Transforming Research: 

Silos to Teams and Groups to the Individual

Martin Mufich, RN, MSN, NHDP-BC, CHSE

 

The Past:

 In the past, researchers conducted studies in their prospective silos.  Studies were completed by individual researchers or small groups of researchers having the same background and training.

The majority of studies focused on the researcher’s field; medicine researched medicine, public health studied public health, nurse researchers studied nursing, etc.  Often, the study findings concerned a large patient demographic, such as diabetics, cancer patients, or addicts.  In many ways it was the individual, or small group of individuals, generating science concerning a large population.

The Present:

Team Science

In recent years we have seen a paradigm shift from a single researcher or a group of researchers from the same discipline to groups of researchers from diverse disciplines.  This “Team Science” approach is a collective effort to address a challenge, leveraging the strengths and expertise of professionals trained in different fields.  Though the term team science is used for these groups, it should not be assumed that the researchers are all scientists, indeed, it can be any collective of individuals.  An example of this was a recent study regarding disaster planning, preparedness, and response for rural long-term care providers, the team consisted of a health economist, a lawyer and an epidemiologist.

The idea of interdisciplinary collaboration is not new.  It can be found in hospitals, where a group of health care professionals such as a physical therapist, respiratory therapist, nurse, doctor, dietician, case worker, and chaplain make rounds on patients.  It can also be seen in interprofessional education, where students from different disciplines learn from, with, and about each other on competencies such as teams and teamwork, interprofessional communication, ethics/values, and roles/responsibilities.

Regarding research, an increasing amount of funding has been allocated for transdisciplinary team science studies.  As an example, a recent inquiry on Grants.gov yielded 218 posted grant offerings when the term “multidisciplinary” was used as a search parameter.

While team science shows much promise, as it is still an emerging field, so numerous growing pains exist including:

·         What is “Team Science” - is it transdisciplinary, interdisciplinary, multidisciplinary?

·         The need to create of a coherent taxonomy

·         An accepted conceptual framework

·         How should results of team science efforts be measured?

·         Is there a readiness to collaborate? 

·         Sustainability of Team Science

·         Sustaining transdisciplinary partnerships

·         Developing transdisciplinary researchers, as opposed to researchers on transdisciplinary teams

 

Personalized Medicine/Personalized Fitness

The advancements in human genome mapping coupled with technology has led to an increase in personalized medicine.  As an example, in the 1970’s a personalized insulin pump resembled a mid-sized metal backpack.  Now, in 2020, an insulin pump is about the size of a credit card, with a thickness of less than one inch.  Other examples include programable watches, wristbands, and or phones which can yield information such as heart rate, sleep patterns, and number of steps walked.

The Future:

What does the future hold?  As the fields of team science and personalized medicine/fitness mature and grow, we will indeed see a  shift from a few scientists, researching ways to improve the health and fitness of large groups, to a team of professionals working on ways to improve the lives of each of us, at a personalized level.

References

Hall, K., Feng, A., Moser, R., Stokols, D., and Taylor, B., (2008).  Moving the science of team science forward: Collaboration and creativity.  American Journal of Preventative Medicine, 35(2S).

Interprofessional Education Collaborative. (2016).  Core competencies for interprofessional collaborative practice: 2016 update. Washington, DC: Interprofessional Education Collaborative.

M. Mufich (personal communication, July 17, 2020)

National Cancer Institute (n.d.).  Team Science Toolkit.  Retrieved from https://www.teamsciencetoolkit.cancer.gov/Public/WhatIsTS.aspx

T. Radcliff (personal communication, June 7, 2020)