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A four-phase model of transdisciplinary team-based research: goals, team processes, and strategies

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Translational Behavioral Medicine

ABSTRACT

The complexity of social and public health challenges has led to burgeoning interest and investments in cross-disciplinary team-based research, and particularly in transdisciplinary (TD) team-based research. TD research aims to integrate and ultimately extend beyond discipline-specific concepts, approaches, and methods to accelerate innovations and progress toward solving complex real-world problems. While TD research offers the promise of novel, wide-reaching, and important discoveries, it also introduces unique challenges. In particular, today's investigators are generally trained in unidisciplinary approaches and may have little training in, or exposure to, the scientific skills and team processes necessary to collaborate successfully in teams of colleagues from widely disparate disciplines and fields. Yet these skills are essential to maximize the efficiency and effectiveness of TD team-based research. In the current article, we propose a model of TD team-based research that includes four relatively distinct phases: development, conceptualization, implementation, and translation. Drawing on the science of team science field, as well as the findings from previous research on group dynamics and organizational behavior, we identify key scientific goals and team processes that occur in each phase and across multiple phases. We then provide real-world exemplars for each phase that highlight strategies for successfully meeting the goals and engaging in the team processes that are hallmarks of that phase. We conclude by discussing the relevance of the model for TD team-based research initiatives, funding to support these initiatives, and future empirical research that aims to better understand the processes and outcomes of TD team-based research.

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Notes

  1. TD research can be achieved, albeit less frequently, by a single individual, and therefore, some scholars distinguish between solo and team-based forms of transdisciplinarity (e.g., Wagner et al. [61] and [54]). In this manuscript, we focus entirely on team-based TD research.

  2. In the proposed model, the term “problem space” includes the set of disciplinary perspectives and factors relevant for comprehensively exploring and addressing a broad scientific issue or societal challenge (see Fig. 2). The delineation of the problem space is the core feature of the development phase, whereas the identification of a specific research question is the core feature of the conceptual phase. Metaphorically, the problem space is the sandbox, while the identification of the specific TD research question to be studied can be seen as the location where a team chooses to build its sand castle.

  3. Accessed on June 26, 2012, at http://projectreporter.nih.gov/project_info_description.cfm?aid=8205223&icde=10056448

  4. Although this funding opportunity announcement (FOA) uses the term interdisciplinary, it uses it interchangeably with transdisciplinary. The intent of this FOA is to facilitate both, and our exemplar is specific to a transdisciplinary project.

  5. Accessed on June 26, 2012, at http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-CA-10-017.html

  6. Accessed on June 22, 2012, at http://cancercontrol.cancer.gov/populationhealthcenters/cphhd/centers.html

  7. http://www.info.scival.com/experts

  8. http://vivoweb.org/

  9. http://www.biomedexperts.com

  10. http://www.cals.uidaho.edu/toolbox/index.asp

  11. http://www.nih.gov/catalyst/2002/02.05.01/page6.html

  12. https://www.teamsciencetoolkit.cancer.gov/public/TSResourceTool.aspx?tid=1&rid=56

  13. http://www.ces4health.info/find-products/search-results.aspx

  14. http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PA-10-106.html

  15. http://epi.grants.cancer.gov/Consortia/support.html

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Correspondence to Kara L. Hall PhD.

Additional information

This work was supported by contract number HHSN-276-2007-00235U. This project was funded, in whole or in part, with federal funds from the National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, under contract no. HHSN261200800001E. The content of this publication does not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the Department of Health and Human Services, nor does mention of trade names, commercial products, or organizations imply endorsement by the US Government.

Implications

Practice: The four-phase model can be used as a road map to enhance the development, management, and evaluation of transdisciplinary team-based research.

Policy: The development of science policies informed by the four-phase model, including new types of funding opportunities and review criteria, can enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of transdisciplinary team-based research.

Research: Opportunities exist to empirically test the proposed model and provide additional evidence for effective practices for team-based research.

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Hall, K.L., Vogel, A.L., Stipelman, B.A. et al. A four-phase model of transdisciplinary team-based research: goals, team processes, and strategies. Behav. Med. Pract. Policy Res. 2, 415–430 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13142-012-0167-y

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