RESEARCH TEAMS OF THE FUTURE Working Groups and Co Chairs  Interdisciplinary Research Patricia Grady NINR Ken Olden NIEHS Larry Tabak NIDCR  High risk Research

							RESEARCH TEAMS OF THE FUTURE
   Working Groups and Co-Chairs
 Interdisciplinary Research
       Patricia Grady, NINR
       Ken Olden, NIEHS
       Larry Tabak, NIDCR

 High-risk Research
      Ellie Ehrenfeld, NIAID
      Stephen Straus, NCCAM

 Public-Private Partnerships
      Andy von Eschenbach, NCI
      Richard Hodes, NIA
Research Teams of the Future:
  Interdisciplinary Research
   Lawrence A. Tabak, D.D.S., Ph.D.
Multi- and Interdisciplinary Research


                    “Just definitions either
                    prevent or put an end to a
                    dispute”
                          Nathaniel Emm
Multi- and Interdisciplinary Research

 A                                A
          Work on
                                      Multidisciplinary
       common problem
 B                                B




 A
         Interaction
                              C       Interdisciplinary
      forges new discipline
 B
More is different

  P.W. Anderson, Science 177, 393-396, 1972
Multi- and Interdisciplinary Research
will be Required to Solve the “Puzzle”
of Complex Diseases and Conditions

   Genes
   Behavior
   Diet/Nutrition
   Infectious agents
   Environment
   Society
   ???
                            Mathematicians
                                               Psychologists
            Physicians




                                                Physicists
Sociologists
                         Interdisciplinary
                             Research


                                                      Nurses
 Dentists


                    Engineers          Economists
Challenges to Interdisciplinary Research
   The current system of
    academic advancement
    favors the independent
    investigator
   Most institutions house
    scientists in discrete
    departments
   Interdisciplinary science
    requires interdisciplinary
    peer-review
   Project management and
    oversight is currently
    performed by discrete ICs
   Interdisciplinary research
    teams take time to assemble
    and require unique
    resources
  Research Teams of the Future:
     Current Roadmap RFAs
 Interdisciplinary Research
    Meetings and Networks for Methodological Development in
     Interdisciplinary Research
    Training for a New Interdisciplinary Research Workforce
    Supplements for Methodological Innovations in the Behavioral
     and Social Sciences
    Interdisciplinary Health Research Training: Behavior, Environment
     and Biology
    Short Programs for Interdisciplinary Research Training
    Curriculum Development Award in Interdisciplinary Research
    Exploratory Centers (P20) for Interdisciplinary Research
 Public/Private Partnerships
 High Risk Research
    NIH Director's Pioneer Award
     Exploratory Centers (P20) for
      Interdisciplinary Research
   Purpose: to plan exploratory centers that overcome barriers
    to conducting interdisciplinary research
   How? Applicant organizations must describe their plans to
    facilitate interdisciplinary research
    1.   How the institution will distribute credit for direct (and
         indirect) costs to reflect the contributions of different
         components
    2.   How the institution will recognize the contributions of the
         research team beyond the Principal Investigator
    3.   How the institution attends to the careers of "interstitial" team
         members who play important roles in interdisciplinary
         research, but who are not tenure track or eligible/appropriate
         to be principal investigators on research grants.
 Supplements for Methodological
Innovations in the Behavioral and
         Social Sciences
 Purpose: to develop innovative methodology
  (research design, data collection techniques,
  measurement, and data analysis techniques) in
  social and behavioral sciences research.
 What?
    New technologies and the analytical complexities associated
     with the integration of behavioral, social, genetic, and
     biomedical data
    Improved methods for performing research on diverse
     populations or on potentially sensitive or covert behaviors
     such as drug use, abuse, and violence
    Innovative experimental designs to study how changes in
     economic, social, environmental, physical, or political context
     affect all aspects of ongoing research
    Development and integration of behavioral and social sciences
     measures with those of the biomedical disciplines
Research Teams of the Future:
Training, Career Development
   and High Risk Research


      Patricia A. Grady, Ph.D., R.N.
Transforming Research Training

Interdisciplinary research training
       is a prerequisite to
            interdisciplinary research.
Transforming Research Training
            means:

 Linkages among biological, behavioral,
  social, physical sciences
 Collaboration between clinicians and
  scientists
 Partnerships with
  industry
 Research Teams of the Future: ’04 RFAs
Interdisciplinary Research
 Meetings and Networks for Methodological Development in
  Interdisciplinary Research
 Training for a New Interdisciplinary Research Workforce
 Supplements for Methodological Innovations in the Behavioral and
  Social Sciences
 Interdisciplinary Health Research Training: Behavior,
  Environment and Biology
 Short Programs for Interdisciplinary Research Training
 Curriculum Development Award in Interdisciplinary Research
 Exploratory Centers (P20) for Interdisciplinary Research

High Risk Research
 NIH Director's Pioneer Award
     Training for Interdisciplinary
         Research Workforce

 Develop and implement novel
  training programs
 Build upon existing multidisciplinary
  and interdisciplinary institutional
  research programs
 Prepare individuals to lead or
  engage in team approaches to
  solve complex health problems
Interdisciplinary Health Research Training:
Behavior, Environment and Biology

 Formal coursework and research
  training in a new interdisciplinary field
  for those having advanced degree in a
  different discipline
 Required to have behavioral or social
  science discipline
 Integration of behavioral/social with
  more traditional biomedical
Curriculum Development
Award in Interdisciplinary
Research


 Support the development of innovative courses and
  curricula designed to train interdisciplinary
  scientists
 Curricula can be designed for undergraduate, pre-
  doctoral or postdoctoral students, or combinations
 Focus on programs that encourage the integration
  of quantitative, physical, behavioral, or social
  sciences with the traditional biomedical sciences
            Short Programs for
         Interdisciplinary Training
 Fusion of information, research practices
  and technologies
 Promote training in “interdisciplines”
 Students emerge with sufficient
  understanding of a new discipline that they
  can meld it with their
  previous training
 Traditional             Roadmap




 Outstanding individuals
 High risk/high impact research
 Novel programs
    NIH Director’s Pioneer Award
 New program to support individuals with
  untested, potentially groundbreaking ideas!
 Encourages innovation, risk-taking
 Totally new application and peer review process
 Expected to be highly competitive
 Expanded eligibility – (not only traditional
  biomedical investigators)
 Provides $500,000/year for 5 years
Research involves taking
risks