Critical Partnerships: How to Develop a Trans-Disciplinary Research Team

SIMPLE SUMMARY: Trans-disciplinary team science is critical for advancing our understanding and treatment of cancer. A successful scientific team requires working with a diverse group of individuals from basic researchers to clinicians, bioinformaticians, and many others. Each team member has a different expertise and access and is brought together to work toward a shared goal. While the importance of team science has become evident, these teams do not come together easily or randomly. Here, we aim to provide a concise, high-level view by providing some practical tips to help cancer researchers be successful in a trans-disciplinary team. ABSTRACT: Trans-disciplinary science will continue to be critical for the next wave of scientific advancement to fully understand cancer development, progression, and treatment. The shift from the independent investigator to either leading or being a productive member of a scientific team can be successful by focusing on some key elements that can build and strengthen interactions with a diverse group of people. These include the selection of the team, communication, leadership and mentorship, shared goals, responsibility to the team, authorship, and proactively dealing with conflict. While there are extensive books written on developing teams in the business world, and larger pieces in the medical arena, we attempt to provide here a concise, high-level view as a starting point for those that may be moving from being an independent researcher and are developing their own, larger, trans-disciplinary teams.