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Influence of a National Cancer Institute transdisciplinary research and training initiative on trainees' transdisciplinary research competencies and scholarly productivity

  • Original Research
  • Published:
Translational Behavioral Medicine

ABSTRACT

Over the past several decades, there has been burgeoning interest and investment in large transdisciplinary (TD) team science initiatives that aim to address complex societal problems. Despite this trend, TD training opportunities in the health sciences remain limited, and evaluations of these opportunities are even more uncommon due to funding constraints. We had the unique opportunity to conduct an exploratory study to examine the potential outcomes and impacts of TD training in a National Cancer Institute-supported initiative for TD research and training—the Transdisciplinary Research on Energetics and Cancer I (TREC I) initiative. This study used a retrospective mixed-methods approach leveraging secondary analysis of existing data sources to learn about TREC trainees' experiences with TREC training, TD research competencies, changes in scholarly productivity, and the associations among these domains. Results indicated that, on average, TREC trainees were satisfied with their TREC mentoring experiences and believed that TREC training processes were effective, in general. Participation in TREC training was associated with TD research competencies, including TD research orientation, positive general attitude toward TD training, development of scientific skills for TD research, and intrapersonal/interpersonal competencies for collaboration. There was also a significant increase in trainees' scholarly productivity from before to after starting in TREC training, as indicated by average annual number of publications and presentations and average number of coauthors per publication. Perceived effectiveness of TREC training was positively correlated with change in average annual number of research presentations from before to after starting in TREC training (r = 0.65, p < 0.05, N = 12), as well as TD research orientation (r = 0.36, p < 0.05), general attitude toward TD training (0.39, p < 0.05), scientific skills for TD research (r = 0.45–0.48, p < 0.05), and perceived collaborative productivity at one's TREC center (r = 0.47, p < 0.01). Finally, a significant positive correlation was observed between multi-mentoring experiences and both TD research orientation (r = 0.58, p < 0.05) and perceived collaborative productivity at one's TREC center (r = 0.44, p < 0.05). This exploratory study had methodological constraints including the absence of a comparison group and cross-sectional rather than longitudinal data related to TD research competencies. Despite these limitations, the study provided an opportunity to use existing data sources to explore potential outcomes and impacts of TD training and inform development of future rigorous evaluations of TD training. Overall, findings suggest that TD training in the context of a TD research initiative can provide satisfying training opportunities that support the development of TD research competencies and promote scholarly productivity.

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Notes

  1. These include the Transdisciplinary Research in Energetics and Cancer (TREC) initiative (2005–2016), Transdisciplinary Tobacco Research Centers (TTURCs) initiative (1998–2009), Centers for Population Health and Health Disparities (CPHHD) initiative (2003–2015), and Centers for Excellence in Cancer Communication Research (CECCR) initiative (2003–2013).

  2. The survey instrument is available at: www.teamsciencetoolkit.cancer.gov/public/TSResourceMeasure.aspx?tid=2&rid=37

  3. This syllabus is available at: https://www.teamsciencetoolkit.cancer.gov/public/TSResourceTool.aspx?tid=1&rid=549

  4. Descriptions of the 2012 workshops are available at: http://med.stanford.edu/diversity/ctsa/TeamScienceInitiative.html

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Acknowledgements

This work would not have been possible without the support and collaboration of the directors of the four TREC research centers, Nathan A. Berger, Michael I. Goran, Robert Jeffery, and Anne McTiernan, and the staff of the TREC Coordination center—Mark Thornquist, TREC Coordination Center director, and Carolyn Ehret, TREC Coordination Center project manager.

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 U.S. Government.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Clinical Research Directorate/CMRP, SAIC-Frederick, Inc., NCI-Frederick, Frederick, MD, 21702, USA

    Amanda L Vogel PhD, MPH & April Oh PhD

  2. Feng Consulting, Livingston, NJ, USA

    Annie Feng EdD

  3. Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, 20850, USA

    Kara L Hall PhD, Brooke A Stipelman PhD, Janet Okamoto PhD, MPH, Frank M Perna PhD, Richard Moser PhD & Linda Nebeling PhD, MPH, RD, FADA

  4. School of Social Ecology, University of California-Irvine, Irvine, CA, 92697, USA

    Daniel Stokols PhD

  5. 6130 Executive Blvd., Room 4083B, Rockville, MD, 20850, USA

    Amanda L Vogel PhD, MPH

Authors
  1. Amanda L Vogel PhD, MPH
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  2. Annie Feng EdD
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  3. April Oh PhD
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  7. Janet Okamoto PhD, MPH
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  9. Richard Moser PhD
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  10. Linda Nebeling PhD, MPH, RD, FADA
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Amanda L Vogel PhD, MPH.

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Implications

Policy: Funding agencies should consider offering guidelines and recommended effective practices for TD training in the context of supported TD training initiatives.

Research: Future studies of the outcomes and impact of TD training would benefit from well-designed comparison groups and longitudinal designs as well as proximal indicators of TD research competencies and scholarly productivity.

Practice: Future TD training initiatives may wish to develop training content that aims to address the three main domains of TD research competencies described in this article: scientific, interpersonal, and intrapersonal.

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Vogel, A.L., Feng, A., Oh, A. et al. Influence of a National Cancer Institute transdisciplinary research and training initiative on trainees' transdisciplinary research competencies and scholarly productivity. Behav. Med. Pract. Policy Res. 2, 459–468 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13142-012-0173-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13142-012-0173-0

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