translation of discoveries into solutions.