Complexity: Innovations in Promoting Health through Team Science

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

Project Summary/Abstract Complex chronic conditions (CCCs) cause substantial morbidity and mortality worldwide and disproportionately affect disadvantaged and low/middle income regions. Although many CCCs are preventable, and patients currently benefit from ongoing improvements in disease diagnosis and treatment, CCC-associated morbidity and mortality remains substantial. Due to the inherent complexity associated with the inter-related predisposing factors that influence health outcomes, multi-faceted approaches are critical to identifying future interventions that can prevent and manage CCCs, and minimize/manage the short and long-term sequelae of treatment and the disease itself. Future discovery of innovative and impactful approaches to minimize CCC burden depends on the skill and willingness of emerging researchers to engage in team science, which offers enhanced opportunities for success compared to a single disciplinary approach. This T32 competitive renewal application will prepare nurse scientists to leverage collaborative science teams and networks when developing and testing interventions to improve health in the context of high complexity. This application builds on the important concept of complexity by expanding the training opportunities in the area of team science. Thus, the goal of this T32 renewal application, entitled Complexity: Innovations in Promoting Health through Team Science (CHEeTAh), is to educate 11 pre-doctoral trainees to become innovative scientists who will leverage team science approaches to promote health for individuals and populations with (or at risk for) CCCs. The pedagogic program, research training, and mentorship plans outlined in this proposal are consistent with our current successful T32 training program, but we will expand the previous three-year training plan to a four-year plan to facilitate more training in team science. Specifically, we will train nurse scientists to: 1) Investigate the complex array of personal, social, and environmental factors that influence the health of individuals and populations at risk for or diagnosed with chronic illness to inform the design and testing of interventions; 2) Integrate team science approaches when developing and testing innovative interventions to address highly complex problems; 3) Design and test innovative approaches to promote health which prevent the development of chronic conditions at the individual and population levels in those at higher risk; and 4) Design and test innovative approaches to promote health among those with chronic conditions to enable them to live well with chronic illness. The training program is organized in four pillars: course work, research experience, mentoring, and professional socialization, all inclusive of leading and participating in teams. Trainees will benefit from an individualized development plan and an interdisciplinary mentorship team. Promoting team science is a cross- cutting theme within the National Institute of Health (NIH) strategic plan and the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR) priority to foster cross-disciplinary research to advance symptom science.