Dr. David Chambers is Deputy Director for Implementation Science in the Office of the Director in the Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences (DCCPS) at the National Cancer Institute (NCI). Dr. Chambers manages a team focusing on efforts to build and advance the field of Implementation Science through funding opportunities, training programs, research activities, dissemination platforms, and enhancement of partnerships and networks to integrate research, practice and policy.
From 2008 through the fall of 2014, Dr. Chambers served as Chief of the Services Research and Clinical Epidemiology Branch (SRCEB) of the Division of Services and Intervention Research at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). He arrived at NIMH in 2001, brought to the Institute to run the Dissemination and Implementation Research Program within SRCEB, developing a portfolio of grants to study the integration of scientific findings and effective clinical practices in mental health within real-world service settings. From 2006 to the fall of 2014, Dr. Chambers also served as Associate Director for Dissemination and Implementation Research, leading National Institutes of Health (NIH) initiatives around the coordination of dissemination and implementation research in health, including a set of research announcements across multiple NIH Institutes and Centers, annual scientific conferences, and a summer training institute.
Prior to his arrival at NIH, Dr. Chambers worked as a member of a research team at Oxford University, where he studied national efforts to implement evidence-based practice within healthcare systems. He publishes on strategic directions in implementation science and serves as a plenary speaker at numerous scientific conferences. He received his A.B. degree (with Honors) in Economics from Brown University, and an MSc and DPhil degree in Management Studies (Organisational Behaviour) from Oxford University (UK).
Select Publications
- Villalobos A, Chambers DA. Advancing the science of integrating multiple interventions by blending and bundling. JNCI Cancer Spectr. 2023 Aug 31;7(5):pkad070. doi: 10.1093/jncics/pkad070. PMID: 37707597; PMCID: PMC10587993.
- Curran GM, Landes SJ, McBain SA, Pyne JM, Smith JD, Fernandez ME, Chambers DA, Mittman BS. Reflections on 10 years of effectiveness-implementation hybrid studies. Front Health Serv. 2022 Dec 8;2:1053496. doi: 10.3389/frhs.2022.1053496. PMID: 36925811; PMCID: PMC10012680.
- Oh AY, Emmons KM, Brownson RC, Glasgow RE, Foley KL, Lewis CC, Schnoll R, Huguet N, Caplon A, Chambers DA. Speeding implementation in cancer: The National Cancer Institute's Implementation Science Centers in Cancer Control. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2023 Feb 8;115(2):131-138. doi: 10.1093/jnci/djac198. PMID: 36315080; PMCID: PMC9905952.
- Adsul P, Chambers D, Brandt HM, Fernandez ME, Ramanadhan S, Torres E, Leeman J, Baquero B, Fleischer L, Escoffery C, Emmons K, Soler M, Oh A, Korn AR, Wheeler S, Shelton RC. Grounding implementation science in health equity for cancer prevention and control. Implement Sci Commun. 2022 Jun 3;3(1):56. doi: 10.1186/s43058-022-00311-4. PMID: 35659151; PMCID: PMC9164317.
- Oh A, Abazeed A, Chambers DA. Policy Implementation Science to Advance Population Health: The Potential for Learning Health Systems. Front Public Health. 2021 Jun 17;9:681602. Doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2021.681602.
- Lewis CC, Boyd MR, Walsh-Bailey C, et al. A systematic review of empirical studies examining mechanisms of implementation in health. Implement Sci. 2020 Apr 16;15(1):21. doi: 1186/s13012-020-00983-3.
- Norton WE, Chambers DA, Kramer BA. Conceptualizing de-implementation in cancer care delivery. J Clin Oncol. 2019 Jan 10;37(2):93-96. doi: 1200/JCO.18.00589.
- Chambers DA, Vinson CA, Norton WE, eds. Advancing the Science of Implementation Across the Cancer Continuum. New York, NY: Oxford University Press; 2018.
- Chambers DA, Amir E, Saleh RR, et al. The impact of big data research on practice, policy, and cancer care. Am Soc Clin Oncol Educ Book. 2019 Jan;39:e167-e175. doi: 10.1200/EDBK_238057.
- Ramsey AT, Proctor EK, Chambers DA, et al. Designing for Accelerated Translation (DART) of emerging innovations in health. J Clin Transl Sci. 2019 Jun;3(2-3):53-58. doi: 10.1017/cts.2019.386.
- Mitchell SA, Chambers DA. Leveraging implementation science to improve cancer care delivery and patient outcomes. J Oncol Pract. 2017;13(8):523-529. doi:10.1200/JOP.2017.024729.
- Chambers DA, Feero WG, Khoury MJ. Convergence of implementation science, precision medicine, and the learning health care system: a new model for biomedical research. JAMA. 2016;315(18):1941-1942. doi:10.1001/jama.2016.3867 .
- Chambers DA, Norton WE. The adaptome: advancing the science of intervention adaptation. Am J Prev Med. 2016;51(4)(suppl 2):S124-S131. doi:10.1016/j.amepre.2016.05.011 .
- Chambers DA, Proctor EK, Brownson RC, Straus SE. Mapping training needs for dissemination and implementation research: lessons from a synthesis of existing D&I research training programs. Transl Behav Med. 2017;7(3):593-601. doi:10.1007/s13142-016-0399-3.
- Chambers DA, Glasgow RE, Stange KC. The dynamic sustainability framework: addressing the paradox of sustainment amid ongoing change. Implement Sci. 2013;8:117. doi:10.1186/1748-5908-8-117.
- Tabak RG, Khoong EC, Chambers DA, Brownson RC. Bridging research and practice: models for dissemination and implementation research. Am J Prev Med. 2012;43(3):337-350. doi:10.1016/j.amepre.2012.05.024.