The broad goal of the research proposal is to identify factors that either promote or inhibit the development, by scientists, of new genetic technologies relevant to healthcare and to consider the research policy implications of individual and organizational factors.
The specific aim i s to elicit the views of individual research scientists on appropriate transfer of genetic technologies into healthcare practice. It may be that the views from the trenches of basic genetics differ greatly from the views held by those conducting research closer to the interface with clinical application. Researchers working on more basic problems may be less inclined or even averse to considering the relevance of their research to healthcare. The same researchers may be apprehensive about proceeding along lines of investigation that could benefit medicine, out of fear that their research will become applied. The increasing presence of industry funding and media attention to genetics may be perceived differently by scientists working at different points along the continuum from basic genetic research to clinical genetics. Researchers in more applied areas could perceive pressure to emphasize the clinical application of their research prematurely, from a scientific perspective. Through interviews and focus groups with research scientists in the field of genetics, factors that influence the rate and direction of genetic innovation and technological development will be sought. Difference in the views of scientists toward diffusion of genetic technologies and their own role in the process will be analyzed with respect to: the sector in which they are employed (i.e., academia, industry, government); the applied versus basic nature of their own research; the period of time in which they underwent training; the departmental program in which they were trained; age; sex; ethnicity; religiosity; and current institutional characteristics (i.e., prestige, tech transfer policies, commercial ties).
