A Four-Phase Model of Transdisciplinary Team-Based Research: Goals, Team Processes, and Strategies

TBM ESSAY A four-phase model of transdisciplinary team-based research: goals, team processes, and strategies Kara L Hall, PhD,1 Amanda L Vogel, PhD, MHS,2 Brooke A Stipelman, PhD,1 Daniel Stokols, PhD,3 Glen Morgan, PhD,1 Sarah Gehlert, PhD4 1Division of Cancer Control and ABSTRACT Population Sciences, National The complexity of social and public health challenges This work was supported by contract number Cancer Institute, has led to burgeoning interest and investments in HHSN-276-2007-00235U. This project was fun- National Institutes of Health, 6130 ded, in whole or in part, with federal funds from the Executive Blvd., Room 4078, cross-disciplinary team-based research, and Rockville, MD 20852, USA particularly in transdisciplinary (TD) team-based National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of 2Clinical Research Directorate/ research. TD research aims to integrate and ultimately Health, under contract no. HHSN261200800001E. The content of this publication does not necessarily CMRP, SAIC-Frederick, Inc., extend beyond discipline-specific concepts, NCI-Frederick, Frederick, MD reflect the views or policies of the Department of 21702, USA approaches, and methods to accelerate innovations Health and Human Services, nor does mention of 3School of Social Ecology, and progress toward solving complex real-world trade names, commercial products, or organiza- University of California-Irvine, problems. While TD research offers the promise of tions imply endorsement by the US Government. Irvine, CA 92697, USA novel, wide-reaching, and important discoveries, it also 4George Warren Brown School of Social Work, introduces unique challenges. In particular, today's Implications Washington University in St. Louis, investigators are generally trained in unidisciplinary Practice: The four-phase model can be used as a St. Louis, MO 63130, USA approaches and may have little training in, or exposure road map to enhance the development, manage- Correspondence to: K Hall to, the scientific skills and team processes necessary to [email protected] ment, and evaluation of transdisciplinary team- collaborate successfully in teams of colleagues from based research. Cite this as: TBM 2012;2:415–430 widely disparate disciplines and fields. Yet these skills Policy: doi: 10.1007/s13142-012-0167-y are essential to maximize the efficiency and The development of science policies informed by the four-phase model, including effectiveness of TD team-based research. In the current new types of funding opportunities and review article, we propose a model of TD team-based research criteria, can enhance the effectiveness and effi- that includes four relatively distinct phases: ciency of transdisciplinary team-based research. development, conceptualization, implementation, and translation. Drawing on the science of team science Research: Opportunities exist to empirically test field, as well as the findings from previous research on the proposed model and provide additional group dynamics and organizational behavior, we evidence for effective practices for team-based identify key scientific goals and team processes that research. 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 fields have become increasingly blurred as scholars and engaging in the team processes that are hallmarks and practitioners representing diverse perspectives of that phase. We conclude by discussing the relevance form scientific and translational teams to work of the model for TD team-based research initiatives, collaboratively at the nexus of their knowledge funding to support these initiatives, and future domains [10, 19, 44, 67] empirical research that aims to better understand the processes and outcomes of TD team-based research. The popularity of these cross-disciplinary research approaches is built on the premise that each KEYWORDS team member contributes unique knowledge, meth- odological approaches, conceptual frameworks, and Transdisciplinary, Cross-disciplinary, Team science, theories, which collectively contribute to the ad- Team-based research, Research process vancement of scientific innovation and generation of new knowledge. The three most commonly BACKGROUND identified forms of cross-disciplinary research are The complexity of social and public health challenges multidisciplinary (MD), interdisciplinary (ID), and increasingly requires cross-disciplinary team-based transdisciplinary (TD) research. MD and ID research research approaches that bring together collaborators represent increasing levels of disciplinary integra- from multiple disciplines and perspectives [28, 36, 67]. tion among team members. MD research is typical- As a result, the boundaries between disciplines and ly understood as the sequential or additive TBM page 415 of 430 ESSAY combination of ideas or methods drawn from two or FOUR PHASES OF TD TEAM-BASED RESEARCH more disciplines or fields to address the focal We conceptualize TD team-based research as in- problem, while ID research involves the integration cluding four relatively distinct phases—development, of perspectives, concepts, theories, and methods conceptualization, implementation, and translation [56]. from two or more disciplines or fields to address The development phase involves convening a group of the focal problem [48]. potential collaborators to define the scientificor In contrast to MD and ID research, TD research societal problem space2 of interest. The conceptuali- entails not only the integration of discipline-specific zation phase involves collaborative teamwork to approaches, but also the extension of these approaches develop research questions or hypotheses, a con- to generate fundamentally new conceptual frame- ceptual model, and a research design that reflect the works, hypotheses, theories, models, and methodo- integrative TD nature of the project. The implemen- logical applications that transcend their disciplinary tation phase involves the execution of the planned origins, with the aim of accelerating innovation and research. Finally, the translation phase involves mov- advances in scientific knowledge [28, 36, 38, 48, 66]. ing the transdisciplinary research findings from one Another hallmark of TD research that distinguishes it level of analysis to another and/or across the from other cross-disciplinary approaches is its focus on discovery–development–delivery continuum in or- advancing progress toward practical solutions to social der to create innovative strategies for resolving or problems [36, 48, 55, 56]. TD research is conducted ameliorating societal problems. within and across levels of analysis, ranging from Although these four phases are generally sequen- biological to societal, and can include a translational tial, there may also be recursive or iterative focus along a continuum, from discovery to develop- movement among phases as illustrated in Fig. 1. ment to delivery. The complexity of a TD research These recursive and iterative movements can lead to initiative influences the composition of a team, which changes in team composition and shift in focus on may include investigators as well as translational particular team processes. For example, insights that partners from a broad array of sectors, including emerge during the second through fourth phases, government, nongovernmental organizations, and related to new research directions or translational community-based organizations, with relevant exper- applications, may lead to midproject changes in the tise to translate research findings into practice and composition of a TD team in order to bring in policy applications [2, 5, 22, 52]. additional areas of expertise. This, in turn, may The synthesis of disciplinary perspectives and mean that the team returns its attention to processes creation of new scientific approaches that occur salient in the developmental phase. in TD team-based research1 emerge from a social The processes and outcomes of each phase process among participants that produces new influence subsequent phases, and many of the understanding at both the individual and team processes described below may be implemented to levels. In order to be successful in achieving some degree throughout the four phases. However, these goals, TD research participants must engage we highlight processes that are particularly salient in in a wide variety of social processes at the group each phase and specifically as they relate to the level, such as developing a shared vocabulary as primary goals and the type of team that is prominent well as establishing a shared understanding of in each phase (see Table 1). Thereby we identify what expertise a team member has and how each potentially high-leverage processes that team mem- member contributes to the collaborative research bers, given limited time and resources, can devote endeavor. In the current article, we build on particular attention to when moving through the prior work found in [56] and propose a refined various phases of a TD research collaboration. four-phase model of TD team-based research. Furthermore, drawing on the science of team science (SciTS) field as well as literature from TEAM DEVELOPMENT AND EVOLUTION ACROSS groups, teams, management, and organization THE FOUR PHASES fi fi elds [7, 20, 55], we identify key scienti cgoals Over the course of a TD research initiative, and team processes that occur in each phase and scientists may transition from informal groups to across multiple phases. We also provide real- established

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