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A transdisciplinary approach to protocol development for tobacco control research: a case study

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Translational Behavioral Medicine

ABSTRACT

The increasing complexity of scientific problems related to lifestyle risk factors has prompted substantial investments in transdisciplinary or team science initiatives at the biological, psychosocial, and population levels of analysis. To date, the actual process of conducting team science from the perspectives of investigators engaged in it has not been well documented. We describe the experience of developing and implementing data collection protocols using the principles of transdisciplinary science. The New England Family Study Transdisciplinary Tobacco Use Research Center was a 10-year collaboration involving more than 85 investigators and consultants from more than 20 disciplines as well as more than 50 research staff. We used a two-phase process in which all the study personnel participated in the developing and testing of 160 instruments. These instruments were used in 4,378 assessments with 3,501 participants. With substantial effort, it is possible to build a team of scientists from diverse backgrounds that can develop a set of instruments using a shared conceptual approach, despite limited or no experience working together previously.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This research was supported by the National Cancer Institute Center Grant P50 CA84719, the National Institute on Drug Abuse, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

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Correspondence to Melissa A. Clark PhD.

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Implications

Practice: Data collection instruments developed by The New England Family Study Transdisciplinary Tobacco Use Research Center measure nicotine dependence and other psychiatric diagnoses while also providing symptom counts that capture the lower ranges of psychopathology severity.

Research: When evaluating transdisciplinary research, the challenges and opportunities of team science should be documented from investigators’ perspectives along with the number, type, and authorship of the manuscripts produced.

Policy: The funding mechanisms for transdisciplinary team science must be structured such that sufficient time and resources are awarded for investigators to transcend their respective disciplines to develop and implement data collection protocols using a shared conceptual approach.

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Clark, M.A., Rogers, M.L., Boergers, J. et al. A transdisciplinary approach to protocol development for tobacco control research: a case study. Behav. Med. Pract. Policy Res. 2, 431–440 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13142-012-0164-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13142-012-0164-1

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